<– Day 40 –Apr. 28th: Firehouse #4  | OVERVIEW | Day 42 – Apr. 30th: R&P 4WD and Herm –>

Well, what a surprise! On Tuesday the cold and rain showers forecasted by people paid to predict such things continued to be scared away by the blue sky and warm temperatures in Oregon. Such weather would have been perfect for the coast of Oregon, but our mind was too changed to change back.

We spotted this mural just as we were leaving Rogue River, Oregon.

Anyone who has ever driven north on Interstate 5 through southern Oregon knows what a pretty drive it is. Successive low mountain passes of about 2000 feet chase any boredom away.

Our Tuesday drive to McMinnville.

Our first stop of the morning was at Canyonville at exit 98. When traveling north with my sister back in December I’d spotted several jeep bodies on what I thought were shipping containers just off the Interstate. They were still there when we passed this time, so we pulled off to get a closer look at them. While there were no identifying ‘for sale’ information, I believe these belonged to Del Blanchard, who is actually operates out of Myrtle Creek according to his website [Ed Note: Del has since passed away.]

In the pic below, the body on the right appears to be a galvanized (no stainless) CJ-3B body. The one in between is a CJ-2A/3A Stainless. The body on the right is an all-stainless CJ-3B body (I saw no indications of galvanized floor parts) that includes some interesting windshield tighteners.

Here’s a 2012 ad for the bodies:

Odd note: If you use Google’s street view feature, you can just barely see the jeeps on the utility boxes if you are in the southbound lanes of I-5. However, as of now, if you try to view the jeeps from the northbound lanes, the jeeps are not present. Nor are they present from the on ramp right in front of the utility boxes.

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<– Day 39 – Apr. 27th: Crying Babies and Grungie Folks | OVERVIEW | Day 41 – Apr. 29th: Ann Flies the Goose –>

Rick and I kneeling in front of men from Medford’s Firestation #4. They represent just some of the people who refurbished Rick’s CJ-2A.

We began the day with a quick trip over to the North Coast Co-op for some fresh bread, duck eggs (had to get 2 dozen), and some lunch items for a picnic at Redwood National Park. The co-op proved to be my favorite part of Eureka 🙂

Even better, there was a place that speaks “Jeep” across the street!

The clouds and rain promised by the weather experts on Monday never appeared. Instead, we were blessed with perfect weather for our drive up the remainder of the California Coast. Blue sky and a few clouds became a beautiful contrast to the tall, deep green forests we encountered.

Monday’s trip from Eureka, CA, to Rogue River, OR

During our drive we decided to stop at Trinidad. Dan had mentioned it in one of his comments. It turned out to have a high beach cliff with a beautiful view.

After Trinidad I expected to encounter a welcome sign for Redwood National Park. As we waited for the sign we were surprised to see a place called Trees of Mystery. Out front of the place was an enormous Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.

Yep, that’s me leaning against babe’s leg.

After Trees of Mystery we continued searching for the welcome sign for Redwood National Park, but never saw it. It wasn’t until we reached Crescent City that I realized we must have driven through the park. Thus my plans for a picnic in the National Park was thwarted by signage, or lack thereof.

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<– Day 38 – Apr. 26th: Finding Virginia City | OVERVIEW | Day 40 – Apr. 28th: Firehouse #4 –>

Beautiful drive over highway 299.

Well, it’s been an interesting day. My day started at 12:01am. I hadn’t been to sleep yet due to the crying of two kids in the motel room next door. Well, not just next door, but through the two doors that would have created a suite, doors so thin and porous that whatever food was being cooked in their room late at night wafted into ours. They weren’t good cooks.

The cries came and went for the next hour. Finally, at 1am, I woke up the proprietor of the not-so-fine establishment to complain. I figured if I was going to be awake, he was going to be awake. He wasn’t happy that I woke him. I wasn’t happy either. He agreed to call them. Amazingly, that seemed to help, at least for about fifteen minutes, though I can’t imagine he got on the phone with the two young children and explained the problem. I stopped caring about 1:30am when I fell asleep.

Our Sunday drive from Red Bluff to Eureka.

In the morning we awoke and got the heck out of there. So much for that deal!

We drove up to Redding and then headed west over several ranges, which appear to constitute part of the North Coastal Range. We spent three hours driving through some beautiful country along lots of two lane highway.

At one point we pulled into the lumber town of Weaverville. In the driveway of the Weaverville Garage was a VEC CJ-2A that needed some work.

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<– Day 37 – Apr. 25th: Carson City | OVERVIEW | Day 39 – Apr. 27th: Crying Babies and Grungie Folks –>

I found this tree, decorated with bottles, growing out of this vintage Oakland automobile near Virginia City, Nevada.

Anyone who has met Ann knows that she has a good sense of humor. So, it probably isn’t surprising that she had all sorts of fun teasing me about driving down ‘Virginia Street’ in Reno (one of the main streets) or noting it when we arrived at Virginia City. Yes, Virginia’s name is stamped all over the Washoe Valley! [Ed Note: this is due to the book I released in 2011, Finding Virginia]

Our route on Saturday from Carson City to Red Bluff.

On Friday night it rained pretty hard, but by Saturday morning the rain had passed. Relieved at the partly cloudy weather, we ascended Highway 342 to Virginia City, which is in a valley surrounded by mountains. The landscape is pretty bare, except for the metal ghosts of mining operations.

Signs just off the road on the way to Virginia City.

We figured that given the cold and the potential rain and snow in Virginia City, there wouldn’t be many people. We hadn’t counted on a Motocross Rally! The town was packed with cars and motor homes. Just a couple of streets down from main street (actually C Street) was the start and finish of the race course. While not great timing for us, it seemed like a really great motorbike event.

The town was much busier than we expected.

In front of those awnings was the start/finish line for the motocross event.

Virginia City has the largest historic district in the West. The former boomtown is famous for the 1800s Comstock strike, its old west feel, tourism, and ghosts. Anyone who has watched Ghost Adventurers on the Travel Channel knows how much fun they’ve had at this city. The Washoe Club was one of the places they investigated.

The place has a wonderfully authentic, old, creaky feel to it. Check out how the water drains pour water onto the street! There was still a little bit of water dribbling from them.

I thought the Bank of America cash machine positioned underneath this Saloon was pretty funny.

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