SACRAMENTO TO FLORENCE

I arrived at Enterprise this morning to pick up our rental car, but had to wait almost a half hour to get the car.  And they weren't even that busy.  This meant we didn't leave until 10 a.m. Instead of our planned 9 a.m.  

We made it to Redding by noon, stopped for lunch and went on.  This is a pretty tedious drive.  One pleasant surprise is that gas was about 20 cents a gallon cheaper in Oregon.  Another pleasant surprise was at dinner tonight where there was also no tax.  

Anyway once we turned off I-5, it got better.  We were then on a nice two-lane country road that was going through a lot of nice agricultural land, fields of sheep, orchards, and the like.  We also went past an elk viewing area where there were a bunch of elk out in a field.  (Not fast enough with the camera for that one.)

We were going to head directly to Florence, our seaside destination for tonight, but took a little detour south to visit a photogenic lighthouse because it was about 6 pm and the light was really quite beautiful -- except not at the lighthouse which was more or less fogged in. 

This one is right across the street from the lighthouse.  John with the jawbone of a whale.  

On our way up 101 to Florence, we saw this guy walking down the road with a fishing pole and what looked like a 30-pound salmon.  

Actually turned around and went back to take his picture with it.  He said it's the third one he's caught.  today? This week? This season?  Not sure, and that the one before this one was bigger. Right.

We arrived at our hotel, the River House Inn, at around 8 pm, and after a few quick pictures before we trashed the room, we headed off to dinner.  

I like that they gave us a rubber sucky to play with in the bathtub.  The other unusual thinginthis room is that they have a sleep machine, soe kind of white noise.  I guess they must have some noisy stuff that goes on here, though not that noticeable yet tonight.  

OMG,  we went to an Italian restaurant, Restobar, for dinner and had the best halibut ever.  Herb crusted with homemade aioli sauce, Yukon gold potatoes and a salad.  All for $16.  And it was a cute, cozy, amber-hued place which felt good because it's not warm here.  

And the aforementioned no tax.  

Tomorrow we are mostly hanging out at various beaches.  There's a big sand dune park near here.