Set off from Eureka this morning in somewhat cloudy and foggy conditions which continued as we headed up I105N, we stopped at Arcata for a coffee then followed the beautiful coastal drive North through more of the amazing redwood forests. We stopped at a funny little place that had a cable car heading up into the forest - lots of Yank crap stuff at the roadside including huge life like figures of Paul Banyan and his blue ox??????????? No idea what that was about - I'd better Google it!!
Continued on along the coast which was now heavily shrouded with fog, before getting to Crescent City where we took another highway inland to Interstate 5N. This road took us through some very windy roads and steep mountain country, and coupled with heavy traffic delayed our progress quite a bit. Some of the little towns were very hillbilly-ish, lots of junk and strange looking folk about!!!
Stopped for fuel at Rogue River and learnt that in Idaho (which we crossed into a way back) you aren't allowed to fill the car yourself but have to let an attendant do it! All to do with creating more employment - bloody good idea too!
By now on I5N it was mostly 3 lanes each way and so we hooked along at a fair pace amid very heavy traffic and more trucks than you could imagine. But we made good time and by about 4pm had reached the University town of Eugene where we decided to stop early so the girls could do some washing. We found a motel and booked in at $85 per night for a king bed with free breakfast, free wifi and the laundry cost $1.... A bargain I think - but when I ran across the road to a 7-11 mart to get washing powder there were 6 packs of Budweiser for $6.29!!! Bargain number 2! So that helped pass the time while Mumsie washed!
Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon and is also home to some large timber mills as well as being a centre for the agriculture in the region.