On Sunday, with Janeen driving, we left Fortuna CA, unrecognized sister to famous Ferndale CA (Victorian Gingerbread guardian of Avenue of the Giants, Redwoods Trails), we headed North along 101 coast route crossing the Klamath River Bridge. At each end of the bridge are gold painted bears.
The Golden Bears on the Klamath River Bridge weren’t always golden. Sometime in the late 50’s or early 60’s mysteriously the cement bears on the old bridge would turn golden over-night. Despite efforts of the State Highway Department with buckets of turpentine swabbing off that golden color, overnight the bears would be returned to their golden hue.
Midday, we stopped at Gold Beach along the Rogue River for a seafood lunch at the Port Hole Café. 
From there more redwoods, road construction and , ultimately ,to Coos Bay , Oregon for the night.
Monday morning, bright and early, we hit the road to Eugene to visit with Cousin Barbara Lee and her husband John Costello who hosted us for the evening.
After an afternoon snacks, we went out for a quick tour of the City including a visit to OSU campus, the neighboring town of Springfield (hometown of Ken Kesey author and LSD ‘hippy’ and Matt Groening the Simpsons creator) then an afternoon beverage along the Willamette River at a lovely spot outside McMenamins by the River.
After a wonderful breakfast – thank you John – we headed out on the next day of our adventure.
Our very good (and old) friend Joel raves about King Estate Winery all the time so we had to visit.
Although the winery is about 30 minutes out of Eugene, and not really on our route to Gleneden Beach, it was well worth the extra time to cycle past. It is on top of a hill surrounded by vineyards and rolling hills.
The lavender was in full bloom. Gorgeous!
We started off in the tasting room sampling most of their releases – including some not on the tasting menu.
Apparently they are well known for their Pinot Gris – which seems to be one of the largest production wines. They also do Pinot Noir, Chardonnay from the estate and Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Syrah and Viognier sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley. With an overall case production in the 350,000 range they are a very large producer and distribute to all 50 states and several foreign countries.
After tasting we went out to the patio for lunch. With a cold bottle of Viognier we enjoyed a starter of warm country olives followed by potato cakes with herb crusted pork belly with jam and herbs and a pulled pork shoulder with apple butter glaze, potato roll, sharp cheddar, coleslaw and sweet potato frites. Everything was quite delicious and, as we so often do, we had them split the items into 2 servings which was plenty.
After lunch we headed back north winding our way through the back roads ultimately getting to the Oregon Coast (again) and route 101 North to Gleneden Beach and The Beachcombers Haven for the gathering of Cousins.
