We had hoped to time our arrival to Brookings when the Easter lily fields would be in bloom. At least, that was what we were expecting after reading about the farms. Left to their own devices, they would naturally bloom in July. You’re probably wondering like I did, isn’t Easter-time their time to flower? It turns out that there is a labor-intensive science to forcing them to produce on Easter, which occurs annually on different dates. The bottom line is that we (or anyone else) wouldn’t ever see fields covered in white. Brookings and Harbor (across the Chetco River) grow 90 percent of the Easter lily crop in the U.S., the result of perfect conditions for bulb growing. We drove along Oceanside Drive where the farms are located. Eventually, we noticed the characteristic silver green foliage planted in neat rows. On closer look, there were the multiple leaves growing from each stalk.
Redwood trees were already in abundance here in southwestern Oregon. It was a short drive to the California state line.
Our next hope was that we would see the California Rose Bay Rhododendrons in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park that were flowering relatively abundantly when we drove through here on June 10, 2009. There was nothing. Instead, the roadside was flush with lilies of a different kind—tiger lilies.
Damnation Creek Trail is the best in Del Norte, one that leads all the way to the Pacific Ocean if you want to negotiate the final very steep, strenuous, exposed root portion to the coast (we didn’t). Short of that, the trail still goes past old growth forest, some of them showing evidence of severe burn from lightning strikes. On the trail, we came across members of a photography workshop led by Issaquah photographer Darrell Gulin. It always seems a coincidence that people you sometimes meet along the way are from your own neck of the woods.
For lunch, we stopped in Arcata at Hole in the Wall (590 G St, 707.822.7407), a sandwich shop in a little shack on a parking lot that is very popular among the locals. There was no seating inside, but there were a few tables and bench chairs outside. We enjoyed a muffaletta (☆☆☆), the special of the day, filled with Genoa and Italian salames, prosciutto, Provolone and Mozzarella cheeses, olive spread and roasted red bell pepper, simply dressed with oil and red vinegar, salt and pepper. All of HITW’s sandwiches are enormous, so splitting one was essential, all washed down with an intriguing tangerine wheet beer (☆☆☆), made by Lost Coast Brewery in nearby Eureka.
After this morning’s inland drive through California, we headed back to the coast on a winding, tortuous road, starting where California Highway 1 begins in the north at Leggett on US 101. A mere twenty miles took over an hour, despite what my GPS estimated (it assumed an incredulous 55mph on this stretch!). Memo to self: avoid this road next time. The change in scenery was dramatic from the thickly forested redwood empire to the beautiful coastal waters of northern California, with its own sea stacks to rival Oregon’s and treed with cypress and eucalyptus.
We arrived at our destination, Mendocino, in the late afternoon.
zoomeboshi 
Mendicino the town we dashed out of on the way to the inland. The water towers and charming
look of the town makes us want to revisit. The sandwich and soda look like they were very tasty.
Route one was a lot like the films with car races living for great danger so I agree we are glad you made. Thanks for the fine photos.
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Thanks, Shay and Jim. Many of the water towers are actually residences rather than serving as a water receptable. The proprietor of the inn we stayed at lives in one. Mendocino gets most of its water from wells. When they run low, like they are this year, residents have to purchase water from Fort Bragg.
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