10/21//14 - The Journey's End

We started out early because the cranberry harvesting starts at daylight.  We headed out to watch after Joe had a cup of coffee.  Nelson and everyone else was already hard at work by the time we got there.  The new cranberry beater was interesting to watch in action.  We saw  the tractor tightened the noose around the floating cranberries so they could be loaded into the truck.  After a bit of observing, we said our good byes and left them to it. 

After loading the car, we headed toward Coos Bay, OR.  Nelson gave us the name of a German restaurant that would be good for breakfast.  We were thinking about bratwurst, eggs, potatoes and toast.  However, when we got there it was only open for lunch and dinner.  As I said, we got up very early and were hungry.  We did a little sightseeing on the bay walk, filled the car with fuel, got ice for the cooler, and got back to The Blue Heron just as they opened for lunch.  By then we were really hungry!  We got our bratwurst with German potato salad, a sourdough rye bread, and sauerkraut...no eggs, though.  We liked it! 

Then we took off for South Shore State Park, which was part of the Simpson Estate, a timber family from the 1920s.  The gardens have been re-done and are extremely well cared for and manicured.  They were beginning their fall trimming of bushes and trees.  They have an annual Christmas light display that is a well known holiday destination and they were beginning to put up the lights. 

On our continued northward travel we stopped at a overlook and elk viewing area near  Roseburg, OR.  Most of the elk seemed camera shy with the exception of this young male who seemed to enjoy having his picture taken.  We went on and discovered a small winery that has the second oldest pinot noir vineyard in Oregon.  The vines were planted in 1972.  We sampled their wines and purchased a few good bottles to take with us. 

When we got to I5 we looked at the distance we still had to go to Roseburg, and we changed our minds and our direction toward  home.  The magnetic pull toward home and family was just a little stronger than the pull to go to Roseburg and have one more day of our trip.  We kinda missed everyone!  It has been a great adventure!  By the time we pulled the T-bird into Joe's driveway, we had been on the road for 37 days, traveled 8,136 miles, and visited 19 states.  Besides...there's always next time!