Road Trip Washington State

In almost no time we zipped across the Columbia River into Washington. You can't really stop on the bridge to take pictures, but this is the view east up the Columbia.

And this is looking forward into Washington

 And amazingly, we had just barely crossed the border when we stopped at Cape Disappointment State Park with two more lighthouses and a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

North Head Light House was lovely

The Cape Disappointment light was not quite as nice, but we had a nice walk and a side trip to the Lewis and Clark Center.

We continued up the coast to Olympic National Park and took a walk through the Quinault Rain Forest.  We took a vacation with the kids here in 1990, and I think we took this exact same hike to Pony Bridge.

 It is a spectacular location

And I believe that this is the same red jacket I was wearing in 1990

We wanted to stay at the Quinault Lodge, but the entire Olympic Nation Park was booked, so we drove on to spend the night in Forks of the Twilight series fame.  It was actually a nice town. Not a vampire in sight.  In the morning we headed toward Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Victoria, but did a quick side trip to Marymere waterfall along the way.

We had time in Port Angeles to wander around the town and have brunch at a crepe restaurant, which I really enjoyed. I liked this art at the ferry terminal.

And then on the ferry and farewell to the US.

Road trip Oregon

Once we headed north on I-5 from Corning we were heading into infrequently explored territory. We've driven this way a few times but now we were prepared to see it through "road trip eyes."  To do this we brought along a library of roadside geology and road trip suggestions. 

We spent the morning admiring the beauty of Mt. Shasta as we drove along and even took a side trip somewhere looking for an ice cream stand that Calvin had visited as a child. Sadly no luck finding ice cream.

Near the town of Remote, Oregon we stopped for a leg stretcher at this covered bridge.

And after a little more back roads driving we arrived in Bandon, Oregon with a lovely little cottage right on the beach.  This is the view out our back door.

We took a walk along the beach looking for Face Rock, a sight not to be missed in Bandon.

We tried without success to find the Face Rock in our walk along the beach, but when we circled back along the road we found the Face Rock overlook and here clearly is the Face Rock. Look for the profile of a girl looking to the sky.

After our walk we settled down to watch the sunset.

The next day we drove along the coast stopping at the light houses along the way.  There are a lot of lighthouses along the Oregon coast. This is the Coquille River light house just north of Bandon.

Next stop was the Umpqua Light House which is distinctive because it has a red light.

We stopped next in Florence for lunch and a stroll around the town.  4th of July was in full swing with pie eating contests and people already camping out in the drizzle to find the best spot to watch the fireworks over the river

Draw Bridge over the Suislaw River

Much to Calvin's delight we stopped at one more light house. The Heceta Head lighthouse had a really beautiful light keeper cottage that is now a bed and breakfast, but it was booked long ago for the 4th of July so we continued on.

We spent the night at Tolovana on Cannon Beach.  Once again we had a lovely evening walk on the beach to Haystack Rock, a not to be missed sight here.

Also a "not to be missed sight" here on the Oregon Coast

No fireworks for the 4th of July here at Cannon Beach.  Haystack Rock is the nesting site of the Tufted Puffin, a very cute little bird, and apparently they don't like fireworks.

Road trip 2018 The beginning

Calvin and I had planned a kayaking trip in British Columbia this summer.  We were deciding between flying and driving to British Columbia, but when Leah's blessing date was announced the weekend before we started kayaking we decided to take one long road trip.

Here are the statistics: We drove 3,474 miles taking 73.07 hours of driving time averaging 48 miles per hour and our lovely Altima averaged 35.6 miles per gallon.

We started June 29, the day after Calvin arrived home from a 6 day back packing trip in the Sierras. He had just enough time to unload his backpack and load his suitcase.

Our first stop was Atascadero, California.  We have driven through Atascadero, but never really stopped.  We had time after dinner so wandered around the downtown. Atascadero was created as a planned Utopian colony in 1913.  The beautiful civic center and park are being restored and it was a nice place for an evening stroll.

Our days 2 and 3 were in Santa Barbara.  We left there Sunday afternoon and drove to San Simeon. We have passed through a couple of times, but didn't pay much attention.  We had a nice afternoon walk along the marine terrace and got to see more elephant seals.  They seem to be thriving all along the California coast.

We finished with a nice view of the Piedras Blancas light house

Day 4 started with a foggy walk along Moonstone beach in Cambria.

Then a fast drive up the coast to drop off a paint sprayer in San Jose and on up to Berkeley for a very late lunch/early dinner with Cindy and Bill.  That was followed by a smoky drive up I-5 through the Guinda fire to an overnight in Corning, CA.

We didn't do much exploring in Corning, but we did stop in at the Olive Pit for a jar of local olives that we enjoyed for the rest of the trip.

Saturday in Santa Barbara

We spent a fun Saturday in Santa Barbara when we went to Leah's baby blessing.  We didn't arrive until mid morning, but the day was packed with fun things to do.  We started out with lunch at the batting cages.  Alice, Jimmy and Leah were too little to bat, but the rest of us had a good time.  Batting with bifocals is not as fun as batting used to be, but I did connect with a couple of balls. Photos did not turn out well, but here is Rosie getting ready for a home run.

After lunch we had a mid afternoon cool off at the pool.  Calvin and Leah napped through pool time.

After the pool we cleaned up a little and went to Alice's ballet recital.

We followed that up with pizza and a sunset walk on the Santa Barbara pier.

Saturdays don't get much better than that.

Leah's Blessing

We got to be in Santa Barbara for Leah's blessing on July 1st.  The cameras were out and hundreds of pictures were taken.  Here are a few of my favorites. Jimmy didn't have much patience for pictures and Calvin was busy taking pictures, but it was a beautiful day and a loving welcome to the newest member of the Wright family.