After our wedding in Santa Barbara, Andrea and I headed north to San Francisco where we hung out with Matt and Vanessa for 2 days and indulged in both sushi and Thai brunch (ala the Berkeley Thai Community Center). We also hit Golden Gate Park on Saturday afternoon.
Andrea, Matt and Dusty in Golden Gate Park.
Andrea, Matt and Vanessa at Thai brunch.
Some kids performing with traditional instruments.
After that we headed north on CA 1 and camped at Bodega Bay the first night. Since the tourist season had passed, the coast roads were pretty much empty. We took our time, stopping at a few beaches and riding our bikes a few times with Dusty. The 2nd night, we made it up to Avenue of the Giants and we camped with the giant redwoods. We put our tent next to a tree that was wider than the car.
Going into the tunnel in SF before the Golden Gate Bridge.
Across the bridge.
Bodega Bay.
Andrea and Dusty at Bodega Bay.
Andrea and Dusty riding above the fogged in ocean.
Putting the bikes on the car.
A spot where we could actually see the ocean. It was really foggy driving up the coast.
Looking out from the restaraunt where we ate breakfast.
Playing chuckit.
A moment of Zen.
Cracking the kelp whip.
Dusty harnessed with kelp.
Dusty dragging some kelp.
Pawprints in the sand.
Corn dogs cooked over the open…whisperlight.
Andrea and Dusty in the redwoods.
In the redwoods by firelight.
Breakfast in the dusty redwoods.
Our campsite in redwoods.
Getting in to Oregon.
After that we made it up to Coos Bay, OR where we met Matt Jones and family and stayed the night in their cottage across the street from the harbor. We hung out in Coos Bay a bit the next day, then made our way up the coast to Newport Beach where we got a hotel room and spent the day wandering around on the beach and downtown.
Stopped at a lake near the Oregon Dunes State Park that Matt told us about. It was so foggy, we couldn’t see the top of the dune.
The strangest thing I’ve ever seen on the back of a utility truck.
A bunch of sea lions posing for tourists in Newport.
The Newport bridge in fog.
Me and an old fisherman guy in downtown Newport.
Andrea with another mural.
A coastguard heli mural.
Some of the residents of the Newport wharfs.
The path to the beach in Newport.
Heading into the dunes.
Dusty in the dunes.
Sand dog.
Bunchgrass in the dunes.
A sandy anenome.
Andrea and I on the foggy Newport beach.
Walking off into the fog.
A cool piece of art overlooking Newport beach.
After staying in Newport for the night, we continued up the coast, stopping at an overview point where we spotted some whales below. We stopped at Neskowin where I had been when I was a kid and walked around the wide, deserted beach. We eventually made our way up to Tillamook, where we saw a huge blimp hangar with “Air Museum” painted on it. We stopped there and ended up seeing a bunch of cool aircraft including a few cockpit trainers that you could sit in. We also watched a Jet Ranger land. Then we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory which was also really cool. They have a viewing area where you can watch all the cheese being made, processed and packaged. I’ll never look at a baby loaf the same again.
The overlook where we saw the whales.
The big rock at Neskowin.
The tide coming up.
The air museum at Naval Air Station Tillamook (NAST). The hanger is so big, it once housed 8 blimps that patrolled the coast during WWII.
A big old transport plane.
The entrance to the hangar with a Bell Jet Ranger landing.
Sitting in one of the cockpit trainers.
I didn’t really fit.
Andrea fit better.
Looking down the hangar. Only about 1/2 of it is actually used.
Some crazy old helicopter.
A single seat gyrocopter that was found abandoned in a hay field.
An FAA certified blimp that a guy made from scratch. His kids did the artwork.
A couple planes with the roof of the hangar. You could skydive off of the thing.
Andrea and I in a shiny spinner.
Andrea flying a Jet Ranger.
Outside the hangar. Andrea and the car are in the lower left.
On to the cheese factory….
Mmmm…cheese.
The crazy machinery they use to package the cheese. The assembly line on the right are baby loafs, the one on the left are 1/2 loafs.
Dusty enjoying some Tillamook ice cream.
After the chees factory, we headed over to Portland where we met Uncle Bill and Roxanne on the river for dinner then we crashed at their place in Vancouver. We had a great dinner on the river looking up at the city at night. Portland is pretty sweet. The next day, Uncle Bill gave us a tour of downtown Portland, then we went for a walk in the rose garden in Washington Park.
Portland from the river.
Roxanne, Bill, Andrea and I at the Newport Bay restaraunt.
Andrea in Pioneer Square in Portland.
Pioneer Square.
The rose garden.
Uncle Bill and I.
After saying goodbye to Uncle Bill, we headed out of Portland toward Mt. Hood and Bend. We went up to Timberline Lodge then checked out some campgrounds on Mt. Hood. We didn’t find anything good, so we kept going and camped near Bend.
Driving toward Mt. Hood.
Andrea and I with some fall colors on Mt. Hood.
Mt. Hood.
Andrea and the Timberline Lodge.
The car above Bend.
Nice fall colors in eastern Oregon.
It was a great trip. Definitely the most mellow road trip we’ve taken in a while. We probably only averaged 300 miles/day. Usually we do 800 or so. It’s kinda nice to be able to slow down and explore more.
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