You Did What?!?

This morning we awoke much happier with our overnight accommodations.  We left the hotel and went a grand distance of 1/2 mile and stopped at the Tillamook Creamery.  Since it was just after 8am, we were the only ones there.  We had the show room all to ourselves and enjoyed looking at all the goodies.  We also spent a little bit of $$ there.

I haven't yet mentioned the condition of the highway in Oregon.  It's a mess.  The road is scarred with landslides, sunken roadbed, flash floods, cave ins, you name it.  In quite a few places we found the road had been repaired, but not re-asphalted.  It was a mess.

And the traffic was different, too.  It was clear that most of the travelers in Oregon--at least at this time of year--were locals.  We rarely had a road companion that lasted more than a few miles.  It was interesting.

As we drove up into Washington the roads were in excellent condition, but now we found our fellow travelers had grown in size--logging trucks.  And those logging trucks are dangerous.  When Jenni was driving, a logging truck traveling in the opposite direction went past as we were going around a sharp corner.  That truck was moving so fast you could see the back end of the trailer skidding out!  Yikes!

We no longer had multitudes of spectacular bridges, except for the bridge running over the Columbia River near Astoria.  When you come up to the bridge you see it WAY high above you and you can't imagine how you are going to get all the way up there in such a short time.  But after a loop de loop we climbed up a ramp and found ourselves high enough to touch the clouds--if there had been any clouds.  (It was a gorgeous day.)

It turns out this bridge is the longest continuous running truss bridge in the United States.  I believe it!  It kept going and going and going.  It's over a mile long with half of the trip being just above the water.  Spectacular.

As we headed north up the coast of Washington, we realized we were coming close to the end of our trip.  The road was clean and clear--except for one place were a crew was clearing up the remains of an immense tree which had fallen across the road.  As we were traveling along Grays Harbor, Jenni remembered to look to see if there were any Carnegie libraries in this part of the state.  Turns out we had just driven past one in South Bend.  Oops.  Another is located in Hoquiam.  We decided that we'd do those on another trip.  No turning back, now!

North of Hoquiam we traveled through logging country.  Acres of stands of tall trees alternated with acres of old stumps.  I was surprised to see that much of the cleared acreage hadn't been replanted.  Are they giving up?  This is the land of the spotted owl controversy, after all.

As we drove into Forks we saw a sign for a rest stop and decided that was a great idea.  In the words of Mike's niece, Christina, Forks is a "magical" place.  It's the setting for the Twilight trilogy; I felt that odd because I read that author Stephenie Meyer never set foot in the place.  It was magical, however, because the rest stop had completely disappeared.  Oh, boy.  I could have used that rest stop.

We drove past signs for Hoh Rainforest.  I had been to Hoh camping with my friends Anna and Linda.  I HIGHLY recommend a visit to this place.  The weather was perfect for a visit today.  You know how road weary Jenni and I were when I tell you we didn't want to drive the extra 30 mile round trip to visit the rainforest.  Another day, another trip.

Something very interesting happens when you drive up over the top of the Olympic Peninsula.  Hwy 101 North becomes Hwy 101 East.  I was wondering how this would be handled because eventually Hwy 101 starts heading south on the east side of the peninsula and travels back down to Olympia, nearly circumscribing the entire peninsula.  When does Hwy 101 North become Hwy 101 South?  Answer: well, first it becomes Hwy 101 East.

As we headed east on Hwy 101 we drove past one of the most beautiful lakes in this state--Crescent Lake.  The road skirts right along the shoreline, slowing to 35 mph.  I haven't been here since 1989 when I met my mother here at the end of a hiking trip she took.  (Yes, my mother hikes.  She still hikes.  My mother is in better shape than me!)

Past Port Angeles we passed signs pointing out the direction of Hwy 101 South.  Yay!  We're heading south.  That was shortly followed by a roadside sign stating Hwy 101 East.  Oh.  Guess we're still going east.  Another couple miles down the road and another directional sign for Hwy 101 South.  Somebody's confused!  And, not just me.  So, we decided to give up on Hwy 101 East-South, and headed instead east on Hwy 104.  This took us across our last major bridge over the Hood Canal.  We drove through the charming town (picket fences included) of Port Gamble and around the top of the Kitsap Peninsula and down into Kingston where we waited in line for a ferry to Edmonds.

After the 30 minutes ferry ride we drove over to Elysa's apartment to drop off the peacocks that had been traveling with us for the last 2,000 miles.  Yes, peacocks.  Elysa inherited a peacock mosaic from my parents.  No, my parents are still with us and doing fine, thanks.  My mom is downsizing, though, much to my Dad's chagrin (is that a good way to put it, Dad?), so the peacocks came with us.  It was kind of funny because while we watched home movies back in Walnut Creek last week, we saw a 1961 film showing the peacocks in the background!  Ah, sweet history.  And so the peacocks now roost in Elysa's apartment.

While there we past on goodies we picked up for Elysa, and Elysa gave me my Mother's Day gift.

Okay, I try not to boast about my kids because I think that gets annoying.  So, if you don't liked bragging, then skip to the next paragraph.  Jenni got tired of hearing me complain about my cell phone, so she bought me a brand new Windows phone for Mother's Day.  I chipped in because I felt guilty about the cost.  Because I chipped in, Jenni decided to also buy me a phone case and screen protector (coming in the mail tomorrow) and then mentioned that something else is coming in the mail tomorrow.  On Mother's Day proper, we were traveling through Oregon so Jenni offered to take me to a fun place for lunch.  Upon arrival at Elysa's apartment I found a wooden basket full of tangelos, oranges, pears, apricots, cherries, and--oh, my bathroom scale--homemade bonbons and chocolate dipped cherries and strawberries.  The bonbons are all different flavors--orange, lemon, vanilla, almond, butterscotch, raspberry--and there must be two pounds of them!  My friends are all going to have to break their diets.  I have the greatest daughters.

In less than an hour, Jenni and I found ourselves at home.  HOME??  Didn't we just leave Tillamook this morning? Yes, folks, we drove all the way home.  We had planned to spend the night in Port Townsend, a marvelous seaside village, but when I proposed to Jenni that we skip the libraries in Port Angeles and Port Townsend and head straight home, she readily agreed.  We've had enough of hotel rooms and driving, and Jenni's had enough of my snoring.  We got home after 7:00, Mike helped unload the car, and then I crashed.  As I type this, a day later, Jenni is outside working in the yard (she loves doing that as long as it doesn't include weeding).  Since we gave ourselves until Wednesday to get back, I'm just taking it easy, slowly working through the laundry and the mail. 

We put 3,365 miles on my car with this trip--1,644 of those miles were just Jenni and me on the coastal trip.  I wanted a road trip and I got a road trip!  We had a marvelous time.  This trip meant a lot to me.  I'm glad Jenni came along and I'm glad she had the patience to put up with her mother in such close quarters for such a long time.  Thanks to Mike for supporting me in this journey; Mike, you're the best.

And so ends my West Coast Adventure.  What comes next???

A Mother of a Day

Dutch Bros. Coffee saved Eureka, and that is a tall (or grande--ha ha) order.  On top of gouging us an additional 50% on our hotel bill, our hotel left things unplugged and what outlets they had were on light switches.  We had to plug in the air conditioner, plug in the refrigerator (which was on a switch, too), and I forgot to make sure the outlet I thought I was charging my cell phone on wasn't on a switch.  And--get this--they installed a door size mirror on the back of the bathroom door so that you had to stare at yourself while you were on the commode.  We weren't very happy.

But, on the way out of town we visited a Dutch Bros. Coffee stand where they not only gave me a free Mother's Day drink, but they also gave Jenni one.  I love Dutch Bros. Coffee.  We need one in Marysville.

We said goodbye to Eureka without hesitation and moved on north.  The road here is four lanes wide and 65 mph to the Oregon border.  We were traveling much faster than on PCH so we covered a lot of ground today.  The landscape is much more familiar, now, typical of what you see on the west side of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.  It was a comfortable familiarity and I realized I missed the trees.  Good to be back in the north.

Even the bicyclists changed.  The bicyclists on the PCH were primarily day trippers.  EVERY bicyclist we saw today was fully packed, some towing trailers.  Upon entering Oregon Hwy 101 is labeled with signs stating Oregon Coast Bike Route.  Most bikers were traveling south.  Perhaps they thought they were going downhill.  [On a side note: the bicyclists in Eureka were all scraggly, hairy, scary looking men.]

We're also seeing grander bridges.  Very long, very tall, and very wide.  These gargantuan bridges are crossing bays, estuaries, and very wide rivers.  We also crossed several smaller bridges due to either rivers & creeks or to canyons.

I must say, I am in awe of the original surveyors of this highway.  As we drove along I wondered how they decided this was the best place to put a highway.  Sometimes we were right amongst the sand dunes and other times we were a hundred feet up on a cliff.  Sometimes they required a bridge and other times the highway turns inland following a canyon.  The original surveyors didn't have a road to take them to this coast.  How did they get up those cliffs to really know what was up there?  I am just impressed.

As for fauna, today we saw egret, bunny, elk, and dead possum.  As far as flora, we drove past a skunk cabbage farm.  Who woulda thunk?

The Oregon Coast boasts several vacation destinations.  We drove past one Ogden family vacation spot in Gold Beach.  Jenni and I lunched in Coos Bay.  We were appalled to find a Wal-Mart in Newport.

We eventually found ourselves traveling past dairy farms so we knew we were nearing Tillamook.  Since I want to visit the creamery, we decided to spend the night here.  We have a much better hotel room--with working outlets--and at half the cost.  I like Tillamook.

Beware Grad Night

Airlines were taking off next to our hotel this morning, so we took off, too.

We went back to Hwy 1 where we left it; luckily nobody took it, so it was still there.  Since the day started out foggy, Jenni and I knew we weren't going to see much.  Hwy 1 soon became a city street and we trekked north through Golden Gate Park.  We traveled through a very long DARK tunnel (no lights) and emerged onto Hwy 101 just before it headed over the Golden Gate Bridge.  At least we think it was the Golden Gate Bridge.  All we saw was fog.

After we drove over what was presumably a bridge, Hwy 1 soon split from 101.  We immediately left Hwy 1 and headed to the most charming valley I've ever been in--Mill Valley.  Here we found what used to be a Carnegie Library hidden in the trees--well hidden.  It's now a private residence and you'd never know it used to be a civic building.

We drove back to Hwy 1 and continued our journey north.  I've written about roads with character.  They've got nothing on this road!  Much of the road had a 35 mph speed limit--we didn't often go that fast.  Twisty, turny, topsy turvy.  What a great road!  Now, if you were to ask me about the landscape, I can tell you it looked like fog.

What we did see of the landscape had changed from the low grasses we saw yesterday.  We saw more trees and quite a few roadside bushes.  Large roadside bushes.  I often thought I shrank down to the size of a mouse and was running down animal paths.  Again, we saw lots of wildflowers.  At one point we passed a home that had wildflowers planted all around it and across the road.  Yellow, purple, and white wildflowers accompanied a panoply of California poppies, along with yellow poppy-like flowers that had orange centers.  Stunning.

We drove around Mt. Tamalpais and past Stinson Beach.  I remember coming here as a teenager with my family.  I'm not sure why we brought our Dalmatian with us because she didn't like water.  We were allowed to let her run off leash.  Again, I'm not sure why we would do this, because she never came when called.  Pepper had a ball running free on the beach.  However, as soon as we got in the water, Pepper freaked out.  She barked at us, ran up and down the shoreline, she even ignored her fear of the water and ran in to paw at us.  She did not like us in that water.  As soon as we came out, Pepper went on her merry way.  Get back in the water, and the freak was on, again.  Weird dog.  I loved her.  Miss you, Pepper!

We continued up through Point Reyes--a large wetlands area.  We zigzagged through Point Reyes Station where my family supped a few years ago during a family vacation to Dillon Beach, several miles further up the road.  Further north we traveled past Bodega Bay, weaving along, working our way toward Sea Ranch.  About this time we're getting butt-numb, antsy, and I found myself looking for bathroom facilities.  Aside from a few dodgy looking restaurants and several scraggly bushes, no facilities could be found.  We finally came upon Little River State Park, and the name was indicative of my situation.  Saved!  Thank you, State of California!

A flock of water fowl escorted us up the coast for several miles.  We never quite caught up with them so we can't tell you what kind of bird it was.  (That should give you an idea of how fast we were moving.  "As a crow flies..." certainly benefited them.) We also saw quail, tons of vultures, blue jays, hawks, maybe eagles, two deer, and a really stupid duck that tried to cross the road with her brood.  Luckily we spotted them in time.

All day yesterday and up until this point, I did all the driving.  Jenni's not very comfortable driving my car on windy roads and I LOVE windy roads, so I was happy to do all the driving.  It was time, though, to hand over the wheel, so Jenni took us the rest of the way.  Up through Mendocino we went and into Fort Bragg.  It was exciting to see all these coastal towns I had only heard of.  Trees were taller and bushes grew scarce.  We knew when we were drifting inland because the sun would come out.  Poor Jenni had to drive some of the windiest roads of the day. 

It was during Jenni's drive that we encountered our first redwood trees.  The road weaved around these incredible giants.  Absolutely stunning.

Soon we saw the last we of the Pacific Ocean from this road.  Why?  Well, this picture should explain it:

 

Bye, bye to the Pacific Coast Highway, Cabrillo Highway, Coast Highway, Shoreline Highway--whatever you call it, it's the good 'ol Hwy 1.  [Jenni Wiki'd California State Route 1 and learned that the highway ends here because the coastal cliffs north of here are too steep and unstable.  She also learned something else interesting.  In yesterday's blog I noted that we passed a colossal construction of two tunnels and two bridges.  It turns out that area is referred to as Devil's Slide.  Recent slides shut the highway down for months.  In fact, the highway used to run past Pacifica and up to Daly City, but an earthquake in 1957 wiped out a large portion of the highway.]

After saying goodbye to Hwy 1, we joined Hwy 101 and  a new highway name was added to the list--Redwood Highway.  101 was called El Camino Real when we rode it in Santa Barbara, but we can easily adjust to the new name.

After stopping in Garberville for gas, we continued into Humboldt County and then back to the coast and up to Eureka.  In Eureka we found one of the most beautiful Carnegie buildings I've ever seen.  This building is now a modern art museum and was lovingly restored.

Look at this very small sampling of the mosaic floor:

The woodwork was incredible, too.

It was time to find a motel.  Somehow we managed to land in Eureka during graduation weekend for Humboldt State University.  The hotels universally raised their rates by 50%.  And no other hotels for miles.  And they have lousy internet.  It's taking me 3 hours to write this because of the upload time.  (Of course, it could be the distraction of "Storage Wars.")  Thank goodness for the gift of the library; I'll focus on that.

Tomorrow we'll say goodbye to California and hello to Oregon.  Yippee!

Somewhere Out There...

I have been looking forward to this leg of the trip for sometime.  The drive up Hwy 1 between San Luis Obispo and Monterey is famed and historic.  You know that picture you always see of that spectacular bridge?  We drove over that!


 

 No, I didn't take this picture.  I found it on the web.

I was very excited as we set off north (past Cal Poly, John!).  It was a bit of an overcast day and the mist was heavy, covering the tops of the nearby hills.  As we drove closer to the coast it became clear that the mist wasn't going away.  We entered Morro Bay and sure enough--fog--mist--low clouds--it all adds up to poor visibility.  This isn't unusual for the California coast, but it is still frustrating.  We could only hope it would burn off soon.  Off course, the temps were in the 50's--doesn't bode well for burning off.

Still, what coast we could see was spectacular.  Every once in a while gray seas came into view, crashing onto the rocky shore below.  The four lane highway became a two lane highway and then the two lane highway quickly became quite windy.  Driving in spring may mean more fog, but it means less traffic.  I think the bicycles outnumbered the autos.  And no RV's. 

We drove past San Simeon and waved in the direction of Hearst Castle.  Soon we were driving over those spectacular bridges near Big Sur.  We drove past some kind of seal down on the rocks (the sign said Elephant Seals, but they were too gray and too small). We zoomed past windswept Monterey Pines and jillions of wildflowers.  What we could see was amazing.

Soon we arrived in Monterey and found our first Carnegie library of the day.  This is a large building which belongs to a university.  It wasn't very exciting and had been remodeled extensively.

The drive over to Pacific Grove was fun.  We navigated up into the Monterey Peninsula and around its rocky shores and into the lovely little town of Pacific Grove.  There we found another renovated building, but this one was done right.  It's still a public library.  The city added on to the building FOUR times over the years.  With each addition the architect strove to keep the character of the original building.  You can seen remnants of the original perimeter of the building on the interior.  Well done, Pacific Grove!

  That curved area is the reading room.  It's beautiful.  You can see one of the early additions on the right.

We took a potty break at a McDonalds that didn't look like a McDonalds, and then we're off towards Santa Cruz.  Santa Cruz still boasts two of an original four Carnegie buildings.  The first was on the east bluff and is currently a museum.  It had an add-on, too, but the original had bent wings, which was interesting.  (No pics to do it justice due to the large trees in front.)  The curator wasn't sure about the history of the building, but she's a UW grad, and that's worth a $5 donation!

We dropped down to the beach and visited the Santa Cruz boardwalk and the wharf.  I remember going to the boardwalk with friends on Senior Cut Day in 1976.  We went down in my friend's convertible--four girls and one guy.  We have family who own a cabin in the nearby hills, so I've been in Santa Cruz on several occasions.

While out on the wharf we came face to face with a bunch of sea lions sunning (sun?) on a floating pier.  Think any of them were in San Francisco the other day?

It's still a weird town with many identifies and each neighborhood has a character all it's own.  It can be rather confusing.  But the downtown is pretty and has many eateries.  Which is why Jenni and I went right back to the same sandwich shop my brother, John, introduced us to last year.

On the west bluff we found the second building which is still a library.  Small and ordinary, but had a charm all its own.

After fueling at Costco--I was rather surprised to find one in Santa Cruz--we hopped back onto the Carrillo Highway and headed north towards Half Moon Bay.  We went online (I love our smart phones) to check out possibilities for motels in Half Moon Bay, read a few reviews, and decided we didn't want to pay a lot of money for a decent hotel.  So we decided to drive up to Pacifica and cut over to South San Francisco where we would find our last Carnegie building of the day.

During today's trip we drove past several small bits of construction--landslide clean up, replacement of washed away road--and had already driven past a large construction site where a new bridge was being constructed.  This was nothing compared to the marvel of engineering we south of Pacifica.  Two new holes are being bored through a large hill.  We were quite amazed by it, but couldn't see where the tunnels emerged on the other end  A mile further down the road and we got our answer:  We found the opposite ends of the two tunnels and they emptied out onto two amazing bridges--same graceful design as the new bridge we saw further south.  I think we found out where all of California's road funds are going.  If you want to check out this massive project, pull up Pacifica on Google Maps Satellite and scan a bit south past the houses.


The South San Francisco building is another beautiful library and once again I'm frustrated with a closed sign.  Pooey.

As an aside, South San Francisco is a town all its own and is not to be confused with south San Francisco, which includes the Mission District.  South San Francisco is much prettier than the Mission District.

We're now in a comfortable hotel and watching Deadliest Catch.  Tomorrow we'll head north crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

And so it begins...

At 8:30 this morning Jenni and I started our West Coast Adventures.  Officially.  Without Mike.  Just us.

We dropped Mike off at the Long Beach Airport and proceeded to Hwy 1--the Pacific Coast Highway.  This highway--with occasional visits to Hwy 101, will take us all the way into Northern California.  I've visited different parts of PCH, but always wanted to drive the entire highway.

The trip out of the LA basin took quite a while.  In Southern California, PCH travels through several--no, A LOT--of small beach communities. Starting in Long Beach we visited Wilmington, Palos Verdes, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo (where we drove under the LAX runway), Playa Del Rey, Marina Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Topanga Beach, and then, finally, Malibu.  While we saw tons of Jack in the Boxes, an accessible Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was nowhere to be found.

After Malibu, the city driving slowly gave way to beautiful coastal views.  We drove by Port Hueneme and Point Mugu where Mike worked while in college.  We soon arrived in Oxnard where we visited our first Carnegie Library of the day.  This library is currently a museum and was closed.  I would have very much liked to see the inside of this rather large and very white building.

We found a Starbucks nearby and picked up a mid-morning drink.  This reminded Jenni how much she does NOT like Starbucks espresso.  This is unfortunate because I LOVE Starbucks iced tea.  Compromises abound!

Back on to Hwy 1 and we soon had to join Hwy 101.  Just a bit past Ventura, Hwy 1 reappeared and we enjoyed a short run along a strip of land between the ocean and Hwy 101.  This turned out to be a very popular location for RV parking.  We eventually were forced back onto Hwy 101.  This time we stayed on all the way into Santa Barbara.

Mike and I met in Santa Barbara when we were both going to school at UC Santa Barbara.  We've always loved this place, partly because of the significance of the area, but also because it is so beautiful and the weather is temperate.  Jenni and I drove into the city and I was pleased to see that the community is as beautiful as ever.  As we drove around looking for the local Carnegie building I found myself in familiar surroundings.  The library was right across the street from the Santa Barbara County Courthouse!.  Not only was this a favored place to picnic--it is an incredibly beautiful site--but this is where Mike and I applied for our marriage license.  Ah, sweet memories!

Jenni and I parked and investigated this rather large edifice of a library.  We found nary a clue that this was a Carnegie building.  We have our doubts, but will trust the California Carnegie Library website.

Yeah, we were unimpressed, too.  This library is the only way Santa Barbara could disappoint me.

Jenni and I walked around and I located where Mike and my favorite restaurant used to reside.  We walked over to the building where as a college student I worked part time for Lawyer's Title.  My dad got me this job because a friend of his was the office manager.  However, I can proudly say I kept the job!  Thanks, Dad!

After relocating my car, we got back on the freeway and headed up to Isla Vista.  This was a very small community where UCSB students live.  Well, it WAS very small.  We were surprised to find a large shopping center with a Costco.  This made a great lunch stop (believe it not).

It was hard to leave, but leave we must.  Hwy 101 (or El Camino Real--a great California/Spanish history lesson) took us further west until the Pacific Coast Highway--now the Carrillo Highway--went its own way.  This time we found ourselves in rolling green hills and dropped rather unexpectedly into Lompoc where we found our third library of the day.

Now this was a gem!  This library is typical of a small town.  It is now a museum, but the insides were completely remodeled 50 years ago.  Inside decorative pillars--probably made of wood--were removed and large beams installed in the hopes of opening up the building.  But it wasn't the building that was the gem.  Inside the museum I located a wonderful source of information who was determined to find out all she could about her building.  She was a font of Carnegie library knowledge and recommended a couple books regarding the Carnegie Library legacy.  I think Jenni must have wondered what had happened to me (turns out she was singing while waiting), but I eventually emerged.

Back onto the Carrillo Highway and we worked our way through Vandenburg Air Force Base and through the tiny communities of Mission Hills, Vandenburg Village, Orcutt, Waldorf, Guadalupe, Bromela, Oceano, Grover Beach, and into Pismo Beach.  Here we were once again forced onto Hwy 101 which took us all the way to San Luis Obispo where our fourth and last Carnegie awaited us.

This building was, by far, the sweetest looking of the bunch.  Once, again, this museum was closed, a major disappointment.  It's a beautiful site and through the front doors it looked like the interior was well preserved.  Oh, well.

While I'm not very familiar with this town, my brother John is; he attended Cal Poly SLO here, and I think he'd say it was amongst the best years of his life.  I know he very much cares for this community.  Given that there are a few wineries in the area now, I think we can find an excuse to come back.

Jenni and I are holed up in a Ramada Inn.  Great price, nice room, good accommodations.  Jenni just came back from a short run.  Tomorrow we'll be driving through some of the most beautiful scenery in the state.  I am really looking forward to this.

How You Can Ruin Things for All

Apparently a proposition was passed that stated that warnings for potential cancerous hazards has to be posted.  We saw a similar sign in a coffee shop.  It should say "et nauseum" at the end.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I doesn't matter how warm or cold the day.  It doesn't matter on your mood when you arrive.  There is something special about this wonderland.  The minute I step inside the gates, walk through the tunnels under the railway, something just clicks into place.  I'm back.  This is where I should be.

I don't know why I feel this way.  I don't know when I started feeling this way.  Maybe it was at my first visit at four years of age. Maybe it was during those 11 years when my family lived 20 minutes away.  Maybe it was when I visited for my high school grad night.  Was it when I first went with Mike?  With the kids?  I'm not sure when it was, but this place holds a special place in my soul.

We arrive in Anaheim around 8:30 in the morning and checked into the best non-Disney hotel ever--Candy Cane Inn.  I remember seeing this hotel as a girl and wishing we could stay there.  How could you not want to visit someplace called Candy Cane Inn?  It's a real storybook kind of place, absolutely beautiful.  I've never seen it in spring, but there are flowers blooming everywhere.  GREAT accommodations.

We walked through the turnstiles just past 9am.  We went where we needed to go, saw what we needed to see, and experienced all we needed to experience.  The temps rose into the 80's--a bit on the warm side, but somehow that didn't matter (lots of trees, cool places, air conditioning).

Mike and I went back to the hotel during the hottest of the day while Jenni visited California Adventure (she could with her annual pass).  We went back to the magic around 6 and explored some more.  Disneyland is most magical at night.  While Mike & Jenni experienced Star Tours, I walked over to Main Street and visited every shop.  I sat near the flag pole and soaked in the lights, sounds, and smells of the park.  Enchanting.

We left at closing at 9pm.  It was really sad to go, but what a beautiful day.

Midway Twix the Zoo and the World

We looked up the prices to go to Sea World and gasped.  Uh, no.  Then we looked up the prices for the San Diego Zoo.  What?!?  Uh, no.

So the cheapskates decided to do some visiting around the San Diego area. 

First we located the house Mike lived in 45 years ago.  We found his school and where he played ball.  We showed Jenni the infamous "hill" that Mike's sister Susan always talks about.  ("Hill" is in quotes because it is not much of a hill.)

Afterwards we drove downtown and found the El Cortez Hotel.  The San Diego Comic Con used to be held at the El Cortez and Mike has many fond memories.  His last two visits there included a certain redhead.  Sometime after the Comic Con moved to the new convention center on the water, the El Cortez razed their convention center, which was an add-on, anyway to the original old hotel.  The hotel was refurbished and really looks nice. 

We parked downtown and stopped at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (believe me, we'll be doing a lot more of that) and then Jenni showed us where she stayed when she came down for a convention for her job.

We found our way to the waterfront where I spied a what looked like a fun place to eat.

Instead we ate here:

That's the fantail of the USS Midway.  It's an aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in 1992.  This aircraft carrier ran very successful missions in Viet Nam and Operation Desert Storm, amongst others.  We decided to take the tour and it took over four hours.  I highly recommend this tour, HOWEVER, don't do it if it's a hot day, if you have issues with claustrophobia, or it you don't like climbing near vertical stairways.  It was designed for dinky winky sailors, after all.  This really was an incredible experience and I'm very glad we did it.  My feet aren't glad, but my brain is glad.

After abandoning the Midway, we walked back to the car (which was about 2 miles away).  I really wanted to see the San Diego Mission, so we drove over.  The mission isn't anywhere near downtown but it was a pretty drive.  We found the mission, I saw it, then we drove away.  No way would my feet let me do that!  They need to get me through Disneyland tomorrow!

We found a large--really large--mall nearby and stopped for dinner.  Now we're back at the hotel and veggin' out.  Jenni's packing for our trip tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be Mike's last full day with us. 

Southernmost Point

We made it to San Diego!  Yay!  We left Walnut Creek around 7:30 in the morning and headed straight down to San Diego.  California's economic crisis was evident on most of our trip.  We started out traveling back roads in order to avoid a potential rush hour traffic jam.  The road was bent, buckled, potholed, and partially patched--yet still very popular.  Even I-5 was quite rough in several places.  On more than one occasion our car bobbed and weaved, bounced and wobbled.  For the first time I was a bit worried about my 12 year old car--until I saw someone driving a bent, rusted hulk of a station wagon manufactured around the 1950's.  I've got a great car; no more complaints.  (Don't worry, Mary; I'm taking good care of it.)

We arrived in San Diego around 4:30.  Our quaint little hotel is located on the Pacific Hwy just across from Old Town--San Diego's birthplace.  We walked over to Old Town to enjoy a nice Mexican dinner (thanks for the suggestion, Anne) and then took a walk around the area.  The temperatures are in the upper 60's.  Mary reported to me that Seattle is just a few degrees warmer.  Somehow that figures.

We haven't quite figured out what we are doing tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

A Great Day at Home

They say there is no place like home.  I only lived in my parents' Walnut Creek home for three years, and that was over 35 years ago.  But there is much to say about being in my parents' home with my siblings and their families all around that makes everything fall into place.  I only wish Elysa could have been there with us.

Today is my Dad's 83rd birthday.  My brother, John, and his wife, Barbara, and their dogs Memo and Molé from San Jose; my sister, Lauri, who lives with my parents; and my brother, Rick, and his wife, Kathryn, and their children Jackie & Graham; all were there to celebrate Dad's birthday.

It was a marvelous afternoon and evening.  We made chalk drawings in the side yard, played Frisbee with Memo, enjoyed good drink, food, and great conversation, and reveled in each others' company.  My Dad opened birthday presents and we laughed at funny cards and joked around.  My Dad and brothers always had a great sense of humor and much was shared today.

Perhaps the most wonderful point came, however, when my dad unwrapped a book Rick and Kathryn made (with Walmart's help) of all the planes my dad ever flew.  My dad started flying around 1959 and it became a passion for him and a lifestyle for us.  As kids, we had no idea how extraordinary this experience was.  We flew all over the western United States; John and I were fortunate enough to fly cross country with my mom and dad in 1968.  Several months ago we started an e-mail conversation filled with remembrances of our various trips.  Each of the "kids" remembered different things, even different from what my parents remembered.  Rick compiled all those emails and then went online to locate ALL of the planes my dad every flew.  Together with photographs from my parents' photo albums, Rick and Kathryn put together an incredible book that brought tears to my Dad's eyes (I'm tearing up thinking about it).  It was a very tender moment and one I'll never forget.  Thank you, Rick and Kat; that was the most incredible present ever.

After recovering from the emotions and enjoying a fantastic meal (including that sourdough crab we carried all over San Francisco) we sat down and enjoyed some films of us as kids.  My dad had digitized, edited, and then recorded the films to DVD.  The pictures of my 2 year old baby brother watching a Jack in the Box are a riot.  Our favorite scene: watching 15 kids load into a small station wagon to go to Knott's Berry Farm for a birthday party.  15 kids!

This was an incredible day and I am thankful for every moment I was able to share with my family.  Keep your family close; nothing else compares. 

Jenni Made Me Tired

This morning Mike, Jenni, and I drove down to the local BART station and took a relaxing ride into San Francisco.  Oh, how I wish we had a BART-like transportation system in the Puget Sound.  There isn't a better way to get into San Francisco.  It was easy peasy and less than $10 round trip.

We got off at the Embarcadero and started our SF day at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  Jenni loves this California competitor to Starbucks.  We walked to the Ferry Building which was saved from demolition and renovated into an office, meeting, and retail complex.

From there we walked along the Embarcadero and enjoyed the most beautiful day any of us ever enjoyed in this normally foggy, cold city.  Folks were walking their dogs, jogging, and generally enjoying the sunshine.

Now, keep in mind this is a brisk walk.  One never strolls when walking with Jenni.  We made it to Pier 39 in no time.  My, what an incredibly beautiful day.  After visiting a couple shops we walked out on the wharf and watched the sea lions basking in the sun.  My what a bunch of clowns they are!  Barking whenever one moves just the wrong way.  Jumping up one of the island docks, and then right back in, again.  A pair of pelicans coasted overhead--what an amazing sight.

We walked further west along the Embarcadero and stopped at the Boudin Bakery, famous for sourdough bread.  We bought two small loaves shaped like turtles for my niece and nephew and a large loaf shaped like a crab.  We carried that darn crab for the rest of the day.

Another block or two over and we stopped at Fisherman's Wharf so Mike could enjoy a crab sandwich.  He said is was more crab than he'd ever seen on a sandwich.  It was a mound of crab.

We walked to Ghirardelli Square looking for something for me to eat, found nothing, and decided to continue over to the Presidio.  Mike hadn't been there before.  Jenni and I went there last year when we visited the Walt Disney Family Museum.  The Presidio was originally founded by the Spanish a very long time ago and later acquired by US Military.  The Presidio was revitalized into an active business park.  Industrial Light and Magic has several buildings there.  Amongst the park-like beauty and old brick buildings we found--believe it or not--a Starbucks.  Jenni and I actually visited this Starbucks last year.  We stopped for a bite and rested a bit.  By this time we had walked about 4 1/2 miles.  The crab had a nice ride.

It was time to start back and so we proceeded toward Market Street and the financial district.  The BART tracks run underground beneath Market Street.  Unfortunately, a series of hills runs between the Presidio and Market.  I think Jenni wanted to visit all of them.  We walked through some of the most beautiful neighborhoods, filled with stunning homes and beautiful gardens.

The temperatures reached around 70 degrees and it was very warm walking.  And these hills go straight up!  No, really!  Straight up!  And then we went straight down!  And then up!  It's amazing.  And, oh, my knees hurt.  And my ankles hurt.  And my face was red.  We ended up at a park that was located at the top of the world.  We rested a bit and then Jenni found a way to make us climb even more hills.

We zigzagged our way to Powell Street and walked down to Market.  Back onto BART and we headed back to Walnut Creek.

Now I can't move.  I can't think.  I can barely type.  Mike figures we walked about 9.5 miles, the crab, two turtles and us.  (Jeanne, I think this makes up for missing our walk this week.)  Tomorrow we get to rest for the morning before the rest of my family joins us for a birthday celebration for my dad.

Roads with Character

Andrew Carnegie was a steel magnate with a drive towards philanthropy.  His best contribution to the United States of America was public libraries.  Hundreds of cities, towns, and communities across the contiguous states gained libraries they otherwise wouldn't enjoy.  Up to that point, most libraries were organized by women's clubs and housed in somebody's front parlor.  Carnegie required that cities support the libraries he funded--hence the public library system grew to become the standard in every town.

I was fascinated to discover that there were Carnegie libraries all over my home state.  As Jenni and I researched the subject we decided to locate as many libraries as we could.  Without looking at the statistics, I'd say about 60% of Carnegie library buildings still exist--many still housing public libraries.  A great example of the Carnegie legacy is the Seattle library system.  Six of the original seven Carnegie community libraries still operate in the Seattle Public Library system.  These libraries were all updated a couple years ago and are just beautiful.  My favorite is the Columbia branch, although the Fremont branch comes a close second.

The more we investigated libraries, the more I became enthralled.  Jenni found websites for Oregon and California Carnegie libraries and my passion grew.

Hence our adventure today.  We started off traveling to the Carquinez Bridge to Vallejo.  In order to get there, our drive included a small windy road over the hills. This was just the first in a long line of interesting roads that we visited.  The Bay Area really is a beautiful part of California, particularly in Spring.  Everywhere we went we found green hills, a large variety of trees, wildflowers lining the roadways, and beautiful little towns.

We drove over the old section of the Carquinez Bridge into Vallejo, passed around Six Flags and headed West on Hwy 37 (the fourth highway so far just on this day).  Soon after joining the highway we started up a VERY steep bridge with VERY low sides.  It was a rather odd feeling, but quite exciting.  Hwy 37 takes you right along the north bay at sea level.  The two lane highway was built on wetlands and so the asphalt road undulates for miles.  Highway speeds in California run a bit high and drivers run even faster.  We bounced and weaved while observing the beauty around us.

We joined another highway and headed north to Sonoma.  This valley is wine country and grape vines were all around.  We found our first Carnegie library in this beautiful little town.  The central square where the library (now a Visitors Center) occupies reminded me quite a bit of the town square in "Back to the Future."  I kept looking for Marty McFly and his DeLorean.  The last and northernmost mission in the Spanish mission system is located catty corner from the library square.  This is a fun little town and I wish we had more time to visit all the shops.

Back onto the dinky little highway and we headed north to the smallest, windiest road is the entire state of California.  I love driving this type of road!  Luckily no one in the back seat got carsick.  This road took us over the hills and dropped us into Napa Valley to the east.  Our target was a library located in St. Helena but on the way we stopped at our favorite winery--V. Sattui.   They only sell wine at the winery and since we rarely drive down here, we don't often get to stop by.  We picked up sandwiches at their deli and enjoyed lunch in their picnic area.  Afterwards, we tasted several wines and came away with nine bottles (three for you, Elysa!).  V. Sattui makes my favorite Reisling.  I'm happy now!

Afterwards we fought traffic into St. Helena and found our target building off the highway.  This one is a community building and was locked up.  We didn't get to look inside, but it is a good example of how a community tried to make the building look less typical and more special.

Back on the road heading north (another small but less windy beauty), we headed through the hills over to Healdsburg where we found our third Carnegie Building.  This one is now a museum and we received permission to take pictures inside. This is a good example of a typical Carnegie library.

We were forced to leave beautiful, little highways and drove on Hwy 101 down to Petaluma.  The Petaluma building is an extraordinary building.  It was huge--at least compared to the other buildings we saw today--and had a large domed stained glass ceiling.  This was a two-story building (all of these buildings included daylight basements--typical of Carnegie buildings).  This building is beautifully restored and is now a museum.  The woodwork is astounding and extravagant.

It was getting late after we left the Petaluma building so we headed south on 101 towards home.  We hit a bit of traffic (it was Friday afternoon) but eventually made it to downtown Walnut Creek.  My parents' hometown is stunning downtown.  The city created an outdoor mall area that encompasses several city blocks.  The stores are largely upscale and my mother wanted us to visit the new Neiman-Marcus store.  Talk about extravagance!  This place is unbelievable.  I felt so out of place amongst the artwork.  The city requires all new buildings to have some sort of public art, and Neiman-Marcus went all out.  Artwork dances in the wind over the entrances.  There was artwork in the window displays and on the interior walls.  The ultimate of pretentiousness.

We're finally home and relaxing on the back deck.  The temps reached about 72 degrees today and we enjoyed plenty of sunshine.  Tomorrow is a day on foot--no more driving marathons until Monday.

The First 900

Yes, we survived the first day!  This is the most driving we will do in one day on this trip.  I'm pooped!  Can't go to bed, yet...

We left the house at 4:15am.  Mike's idea, not mine!  This got us through Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia before rush hour.  Good deal because it POURED rain the entire time.  However, we did hit rush hour in Portland.  We like driving around the city on Hwy 205, and I believe that helped quite a bit because we only had a few slow downs to contend with.  Still pouring rain at this time.

It poured rain most of the way through Oregon, too.  I mean, IT NEVER STOPPED.  I was very fortunate at one point to put the intermittent wipers on low.  It really never stopped.

In southern Oregon the rains started to let up a bit.  We could actually see the ground in the distance!  We rarely travel through here in the spring and the hills were covered in green.  This is the most beautiful section on the drive to California.

After entering California, the rain--guess what?--continued.  Not as heavy, but it rained.  Of course, we planned to get pictures of Lake Shasta as we drove over so we could report to the rest of the family.  This year is houseboating year and we always ask about the level of the lake.  What we could see--a very low ceiling--showed us water all the way up to the tree line.  THAT doesn't happen too often.  Good news for us this summer!

We stopped in Corning at the Olive Pit to pick up a couple jars of olives.  They also had some wine tasting, so Mike indulged. (Yes, Elysa, we found a bottle for you.)  If you like olives, then you HAVE to stop at the Olive Pit.  They have olive tasting and more ways to jar olives.  We bought a jar of mustard olives for my Dad.  Visiting the Olive Pit reminds Mike of his Grandpa who used to jar his own olives.

15 and a half hours after we left our home we pulled into my parents driveway in Walnut Creek.  They waited dinner for us, so we had a wonderful, albeit late, dinner.

It's 10:30pm.  We're pooped.  Exhausted.  Achy.  Yet, excited to be here.  Tomorrow will be a day filled with history, wine, and scenic drives.  Stay tuned!

[Now, I can go to bed.]

Underway!

It's 3:30 in the friggin' morning.  Mike wants to be off by 4:00.  Jenni's still asleep on the couch.  Wakey, wakey!

Okay.  Pack?  Check.  Cat sitter?  Check (thanks, Susan!).  Someone watching the house?  Check.  Overfeed and water the cats?  Check (they're happy).  Unplug unnecessary plugs.  Gotta do that.  Doors and windows locked?  Check.  Car filled with gas?  Check.  Jenni up?  No, gotta work on that.

Okay.  Zero hour and zero miles.  Looks like we're off!  We've got 10 minutes to be OUT OF HERE!

It simply was a desire to go on a road trip.  I love road trips and rarely go on them.  Mike and I planned a road trip last year, and while it was a trip, and we used a road, we ended up doing little more than visit family.

Now don't get me wrong; visiting family is great.  But, to me, a "road trip" is an opportunity to travel where you've never been before.  The purpose is to go where the road takes you, stop when you want to stop, and have no schedule other than when you start and when you end.  Last year's trip didn't live up to that.

And, so, the desire for a road trip grew ever stronger in me.  In my mind I felt I had to justify the road trip.  I knew Mike couldn't or wouldn't take the time off to allow for enough time for a decent road trip.  How about just doing it because I want to?  Somehow that seemed extravagant.

And then there's the question of where.  And when.  Can't wait until summer--school's out and too many people on the road...and it gets too hot...gotta be spring...but Memorial Weekend is an awful time to be on the road...and I have a Girl Scout commitment mid-May...well, maybe if I keep it to a week...then maybe Mike could come...but what could we do in a week?  I guess head down to my folks and then back up the coast back home.  I've always wanted to drive the coast.

And, then pops in Jenni.  "Mom," she says, "you should drive up the entire California coast."  Wow, what fun that would be!  But that would take more than one week.  Especially if we included the Oregon and Washington coasts, too.  That's too long for Mike.  "Mom," she says, "you do the entire California coast and I'll come with you."  That did it.

So, here we are--planning a trip up the entire West Coast, starting in San Diego.  Mike will join us for the first week and then Jenni and I will take the coastal trip.

I've taken a few trips with my mom and always kept a journal.  Jeanne, a friend of mine, likes to blog.  She encouraged me to convert my journal idea into a blog, and so here we go.  Hopefully, Jenni will be able to work her tech magic so that I can post daily. 

I hope you will enjoy the journey with us.  It will be quite the West Coast Adventure.