Day 15 - eureka to santa rosa

Our day started with the scenic drive through 'the avenue of the giants' which is through a forest of giant redwoods - this is no understatement they were truly massive!

We did a lot of the tourist attractions in the redwoods - we went inside a room inside an actual upright tree, we saw trees that had fallen down that were over 100 metres long and we drove through a tree! There are a few options on where to drive through a tree but we went for the one where it was a natural split in the tree. Awesome!

We then drove to the 'whole house in one log' it I, exactly what it says on the tin, it had a wee kitchen and even 2 beds, I'm not going to lie, We loved it. We got a wee lunch there. K had a pbj and I had half a beef sandwich, it would have been a whole sandwich but the cheese was yucky.

Soon after we headed onto highway 1 and towards the coast. This involved driving round mountains with big drops and very little security barriers, the view was amazing but I was terrified! At this point I thought a road couldn't be more frightening, a was later to be proven wrong!

We made it to the coast in one piece and yet again the view was amazing, and it was roasting!

Our first stop was fort bragg, it was a lovely wee town I had ice cream and we had a wee walk about.(when we got back on the road k got a mcdonald's sweet ice tea, no change there!)

Basically after this we just drove down the coast saying ooo and ah until we came to THE ROAD OF TERROR!

Hairpin bend after hairpin bend on cliffs above the ocean with mostly no barriers that went on for what felt like forever! K, of course, drove perfectly and we were safe but i was very scared.

We headed back inland at bodega bay and headed to santa rosa cos it will be easy to leave from tomorrow. We ended up slightly south in rohnert park. We went to chilis for dinner cos they have a 2 eat for $20 deal on and we are cheapos! We got tortilla chips with guac and salsa to share to start, they brought millions! I was pretty much full when my main came. K got chicken fajitas and I got chipotle chicken strips with corn on the cobb and chips. I ate 2 of the 5 chicken strips and the corn and had to get the rest to go!

There was a 'good nite inn' across from the restraunt so we just checked in here. We put a wash on then went to see what was about when we spotted crazy golf! We quickly pulled off the road and paid our money, it was amazing! Castles with doors that opened and all sorts, basically the mini golf that dreams are made of!

We came back to the motel to plan tomorrow and sort out the washing. Tomorrow we arrive in san fran and drop off the car.

Day 14 - photos

Day 14 - coos bay, or to eureka, ca

We woke up late so had to rush about to get out of the motel on time!

Once we were on the road we were pretty much straight into the coos county forest which was pretty awesome. The first town we came to was bandon where we took the scenic devour down beach loop drive where we saw some amazing views and face rock. We also passed quite a few more cranberry bogs.

We stopped for lunch at the paradise cafe in port orford, k had the biggest pancake I've ever seen and a peanut butter malt and I had a Philly cheese steak. It was awesome, it was all locals with really strong accents talking about fishing and us!

From this point on til the end of Oregon 60 miles later was mile after mile of rugged coast with amazing view after amazing view. There was lots of amazing rocks (like the goonies one) jutting out of the ocean and we went a few walks to view points, I think we took a million photos.

Then we sadly had to wave goodbye to Oregon because we hit California!

Basically we drove through a lot of redwoods and were in awe at the size of them. We also saw cool lagoons next to the ocean.

We arrived in eureka where we are staying tonight, before we checked into a motel we went for dinner. We went to hometown buffet which as the name suggests is a buffet restraunt. Only ten bucks each! We had some delicious food, and some delicious dessert!

We left very full and checked into a super 8 motel, pretty massive room and lots of tv channels (we're currently watching ace of cakes).

We went out cruising and got lost a little then went for a pop around target, classy!

Tomorrow we will drive through a tree!

Day 13 - more photos

Day 13 - portland to coos bay photos

Day 13- Portland to Coos bay

Kirsty here again- V is having problems with her phone and can't access the internet. So no photos today cos I can't do them on my phone. Hopefully V's phone will be working tomorrow.

This morning we got up and headed out towards the coast. The drive out of portland was quite interesting seeing vinyards and hazelnut groves. Once we got back on highway 101 it was lovely. Seriously. Sorry for using a cliche but words can't describe how spectacular the views were. Today was not a good day for the blog not to have photos!

Our first stop was a coffee and chocolate pretzel stick in lincoln city. This is not really a city, it's 5 towns that joined forces in the past so they could get a sewage system! Our next stop was at otter rock, then cape foulweather! The weather was not foul. We went to the gift shop which had panoramic views over a cliffside, and at the viewpoint we saw a whale! My favourite place we stopped was at the devil's punchbowl- a sort of pool carved out by the ocean into the rocks with water swilling in. There we saw another whale, more clearly this time, and victoria helped some other tourists to spot it.

We had lunch at a nice brewery in newport- the rogue brewery. V had pulled pork sliders and I had a blt. We explored the town and also saw the area around the aquarium which was made up to look like little streets with colourful buildings. We didn't have time to go into the aquarium unfortunately.

Back on the road we saw even more dramatic scenery and stopped at some viewpoints.
At Ona beach we went a walk through the wood, over a wee bridge across the creek and onto the sandy beach.

We stopped to look at the heceta lighthouse and were delighted to also see literally hundreds of seals on the rocks below! There is a sea cave where you can get a lift down to the bottom and see the seals but again we didn't have time. The town of florence had lots of dunes and activities to go with this like sand boarding or going on dune buggies.

After driving through some forest and lake areas (and seeing cranberry bogs!) we arrived at North Bend and Coos Bay which is where we are staying tonight in a motel 6. We went to a lovely italian restaurant for dinner and both got the half and half, i.e. spaghetti and another thing. V had lasagne and I had canneloni. It was nice to be able to try 2 different things on the menu and just have half portions. Also, the meals came with complementary soup, salad and garlic bread- as much as you wanted! I think they seemed surprised when we only had one portion of each- other people were having seconds!

Back at the motel now and v is already asleep! More dramatic coastline tomorrow...

Day 12 - portland some more

We started the day with a donut mission. An epic, waiting in the rain for 45 min, donut mission!

We hopped in the car and drove to voodoo donuts, we got a space right outside it - I took this as a good sign - and joined the queue. In the rain. The wait wasn't too bad, we chatted to some Americans and a Scottish guy that has been in America for 50 years.

We got the famous maple bacon car with real bacon on top for us and for Craig and Jana. We also got the eponymous voodoo donut, it is a wee donut man filled with raspberry alone with a pretzel pin stuck in.

After we stood in the queue for all that time the rain decided to stop! We went to local coffee roaster stumptown to chill and get a latte. It turns out it was the best coffee I've ever had.

We came back to the hotel to drop off the donuts and had one each for breakfast. K had a maple bacon and I had the voodoo donut but couldn't finish it. They were both delicious.

We then headed over to the 23rd st shopping area for some browsing. It was really nice, lots of cute shops. We each got a tshirt from Brooklyn industries, v nice!

Then we met Craig and baby arlo for a late lunch/early dinner. We just went to a pub on 23rd, I had soup and cajun tater tots, k had a veg burger and tots and Craig had a bacon cheeseburger... and tots. Arlo had some garlic bread, gherkins and a whole lot of table edge!

After dinner we went a big walk round the pearl district and took in the sights, it was cool, lots of really nice buildings and faded old painted on billboards. I took a fair amount of photos.

We took tle streetcar back down to 23rd and Craig got some icecream, he made the mistake of giving arlo some, it turned him into a gremlin! He was making this weird growling noise til he got more.

We got to the bus stop and after waiting for 20 minutes the bus turned up and said that was its last stop and the next one wasn't for half an hour! Craig had a sleepy baby strapped to his front so this was bad news! We decided to go to our hotel, get the car and give them a lift home.

Once we dropped them off we decided to go cruise east portland since we hadn't had time to visit it properly. We cruised about it and decided we had to bite tle bullet and get petrol. We were nervous about the fact that you aren't allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon but it was ok, it went smoothly.

Now we're back at the hotel planning our route back to the coast tomorrow and watching family guy. Nice.