Road Trip, Part 2, Day 15, Friday - Mount St. Helens

Ah, to sleep in! I will have to admit - 17 days is a tad too long for this girl. I was starting to poop out. Luckily, we had not committed ourselves to much of anything in Oregon. We lazed around a bit - nearly missing breakfast! Had a fast internet connection at long last so was able to post some things in the a.m. Then, we headed North to Mount St. Helens. Yes, indeedy, folks - there was still snow! And I wasn’t wearing any socks. But at least I wasn’t in flip-flops. The visibility could have been a tad bit better, but it was still amazing. As was our usual, we stopped very late in the day for ‘lunch’ at a place called Patty’s where hummingbirds flitted about the feeder hung on the deck. We drove back into Portland and I found the Green Dragon-home of Rogue beer tho they had about 50 taps of all different kinds. We also made a brief pitstop at Kir, because it was written up somewhere tho I don’t know why. It was tiny and crowded but fortunately connected to another Brew Pub! I even talked Dave into splitting a sampler - I thought there were 6 since there were 6 spots on the sample paddle, but there were actually TEN. All yummy except for the hot pepper beer...  that will always be one I leave behind (or make Charles drink!)

Road Trip, Part 2, Day 14, Thursday - Arcata, CA to Portland, OR

Continuing on without a plan, we drove the coast of Oregon up to Portland. Not too much to say about the day. Up and down, back and forth, winding, winding, winding. Truth be told, I was sorta on the look-out for some retirement ideas but came up empty. The places I thought were lovely, were a little too remote - where would I get groceries, how long would it take and what would I do with the rest of my time? I’ve already decided I’m no good at arts or crafts or gardening or the like. The places that were more convenient, just weren’t as beautiful as I imagined. So, we pulled into Portland near bedtime to a clean and non-pot-smelling room!

Jawbone of a whale

Road Trip, Part 2, Day 13, Wednesday - Sonoma to Arcata, CA

This is where we begin to go without a plan... The Groupon I got for the Jack London Lodge included a park pass for the Jack London Park. So we started the day there. Little interesting museum about his life and a nice park to hike in. Until you see a rattlesnake...  then, this little girl is done with nature! I thought I was safe walking behind Dave but he must have stepped right over it as it covered half the path! After that, I was ready for nature of a different kind. Nature in a glass - a stop at one last winery in memory of Rich and my trip a few years back - at Kunde. Then, back to the coast we went. We stopped for lunch at Bodega Bay (apparently where The Birds was filmed and/or based?). Another delightful view. Onward we trekked on the same 101 that curved up and down, in and out... until we finally met up with Highway 1 and the drive-thru tree! After that, we weren’t really sure where to stop for the night and ended up at a Red Roof Inn in Arcata. I thought since it said “Grand Opening”, we would be good. But, I think they meant Grand RE-Opening because it clearly was not new. The first room we were assigned didn’t even have bedding and the hallway reeked of pot. They still have a lot of hippies there according to the front desk clerk. The second room was a tad better but I still slept in my clothes...what can you expect for $49.99?

The house Jack London never lived in...and museum

The Rattler!!!

The house Jack London wanted to live in but burned down before he could move in. He died before he could re-build.

Another lunch with an awesome view! Corner window.

Not sure what Charlie Brown had to do with it. It was kinda fancy.

In addition to the curvy windiness, there are animal obstacles in the road!

Drive-thru tree...

That's me in the rental!

And look what they had - a Modine heater!

Road Trip, Part 2, Day 12, Tuesday - SF to Sonoma

Well this is an easy day to describe: WINE TOUR! Yay! I’m so glad that Mary Mortimer agreed to go with me instead of dragging Dave to something he has no interest in. Although the Wine Trolley turned into a Wine Bus :( it was still an awesome time. We took in four wineries: Imagery (tasting), Benziger (tour of vineyards, winery, tasting and lunch), Landmark (short tour and tasting) and Paradise Ridge (loooong tasting, love Annette!). After our return to Sonoma Square, we had a picnic dinner by their farmer’s market. The rest of the night is a tad blurry... good times! (No pictoral evidence either - besides what was already posted on facebook)

Road Trip, Part 2, Day 11, Monday - San Francisco

We had a whirlwind tour of San Francisco...even though I wore flip-flops and swore I was not walking all over the place today! We started at the Golden Gate Park and walked thru the Japanese garden. We also walked down to the beach to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. After that, we went to the City Hall building - which puts most state capitols to shame! Even though it was Monday, there were a lot of weddings going on. And, in full “dress”.

From there, Dave decided he did not want to drive anymore. So, we walked through the Tenderloin District to get to the cable car. Just to give you some idea if you haven’t been there before - and I hope you haven’t and won’t - it smells like a combination of pee and pot. Mmm-hmm. Glad it was broad daylight - even though that did not help much. We would be cabbing it back to the car!

Cable car ride to Ghiradelli Square where we had sundaes for lunch. Walk UP (and I mean UP) to walk down Lombard Street. More ups and downs to go through Chinatown. Transamerica Building was already closed, but you can’t go up in it anyway. Walk to the Ferry Building for Happy Hour with Mary Mortimer. Temperature dropping. No jacket. Walk back to Chinatown for delicious dinner. Cab to City Hall area for nightcap. Drop Mary off at scary BART stop. Drive around SF more. Get back to hotel for the night...  cold and blistered!

Biggest freaking koi I have ever seen!

Shakespeare Garden

Wisconsin Ginseng!