California - Part 1

The Other Sunshine State!

We were pretty excited to make it all the way to California!  Just inside the state border we came upon the most beautiful river.  It looked so majestic we had to stop.

The water was so clean!!  I was wanting to jump in until we felt how cold it was.  There were some kids playing in it on the other side, but they had to be purple.

Our journey down the California coastline took us right through the Redwood Forest.  WOW!  These are trees!  It is impossible to capture the grand scale so I only took a few pictures.  You have to see them with your own eyes!

Out of the Redwood Forest we got our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean in Crescent City.  

The guy below was a bum who rode a bike with a dog on his back.  It was so weird!  The dog was constantly clawing at his shoulder to keep stable.

The oceanside drive was really cool with big boulders sticking out of the water and green green vegetation on the bank.

For an outdoor outing we stopped at the Trees of Mystery.  They had giant Paul Bunion that invited people into the attraction and talked to you.  I was happy to see they allowed dogs and we all set off up the gravel trail.

It was pretty cool because they had informational facts and carvings along the trail that led you up the mountain.  

At the top of the trail there was a gondola that took you up to the very top.  It was super steep and far off of the ground and I was a little scared.

Simon's first gondola ride.  He was scared too.

View from the top

Is that a sasquatch?

Trees of Mystery was a great pit stop and we all got to stretch our legs.  Plus they gave away free fudge samples in the gift shop.  BONUS!

Back on the road we got more great views of the Pacific Ocean.

Oregon

After driving straight through Idaho, we made it to Oregon late in the afternoon.  I checked the atlas and saw the Oregon Trail leading up further north.  Adam and I were ready for some warmer weather and didn't want to risk getting dysentery (Oregon Trail computer game joke!), so we decided to only experience the southern part of the state.  I definitely want to visit Portland and Washington some time in the future, but we have to save something for another trip.  

The landscape in central Oregon was gorgeous.  Most of the time we were following a river.  It looked so lush and pristine.

We stopped in a small town called Burns to get fuel and a motel room for the night.  Sweet surprise, in Oregon, they pump your gas for you and clean your windshield. Poor attendant had to get serious with it because we had about 10,000 bugs plastered on the glass.  We didn't know the protocol so I called my friend Lindsay, who had lived in Portland, to see if we were expected to tip.  She said no, but we gave the guy a couple of dollars for the superior windshield cleaning.

After a good nights sleep, we got back in the truck and set course for Eugene.  I was starving for lunch and on a whim we pulled into this drive in.  It was the most delicious burger that I have had in so long!  I had to take a picture of it because I couldn't stop raving about it and if we are ever there again I want to go back.

Twisting through the towns of Oregon, we thought we could cut some time by taking a road that is only open in the summer.  Little did we know there was a bike race with hundreds of bikers on the street.  There were no signs closing it to motor vehicles so we kept on driving.

Unfortunately, halfway on the shortcut the road was closed.  We had to turn around and get back into all the bike traffic.  Adam decided he would take the road less traveled to get back to the highway and we ended up on a gravel road.  Luckily his sense of direction was right on and we made it out of the forest alive!

Needing a good home cooked meal, we stayed at a cabin in Sunny Valley for the night.  Simon loved sitting on the front porch.  I was happy to be sheltered from the elements and not in a tent.  The nights were cold!

Adam cooked us a delicious meal of bar-b-que chicken and sautéed zucchinis.  Simon was never far away from the picnic table in case a tasty morsel got loose.

The next morning, the trees were sooo tall as we inched closer to the California border.  It was so amazing to see the incredibly dense and tall forests.  I totally believe in sasquatches now!  I always kind of have, but this trip confirms my belief.  The forests are so vast, there is no telling what is in there.  Not wanting to get into yet another argument with Adam about who would win in a fight between a yeti and a sasquatch, I kept my thoughts to myself.

Idaho

I don't quite know what to think about this state.  Leaving Jackson Hole, we crossed over a teton and had mountain views.  Closer to the middle of the state it looked more like the prairie.

I was about to give up on cool scenery and then as we made our way towards Boise things changed.  There were, what I thought, dirt covered buttes, but it was actually brown grass.  The contrast between the brown/black plateaus and the lush farmland was incredible.

We wondered if it is always just really dry here and the grass is dead or if that's just the way it is?

\

We only drove through Idaho, but I think I saw all I needed to.