On Sunday 8th September we picked up a car at Avis and headed north out of SF to see the Redwood forests enroute to Portland, Oregon. Our first day was quite a long drive with a stop in Sausalito for coffee on the waterfront, before turning off Interstate 101 to take the old no. 1 coastal route. This twisty scenic drive was quite hectic, so we rejoined the 101 at Santa Rosa, driving through miles of vineyards to Mendocino. We arrived at the Seaview Motel in Fort Bragg at 6pm, after 200miles.
The motel room was so well appointed and spacious after the small hotel room in San Francisco, that we decided to stay for two nights to explore the area. The same afternoon a group of classic British Triumph sportscar owners arrived with 14 cars, mainly TR4, TR5 and TR6 models. In my view the TR4 model is still the prettiest.
From here, we headed north along the coast to rejoin US-101 at Leggett, before turning off onto Route 254, the famous “Avenue of the Giants” through the Redwood forests. Our first stop was at Myers Flat to look at the “drive through tree”. Then, the Founders Tree at Founders Grove, where we did a 5km hike through the forest. A narrow, twisty road took us to the 10km Big Trees Loop trail, where we were gobsmacked by the Giant Tree, The Tall tree and the Flatiron Tree.
Late afternoon, we arrived tired and scenically overloaded at Eureka on the coast. Our Travelodge Motel was a block away fro the beautiful Old Town, where we spent the next morning admiring the well preserved Victorian buildings on 2nd and 3rd streets. The Carson House and Pink Lady mansion were outstanding. The Carson family moved to the Bay Area in 1940 and by 1950 the house was in disrepair.
The Carson family offered the house to Eureka City for $1, but they declined the offer and decided to demolish the house. A group of concerned citizens clubbed together and offered the family $35,000 for the house including the contents and artworks. Today it is a private club for those citizens, whose sole purpose is the preservation of the house!
Our journey continued north through the Humboldt State Forests until we stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trial. The 7km hike is truly spectacular, particularly on this day, when there was a thick, eerie mist covering the tops of the Redwoods.
The next stop later that afternoon, again knackered after all the walking, was in Crescent City’s Beachside Inn motel. For dinner we had tasty turkey and salad wraps from the nearby Safeway supermarket, washed down with a bottle of Australian Lindeman’s Chardonnay. Cheaper than the Napa Valley wines and cheaper than in Australia! How does this work?
At 10:00am on Thursday 11th September we crossed the state line from California into Oregon and filled up with petrol in Brookings, where the petrol is cheaper than in CA. The regular unleaded price per gallon is equivalent to $1 per litre here – In Australia, usually nearly $2/litre. Not complaining, we drive an EV back home. We arrived in Gold Beach at 11:00am, too early for our motel, so had a late morning hearty breakfast at the Indian creek Cafe. Annie went for a coast walk to soothe her hamstrings, while I chilled, planning the rest of our trip.
Friday was an easy three hour drive to Florence through beautiful plantations, but no longer redwood trees. The main timber species found on the Oregon coast are Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and pine trees. Forestry plays an important part in the Oregon’s economy – we frequently passed trucks laden with timber logs and some timber sawmills with mountains of logs and sawdust outside.
The most amazing thing for us to see, was the large number of RV’s on the road. These ranged from caravans as we know it in Oz, to what they call fifth wheel caravans which hitch onto the load tray of a ute (called a truck here). These trucks are usually 6.6 litre, V8 monsters. I can only imagine what their fuel consumption must be.
The fifth wheelers however, pale in comparison to the camper vans that look like municipal busses in Oz. Imagine the stress driving and manoeuvring these behemoths. Their engines must be enormous, because they cruise at the regular 60mph speed limit (100km/h). At the local regular petrol price of around USD1/litre (down to 50c/litre further inland!), I suppose its not too much to pay, if this vehicle is your home. Nine times out of ten, a camper van like the one below, would also be towing a car – not a Mini, but big Jeeps or trucks!
While researching our trip along the coat of California and Oregon, we soon discovered there were dozens of RV or caravan parks in or near every town. The cost of renting a RV was much higher than a car and when we realised that the overnight charge for a campsite was about the same as a motel room with bathroom in every town, it was a no-brainer to rather use the motel option. Motels are cheap, but a standard room has two queen size beds which is a bit of a waste on us. Occasionally we were able to get one king size bed.
For our last two days on the road we stayed at Lincoln City and Cannon Beach, with walks along the way. I must say the coastal scenery in Oregon is beautiful and the roads a pleasure to drive on. We drove into Portland on Monday the 15th of September and dropped off the car (a Jeep Compass) at Avis, where Evan picked us up.
Eight days and 901 miles (1,350 km) travelled and having met very friendly people, we were delighted with the road trip experience. We will report later on the next leg of our trip.
Cheers, Annie and Dirk.
We’re sailing the Chesapeake if you’re visiting this part of the east coast
Love to travel with you , thanks for sharing
Ek is jaloers !