Destination Oregon

Even though California borders Oregon, I had never visited it until now, even after 41 years of marriage living within California.

Our goal was to head up the California and Oregon coasts north of Sausalito, California stopping at sights along the way. We planned a 10-day trip, but we were able to see and do everything we wanted to in only 8 days. Each day was different, but filled with fun. 

Day 1

We left home early and drove to Sausalito. We were able to not only see Sausalito, but also the Golden Gate Bridge.  This was definitely a day for nostalgia for us. Almost 42 years ago, Alan skipped out on some dental school classes in San Francisco to take me on a ferry ride to Sausalito. We spent the afternoon there then returned to San Francisco. After dinner in China Town, he took me to his apartment building where he led me to the rooftop overlooking the city and proposed to me. San Francisco and Sausalito both hold a special place in our hearts.

Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco in the background

The ferry that goes between San Francisco and Sausalito

We had a great time in Sausalito.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but we had dinner in a nice restaurant that overlooked the bay.

Exploring the city

Day 2

This was a very fun day. We went to Muir Woods, which is close to Sausalito. This was one of our favorite things of the whole trip. I felt like I was in an enchanted forest. It was a cool 55 degrees  (stark contrast to the 100+ degree days we had been having in Lancaster), which was very nice. The beautiful giant redwood trees and the lush green fern made  the woods so beautiful and very calming.

After Muir Woods, we continued up the coast to Fort Ross State Historic Park where we visited a Russian Fort.

The main entrance

Inside the fort

View of the ocean from the fort turret 

Our last thing to do that day was something I had wanted to do for a very long time. In fact, it was on my bucket-list. This place was near Fort Bragg and is called the Glass Beach. The reason it is called that is because there is an abundance of  sea glass on the beach created from years of dumping debris into an area of coastline near the northern part of the town.

Most of the beach is made up of small rocks. The glass is in there, but hard to see. You have to hunt for it.

Some of the glass we collected from the beach.

One young boy made this palm tree out of the glass he found.  I though he did a great job!

Truthfully, the Glass Beach was a little disappointing. I thought the beach was going to be filled with much larger glass stones than it was. I think the glass was pretty well picked over, too, from tourists (like me) who helped themselves to the supply.

Day 3

This was mostly a travel day.  On our way to Eureka, we stopped at "Trees of Mystery." We saw Paul Bunyan and his blue Ox.

Paul Bunyan is much taller than I expected him to be. Lumbering is huge in these parts of Oregon...hence their fascination and promotion of the most well-known lumberjack, Paul Bunyan.

Big Foot is big in this area of the country. HaHa
Supposedly there have been many sightings in the Pacific Northwest.

He is a kissable guy, but can't replace my husband.

Coos Bay has a cool bridge and lots of sand dunes.

Day 4

We saw the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, OR. Everyone kept telling us to visit them, so we did. We were a little disappointed because only one sea lion was in the cave, but over 100 were in the cove on the beach as pictured below.

 The Sea Lion is very difficult to see. He is the brown spot just over 1/2 way down the picture and 1/3 of the way in.

We stopped at Tillamook Cheese Factory and did a self-tour. We ended up purchasing some squeaky cheese, beef sticks, and a quart of ice cream. All three were delicious.

We weren't the only ones interested in the factory. It was pretty crowded there.

Chocolate - YUM!

Another fun thing we did on day 4 was to to see Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. Evidently, it is unofficially the third tallest "intertidal" (meaning it can be reached by land) structure in the world. 

We had to have a little fun by taking these trick shots.

Day 5

On day 5, we took a break from travel by attending the Oregon Zoo in Portland. This is one of the most beautiful zoo's I have ever seen. I was very impressed with it. 

The elephants were the most entertaining...especially the one who went for a swim.

The giraffe is one of my favorite animals when visiting a zoo.

After the zoo, we drove to Gresham, OR.

Day 6

We love waterfalls, so this day was fun for us. We saw several.

This is Latourell Falls

Wahkeena Falls

Multnomah Falls

Horse Tail Falls

After the falls, we drove to Bonneville Dam. We found this to be very educational and interesting. Water is so powerful! Dam's are a wonder and and amazement to me. 

It is hard to see the dam because of all the spray from the water going over it.

Salmon go up this stair-stepped waterway in order to spawn.

We also saw Mt. Hood on our way to Roseburg, Oregon where we spent the night.

Still lots of snow on that mountain!

Day 7

This fun day started with a visit to Crater Lake. Everyone says that Crater Lake is the thing to see in Oregon. We were not disappointed (except for the fact that you can't get close to the lake). It is one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen, and it is a natural lake.

Shasta Mountain, Shasta Lake, and Shasta Caverns were also on the agenda for the day.

This is the boat we took across the lake to the caverns.

 

The caves were inside this mountain.

A view of Shasta Lake from the cavern side.

Inside the caves

Day 8

On day 8, we visited Mt. Lassen State Park. This place brought back some good memories from over 40 years ago. Around June of 1976 as newlyweds, during Alan's break from dental school, we decided to go on a camping trip. We ended up at Lassen State Park. While there, Alan wanted to climb to the top of Mt. Lassen, which is a volcano. It is a long, arduous hike. I didn't want to climb it because I was suffering from a bad headache. He didn't want to hike it alone so he kept asking me to hike it with him. In desperation, he said "if you hike it with me, we can start our family." I did want to start our family, so I consented and hiked up that huge mountain. The view from the top was amazing. Alan kept his promise to me. We did start our family. Ryan was born about a year later, followed 2 years later with Eric, another 2 years later with Jared, another 2 years later with Cheryl, and another 4 years later with Kyle. That hike was well worth it! I'm so grateful for my family!

Here is a picture of Mt. Lassen and Manzanita Lake

The other side. They must have snow year-round. This was taken when it was almost August and there was still plenty of snow.

 Lake Helen was still mostly frozen!

We went to Sulphur Works too. It made me feel like we were in Yellowstone National Park. One never forgets that sulfur smell.

After we left Mt. Lassen State Park, we traveled straight home, getting home just after 10 p.m. I was kind of glad to get home a couple of days early so I could sleep in my own bed and not have to live out of a suitcase any longer.  Overall, this was a great trip. I'm so glad that we took it. Now I'm wondering what we will do for next year's vacation to top this one.