Road Trip!

Tyler and I decided about a year ago that we wanted to take a big trip this summer to celebrate my graduation and his upcoming graduation (May 2013).  Although financially it was not the smartest decision, we had the time off and we are young and wanted to create more memories!  

So trip details...Total we had 13 days and 12 nights.  We flew out early on a Sunday morning and flew home on a Friday night.  We camped half of the nights and stayed in hotels the other half.  We used our credit card air miles to book our flights (and two of the hotels), flying into San Francisco and out of Seattle.  Our rental car was through Car Rental 8.  We had some days planned out and others where we planned to drive and see where we ended up.  The trip was a good mix of city, beach, and national parks and we loved every day of it.  Below are just a few of the pictures from the trip.  Tyler picked out some of his favorites to share here.

Day One:

After arriving at the airport we picked up our rental car (ford fiesta) and hit the road for Monterey Bay.  We walked around and saw seals :) Next, we drove down to Big Sur.  Big Sur is full of the most amazing views! We stopped for so many pictures.

 Monterey Bay

Big Sur

There was a short hike for this view

After Big Sur we went back to Monterey Bay for dinner.  We shared calamari and had clam chowder and some locally brewed beers.  The restaurant was right on the ocean where we could watch sea otters swimming around.  After dinner we drove back towards San Fran and stopped to camp in Santa Cruz at Manresa State Beach.  We arrived late so we had to set up our tent in the dark and find parking since it was a walk in site. Turns out that there is only one parking lot that you can leave your car in over night so we woke up with a $80 ticket on our car! At this point we decided that we needed to get to the campsites earlier!

Day Two: 

When we woke up we walked on the beach before showering and hitting the road again.  The showers were kind of gross and we had to use quarters to run them.  This place had no mirrors so I had to use the car mirror to finish getting ready.  Soon enough we were on our way to San Fran.  We decided to first go to Oakland to see Tyler's old school and old house.  Tyler lived in Oakland for three years when he was younger so it was fun to back track and hear some of his stories.  Tyler's old house was up on the hill and we saw some of the most amazing views of downtown Oakland and downtown San Fran.   

Old School

Tyler and I are very fast travelers and like to see as many places as we can so it was no surprise that we made it to almost all the the San Fran stops in one day.  It was cold and windy however, so we didn't spend a lot of time at the beaches.  First stop was China town.  We walked around and found a good place to grab some lunch.  I had my usual orange chicken and Tyler had hot and sour soup and some beef dish.  

I wasn't the hugest fan of this soup

Next we drove across the golden gate bridge and went to Vista Point park to take some pictures.  We also drove up to a scenic overlook where Tyler was able to get some great shots of the bridge. I LOVE bridges! So I have been wanting to come see golden gate for a long time.     There was a lot of fog as you can see in the pictures below. 

After soaking up the bridge we went to our hotel to check in.  We stayed at Hayes Valley Inn for two nights (the only place we stayed for more than one night!) We had a small room with a double bed and sink with shared toilets and showers in the hall.  We really loved this place. Everyone was really nice and it was in a cute neighborhood.  It reminded us of a bed in breakfast in France.  We walked around the neighborhood and found an outdoor coffee shop near Hayes park.  Next we went to Alimo Square Park and saw the Victorian houses from full house.  We also drove past the actual house from full house but the front door was repainted so it didn't look the same.  We then went back downtown and drove down Lombard Street - the steep curvy road in San Fran - and then hiked to the top of Coit tower to check out the views.  We decided against going to the top of the tower because we didn't want to spend the money on the elevator ride.  Afterwards we went to Pier 39 and watched the sea lions and to Fisherman's wharf for dinner.  We ate delicious sourdough pizzas from Bistro Boudin.  

Pier 39

Day Three: 

On day three we woke up early to go on the Alcatraz tour!  This is another thing I was really excited about.  There was a video, an audio tour, and programs you could read.  We took our time exploring the rock.  After the tour we went back to Pier 39 for lunch.  We decided on potsickers and sushi at Hana Zen right on the water.  We also rented bikes with the intent of biking to Baker beach.  I didn't realize how far away it was and the bike ride was very hilly and windy on the way there.  When we were getting close it was so windy and foggy that we could barely see where we were going.  We decided to turn around and bike back and just drive to the beach later ;)  At least we got a 12 mile workout in!

On the ferry to Alcatraz 

Great picture by Tyler 

After biking we decided to do one of my favorite things....people watch! We sat on a bench on Pier 39 for close to 2 hours watching kid after kid try to do the bouncing trampoline thing - where you are strapped in and can do flips - we laughed so hard at intense parents and kids who tried so hard and just couldn't do flips (side note: the parents were laughing as well ;)  After our break we drove to Baker beach to walk on the beach and take some more pictures of golden gate bridge.  We opted for Subway for dinner to save mula and spent some time driving around the different neighborhoods of San Fran. and the Golden Gate Park.

Day Four: 

This was one of my FAVORITE days :)  We booked a wine tour in Sonoma Valley with Platypus Tours and loved it.  We were picked up from our hotel and made stops at 5 different vineyards. Our guide Sam picked out small local vineyards where we could get tours and hear about the vineyards and wines from the actual owners of the vineyards.  We stopped at Robledo Vineyard, Loxten Vineyard (where we had a picnic lunch), Peter Cellars, Nichols Vineyard, and Sonoma's Best and tasted 35 different wines!  We ended up buying and shipping home a bunch of wine as well. 

After the tour we were dropped off back at our hotel where we checked in and freshened up.  We walked to Sonoma Square and went to dinner at Murphy's Irish Pub.  This place was recommended to us by Sam, our tour guide.  It is all locals that go there and they have trivia that we could participate in.  

Day Five:

Today was mainly a driving day.  We drove through both Humboldt Redwood State Park and Redwood National Park stopping to hike and take pictures.  We also went to the tree that you drive through but were a little disappointed because it was really touristy.  I love redwood trees :)  (trees and bridges are my favorite).  They are so huge and beautiful!  We camped that night at Grassy Flats Camp Ground.  

I usually get car sick from curvy roads or from trying to read in the car but right before my trip my mom told me about a motion sickness bracelet that my neighbor tried and swore by.  So I ran to  Walgreen's to pick one up and can happily say that I read 4 books during car rides on this trip and did not get car sick once! Yay!  

Inside the trunk of a dead tree 

Shrine drive-through tree

LOVED this hike!

Day Six:

When we woke up we drove west to Crater Lake (first day in Oregon).  Crater lake was created from a volcano explosion and is the deepest and clearest lake in the U.S.  Tyler and I went to the cafe at the top for lunch and then spent the entire afternoon driving around the lake and hiking to see some really great views :) Our favorite hike was the Watchman's Peak Trail.

This picture does not do the view justice! 

We found an awesome campsite along the Rogue River called Farewell Bend.  When we got back we made hot chocolate and played cards all night.  However, this campsite also did not have showers so we were struggling a little in the morning.  It also stormed all night so we didn't get a lot of sleep!

Drinking coffee on the Rogue River

Tyler's pocket rocket (from his bro-in-law)

Day Seven:

Today we headed back to the Coast - this time in Oregon!  Our first stop was the sand dunes at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area just south of Florence.  Our next big stop was in the small town of Newport.  Newport is a really fun fishing village right on the bay.  We walked around and watched the sea lions and crab fishermen.  Then we went to one of their candy shops where we bought an assortment of their salt water taffy and some caramel apples.   Then we headed to Yaquina State Park to see the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.  This was one of my favorite stops!  We hiked down to the tide pools and saw starfish, sea urchins and sea amenities.  Tyler was like a little kid jumping around on the rocks :)  Then we went up to the lighthouse.  It was really old and beautiful.  From the lighthouse we saw 2 whales!  We had discussed the possibility of doing a whale sighting cruise and opted against it so it was fun to be able to see them from the coast.

Starfish 

Tyler captured the whale!

Yaquina lighthouse

Oregon Coast

We ate dinner in Lincoln city at Pier 101 Seafood Grill Delux Bar.  We had more local beers and I chose crab cakes while Tyler had a halibut sandwich.  (I still think my dad makes the BEST halibut!)  We had intended to camp again tonight but after 2 full days of no shower and not a lot of sleep we decided it was worth it to find a hotel for the night.  

Day Eight:

Our first destination of the day was Tillamook.  We drove through the Three Capes Loop that goes to three different lighthouses and has good scenic views.  On our way out of Tillamook we stopped at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company.  It had famous Tillamook ice cream, wine tasting, and an animal farm.  We walked through and tasted samples of some of the food they had and I found the best dressing EVER.  It was a blue cheese dressing that Tyler liked too so we decided to get a fresh out of the oven baguette and dressing to dip it in for lunch and ice cream for dessert.

Yum! I bought some to take home with me too :) 

I made him do this 

Our next stop was Cannon Beach.  Tyler came here with his family when he was younger and was excited to go back.  He also was really excited to take pictures here.  The beach was beautiful so we spend hours walking up and down it.

Afterwards we stopped in Seaside and then made our way to Fort Steven's State Park.  This campsite was on a awesome beach with a shipwreck on it.  We spent some time here and then headed to Astoria for dinner.  We found a fun place on the water called Wet Dog Cafe and had their famous fish and chips.

Day Nine: 

In the morning, we drove around Fort Steven's to see more of the sites (it used to be a military defense installment).  We saw some deer and elk.  

 Next stop...Portland! Since I did not do all my research for Portland, we started at the visitor's center.  We stopped at a park downtown and walked around and bought lunch from a food vendor.  After we went to our hotel to try and check in.  We had an awesome hotel in a really great downtown location so we could park and walk from there (we used priceline and got a good deal).  First we walked down the riverfront area.  Then we decided we wanted to do some beer tasting so we made our way to Rogue Brewery and Distillery and sampled some beers and had some appetizers.  After we stopped at Deschutes for more beer and more food :) 

Day Ten: 

We originally planned to go to Mount Rainier but since the weather wasn't supposed to be great there and we only had three days left, we decided to instead head straight to Olympic National Park.  When we crossed over into Washington, Tyler was sooo excited that he could pump his own gas again!  In Oregon they have workers who pump it for you and Tyler always stressed out over whether or not he was supposed to tip them and how much. ha.  When we got to Olympic we went to Hoh National Rain Forest.  This is the only rain forest in the U.S.  We were lucky to find a great campsite here.  We saved the hiking around our campsite for the next morning and decided to head to the coastal Olympic area.  We went to Ozzette lake and hiked over 6 miles to the coast to see the most amazing views EVER.

Our lovely tent

Hoh National Rain Forest 

Ozzette 

Day Eleven:

When we woke up we went to the Hoh River and walked around and then went to hike through the rain forest.  Tyler was super excited to see this phone booth because he has seen so many pictures of it.

When Tyler lived in California, he and his brothers loved to find banana slugs.  He was SO disappointed that I didn't get to see one in California.  Low and behold, they have banana slugs in Washington as well.

Banana Slug

Elk in Hoh 

After hiking, we hit the road again.  We just so happened to drive through Forks, WA (home of Twilight) so I made Tyler drive me around to some of the tourist movie scene locations for pictures.  We stopped for lunch and ice cream in Port Angeles and then went to Hurricane Ridge Road for the amazing views.

Hurricane Ridge

Since we planned on camping this night, Tyler thought it would be fun to take the ferry over to Whidbey Island, camp there, and then ferry to mainland WA the next morning.  On the ferry we saw tons of dolphins! So cool but hard to get a good picture.  Once on the island we set up our campsite at Fort Ebey State Park and then drove to Couperville to walk around.  Tyler loved it here and went picture crazy. (I don't think I have any of those pictures in this post though).  Tyler wanted to eat at this little bar called Toby's but I vetoed it because I didn't want fried food or burgers and that was all they had on their menu.  Apparently, Toby's is famous for their burgers (found this out after) and I felt bad but after eating out for 2 weeks straight, I was craving a salad!   That night we picked up some wine and firewood and sat out by the fire for a few hours.   

Day Twelve: 

In the morning we were off to Seattle!  Tyler and I were both really excited for Seattle.  Our first stop, Kerry Park - which is supposed to have the best views of downtown.  After we went and checked into our hotel which was a few blocks from the space needle.  A friend of mine recommended that we do the Duck tour.  Since we hadn't done any actual tours besides Alcatraz, we decided it would be worth it.  The duck tour was a land and water tour with a fun tour guide full of corny jokes - we laughed at most of them!

Kerry Park

Ride the Ducks!

Next, Tyler and I walked down to waterfront and then headed up to Pikes market.  We walked around the market and tasted samples.  Afterwards we found the gum wall!  Really gross but really cool.  Tyler took pictures but didn't want to be "touristy" so he didn't want to add gum.

I asked a worker in the market for a dinner recommendation and she highly recommended the Crabpot, so we made our way there.  We ordered a two person meal in which they brought out a big bowl of potatoes, sausages, corn, clams, mussels, shrimp, and crab and poured it onto the table.  I was very proud of myself for trying the clams and mussels but ate mostly the shimp, sausage, and crab.

Day Thirteen:

The next day we decided to walk around waterfront, the market, and Pioneer Square.  We went to the first starbucks (which is not the original because it moved across the street) and sat outside and people watched while we were entertained by a guitar player.  Pioneer Square gives underground tours since the old downtown used to be 10 feet lower than it is now. We didn't have time to do the tour but we spent some time walking around the gift shop (which is also underground), looking at pictures and reading about it.   We found a pizza place that looked good the day before so we decided to have a late lunch at Zeek's pizza.  Before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to the hotel and drive to the airport.

Pikes Market 

Night view from Kerry Park

It was such an amazing trip!  Tyler and I love to travel and see new places so hopefully we will have many more trips like this in our future :)