Cruising the West Coast

On Sunday, September 16, 2018 we began our last major trip for the year driving the west coast from SOCAL to Orcas Island, Washington - a 3,000 mile round trip adventure. This blog is primarily a photo blog of our travels and adventures. First Stop - Carmel, CA.

Beautiful view from our room. We also met with SOCAL friends for dinner.
Breakfast in Carmel at Karen's grandmother's favorite little place.
Our trek continued north on Monday along Hwy 1 to Sausalito for lunch, then Sea Ranch
Great view from our room at the Sea Ranch Lodge...
...and a wonderful afternoon walk along the beach.
Dinner view from Black Point Grill at Sea Ranch
 
Tuesday we stopped at Glass Beach and  Bowling Ball Beach.
 Bowling Ball Beach (high tide so this is an internet picture) 
Other views along the way
Driving through Humboldt Redwoods State Park
 
Tuesday night we stayed at The Historic Requa Inn in Klamath, CA.
 
Charming hotel and a great view from our bed
 
Wednesday we continued up Hwy 1 to Bandon, Oregon with a few stops along the beach enroute.
 
After eating lunch at "Trails End" at Bandon Dunes golf course, Karen left Bill and checked into the "Windermere On The Beach" hotel.
She enjoyed the beautiful view from our room awaiting Bill's return.
 
Bill enjoyed playing Bandon Dunes Golf Course, another bucket list item
 
After golf, we both enjoyed the beach, directly outside our patio door!
Afternoon beach combing.
 
Beautiful sunset from our patio
 
Thursday, September 20 we continued north on Hwy 1 towards Portland, Oregon. Our first stop was at the Umpque Lighthouse about 1 1/2 hrs north of Bandon.
 
Umpque Lighthouse
 
A must stop along the Oregon Coast is Heceta Head Lighthouse with it's spectacular views. Opened in 1894, the lighthouse shines a beam visible for 21 nautical miles making it the strongest light on the Oregon Coast.
 
Heceta Head Lighthouse
 
Views from the Lighthouse
While here, we discovered the Heceta Lighthouse B&B which is adjacent to the Lighthouse.  
Should we ever be in this area of Oregon again, we must stay here!
Heceta Lighthouse B&B

Once we reached Portland, we headed inland along the Columbia River Gorge to Skamania Lodge Resort & Spa in Stevenson, Washington for our 2-night stay. A gorgeous resort, Bill had stayed here two other times while attending National Guard Conferences.
 
 
Skamania Lodge
Columbia River view from our room
 

Friday morning Bill was up early to play Skamania Golf Course while Karen slept in.
 
 
 
After lunch, we toured the Columbia River Gorge stopping to enjoy Multnomah Falls, the 2nd tallest waterfall in the U.S.
 
Yes, we hiked up to the bridge for a better view
Multnomah Falls
 

We were back on the road Saturday morning heading north to Seattle. Instead of driving the coast, we decided it was time to enjoy driving over the mountains, around Mt St Helens, Adams and Mt Rainier. Although beautiful scenery and light rain, the road was so bad it was closing the next day for several months of repair - and we found out why! Uneven pavement due to unstable soil, road washouts, etc.
 
In Seattle we stayed at Hyatt at Olive 8 - a beautiful Hyatt hotel near Pikes Place Market where we enjoyed walking around before eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. 
 
After a week of driving, we met up with Karen's two sisters and brother-in-laws for lunch at the Calico Cupboard Café & Bakery in downtown Anacortes. We're sure most of you have heard of the Sturgis, S.D. Motorcycle Rally, right?  Turns out this Sunday was the West Coast version - "The Oyster Run" with some 25,000 in attendance! Luckily, we found a parking place a few blocks away and managed to get lunch as planned.
 
Oyster Run Motorcycle Rally
 
After lunch we boarded the ferry in Anacortes, and the six of us in two vehicles headed to Orcas Island, Washington located in the San Juan Islands.
Arriving Orcas
 
For the next 5-nights the six of us stayed at Segull Nest, a well appointed home with 5-bedrooms (6 if you count the extra apartment), all with attached bathrooms, a large dining room, a game room with pool table, outdoor jacuzzi on one of the porches, a 1/2 court basketball court and TV in every room to include the kitchen and game room.
 
Looking up at the house.
One of several porches.
 
Brother-in-law Chuck had rented a 6-passenger SUV in Seattle so we could all tour together which made it nice. The following are pictures of our 5-days of adventures. Not shown, the guys golfing at the Orcas Island golf course.
 
View from the top Constitution Mountain, Orcas Island 
Cascade Falls
 
Hogstone's Wood Oven - farm to table restaurant
 
 Hogstone's outdoor seating with fantastic company, weather and food!
 
Orcas Island Pottery
Karen and Carla enjoying the swings in the back of Orcas Island Pottery
Orcas Island Pottery - gorgeous garden setting looking out on the sound
 
Hiking at Moran State Park
 
Ferry to San Juan Island for a day trip
Arriving Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
Lighthouse hike on San Juan Island
 San Juan Island hike
San Juan Island Alpaca Farm
Carla & Bill enjoying yummy Ice Crème before leaving Friday Harbor
Heading back to Orcas Island
 

 Thursday, Sept 27 - Cascade Lake loop trail hike (3 1/2 mi)
Sisters hiking around the lake
Beauty everywhere we turn
A super hike, on a beautiful day and a wonderful family at Cascade Lake
 
On our last night on Orcas Island, we decided to have dinner in town at the historic "Outlook Inn, New Leaf Café" dating back to 1888.
 
 Outlook Inn
 Yummy dinner
Outlook Inn view was spectacular, as was the ambiance and food.
 
On Friday, September 28 we departed Orcas Island and said our goodbyes after lunch in Anacortes.
We then spent the next 2-nights with Bill's sister in Auburn, about 40-miles from Seattle.
 
On Sunday we began our drive home, but first Bill had arranged a tour of Treehouse Point. An avid fan of the Pete Nelson's Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet, this has been on Bill's bucket list for several years. After several months of trying to get a reservation, he was able to at least arrange a tour of 5 of Pete's B&B Treehouses.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We REALLY enjoyed visiting Tree House Point and look forward to staying here sometime in the future. This was our last stop. We arrived home on October 2, following a boring, 2 days of driving.







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