Day 23-35: Traveling back down the coast

Day 23

Today we begin our journey back down the coast. After leaving Seattle our next stop will be Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. 

 

This spot was really peaceful and the trees were humongous. We did a bit of hiking that evening and cheered the next morning about our bear-free encounters. Although, our tea-cup was attacked by a slug….

Day 24

After leaving the redwoods we entered wine country. To us, wine country equals hot springs. We agreed to spend our next night relaxing at Orr Hot Springs. We didn’t take any photos at the springs, but we did capture some other sites along the way

We discovered cabbage sandwiches at a vegan deli in Portland. After our discovery, I think we made our own cabbage sandwiches every day for the rest of the trip. Needless to say, we won’t be eating cabbage sandwiches for a long time

      

      

Day 25

By this time it was heading into Memorial Day weekend. Our plan was to camp all weekend. Apparently, everyone in California camps on Memorial Day weekend. Every state beach we went to had been booked for 6 months. We ended up  finding a campsite right outside of Santa Cruz early Friday evening. Lucky! We watched a beautiful sunset and enjoyed having a place to crash for the night.

Day 26 and 27

After camping Friday night we woke up early Saturday morning and continued on driving. We were really enjoying this drive down the coast. We visited various different towns including Monterey and Big Sur. Hwy 1 is a definite must see in California. 

 

 

Day 28-35

I think this pretty much sums it up for our West Coast Adventure. We will be camping for the next 3 days at Cardiff Beach, then heading into San Diego for a few days to relax before catching our flight home to Cincinnati.

Thanks to everyone who followed along through our blog!! <3

Oh Yeah, one last thing. I would like to congratulate Amanda! While on our trip she found out she will be leading a team of young artists for an ArtWorks mural project downtown. Check out her Canvas…

Woah!! This wall is big!!!!

I can’t wait to see what these kids come up with. I’m certain whatever it is, it will be Sick! (Sick - Now used as the newest word to replace cool. Something that you’ve never seen before.)

Stay tuned…

Day 22: Seattle

Since Seattle was only a few hours away from Portland we agreed that it was a good idea to visit for a day or two. Unfortunately, we don’t really have much to deliver about Seattle. We had been through so many different cities at this point, another big city felt a bit overwhelming to us.

I’m sure Seattle is a superb city with countless sites to see. We wish we would have made the attempt to at least see the Kurt Cobain and Andy Warhol exhibit at Art Museum, but we were just too exhausted for this city’s excitement. We hope to return in the future to really capture the essence of Seattle.

Day 21: Portland’s street food scene

Check out the food carts.…

Day 19 and 20: Walking around Portland

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 18: Portland feels like home

If you love free public transportation in the city and unique independently owned enterprises like food carts, coffee houses, record shops, bike co-ops, food co-ops,  and endless amounts of quirky vintage clothing stores this town is for you! People who live here love their city and most of them can’t imagine living anywhere else. We felt at total ease here. Portland peeps are so nice and laid-back. Everyone had their own little flair – keeping true to Portland’s unofficial slogan: “Keep Portland Weird”  We love weird.

One of the first eco roofs in Portland is built over the front porch at the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. This place, along with being a thriving community for small business owners and artists is also on the cutting edge of GREEN. Introducing “Our Eco-Home Away From Home” Portland Hawthorne Hostel:

 

 

 

Day 17: Road to Portland

After our winter-like camping experience at Klamath Falls we couldn’t wait to settle into our new “home” at the Hawthorne hostel in Portland, Oregon. We experienced what they call a “wintery mix” back home for the entire 6 hour drive (even though it sounds like a delightful chex mix snack it is really a combination of rain, sleet, snow and hail). The drive was rough through all those windy mountain roads, but the sun peeked out occasionally and we were able to capture some beautiful landscapes . The breath-taking views were definitely worth the drive.

Day 16: Camping at Klamath Falls

The drive from just north of San Fran to Portland takes about 17 hours. We decided to break up this long stretch of road by camping in between. We ended up at Klamath Falls, just south of the Oregon border. The landscape along the way was beautiful.

This first picture reminds me of Forks – its real Twighlighty:

It rained for most of our 8 hour drive so we were happy to see the clouds break right when we arrived at our campsite.

Around 4 a.m. (after several hours of not sleeping due to the cold and hard gravely ground) we decided to retreat to our car to try to sneak in a few hours of sleep before the rest of our drive in the morning. We unzipped the tent to find snow- SNOW! In May! Apparently weather in these parts has been a little funky lately.

Day 14 -15: Harbin Hotsprings

After visiting San Francisco we felt the need for a little vacation away from our vacation. We loved the boisterous city life, but wanted to regather ourselves in some quiet green-space. We drove through Sonoma (absolutely gorgeous) and stopped at Whole Foods for lunch.  At our table we found a brochure for Harbin Hotsprings. Fate was in the works…

Harbin Hotsprings is an eco-conscious non-profit retreat and workshop center in the wine country north of San Francisco. This place seemed to be just what we were looking for: hot springs, free yoga classes, hiking trails, massages and it was inexpensive - jackpot!

After our lunch, we headed up into the mountains to find this magical place. We only planned on staying one night, but extended our mini vacation to two. This little trip was well worth it. I went to Yoga for the first time ever and totally enjoyed it. Amanda went to Yoga 3 times in one day and had perma-smile the entire time (I’ve never seen this girl more relaxed!)  We took afternoon naps, walked a few nature trails, wrote in our journals, reposed in the hotsprings, and received painful but well needed massages. 

Next stop: Portland!

Day 13: Famous Architecture of San Francisco

So another great thing about San Fran is how walkable the city is. We enjoyed getting lost and discovering gems on every street- cool corner murals or gorgeous painted houses, each more unique than the next; competing to be the star of the block.

You might recognise this image:

If this picture gives you the warm fuzzies you could be a child of the late 80′s -early 90′s (or had a kid that age). Thats because this famous row of San Fran painted ladies is featured in the Full House trailer. “Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paper-boy, evening TV… (Ring a bell?)

Here is a little collage of gorgeous san fran houses and architecture.

And check out these gorgeous gates. I thought this would be a great opportunity to pay homage to Allison and her family name. We all love us some Gates! Heres a little tribute:

Finally, if this post has made you feel a little nostalgic for the good ol days of feather hair cuts, neon colors and fanny-packs (wait, Urban Outfitters brought that back last year…) heres a little blast from the (distant) past:

 

 

Day 11-12: People and Places of SF

We have both loved the energy and people in this city. SF offers great cultural diversity and some of the best music we’ve heard in a while. 

Since we’ve been here, we’ve eaten at Gracias Madre in the Mission:

 

 

Enjoyed delicious vietnamese at Little Saigon:

Stopped in to enjoy a Hookah at Nile Cafe:

 

Had a day of people watching from the hostel kitchen and drank some dark hops San Fran beer:

 

   

Walked through the Castro then decided to get ambitious haircuts:

 

  

 

 

And visited Fisherman’s Wharf:

 

 

  

 

We took so many pictures here, so it was really hard to narrow down the selection. below are just a few more that we wanted to share:

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that Amanda made a lot of friends while we were here, so it was hard for her to say goodbye.

(Classic)