I hope you’re having a good, relatively calm closure to your summer and transition into fall. We wrapped up our lazy summer with a mini family reunion and our first road trip up the CA and OR coastline.
On the way up, we drove along the coast and visited the towns of:
• Fort Bragg
• Klamath
• Bandon
And for our return, we ventured more inland into the OR wine country and visited:
• Silver Falls State Park
• Corvallis
• Cottage Grove
• Crescent City
• Whitehorn / Shelter Cove
Our most northern destination: Astoria, where I got to fulfill my dreams with all things Goonies like a wistful 80s awkward teenager. By default, my extended family was also subjected to nerd fandom and were locked up in the same prison cell filmed in the opening sequence.
Aside from spending quality time with one another, other highlights included seeing elk prancing in the wild, discovering exotic marine life, exploring sea caves, experiencing our first bonfire on the beach, and even having a real, proper photo session with Portland photographer extraordinaire, Posy Quaterman. (Not pictured: all the toe injuries, random car on fire along the highway, driving through a Level 3 Evacuation wildfire (!!!), and a person doing his “business” right at the hood of our car—pretty much all things most memorable for my pre-teen)????????
It’ll be a million years until I edit all my photos, but here are some favorites.
And by popular request, here is our full itinerary for our 2 week leisurely-paced road trip from Alameda, CA to Manzanita, OR. Each stop was about 3-4 hrs drive. All our lodging was done at dog-friendly accommodations.
Day 1: Fort Bragg, CA
Lodging: Surf and Sand Lodge, which was within walking distance of Pudding Creek Beach. It’s one of the quietest and most picturesque beaches along the Mendocino coast but be warned: leashed dogs are strictly enforced and fines are common. If your dogs love to run on a beach, pack a 15ft+ training leash. We also visited Glass Beach, where I took one of my favorite photos from our epic trip. This little town also had the best clam chowder that I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime. If you’re a diehard chowder fan, then you’ll have to make a special trip to Noyo Fish Co. I still dream about that creamy bowl of chowder. The fish and chips were noteworthy, too.
Day 2: Orick/Klamath, CA
Lodging: Roosevelt Base Camp. As the name suggests, this was pretty much our home base, as there really is not much to do in this tiny town. Our motel (which I highly recommend with its recent renovations) was literally the town’s main attraction. From here, we made side trips to Redwood Nat Park and Trees of Mystery to see the legendary 49′ Paul Bunyan and his faithful blue ox, Babe. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cheesy roadside attractions and gigantic statues whose voice sounds a whole lot like Nick Offerman.
Day 3: Bandon, OR
Lodging: Best Western Inn at Face Rock. This was hands down the fanciest BW we ever stayed at, and it was conveniently located across from the beach. Our ocean view definitely knocked the socks right off of us.
The main attraction is Face Rock Beach, specifically its impressive formation of sea stacks. We changed our itinerary at the last minute to stay here because we noticed that our travels aligned with low tide, which is the chef’s kiss when it comes to landscape photography and discovering all the marine life.
Days 4-11: Manzanita
Our final destination for our mini family reunion. We rented a house on the beach for about a week that was about a mile away from the downtown. The extra distance was much quieter, and it felt like we had this magic place all to ourselves. Our pup didn’t mind it one bit. We made day trips to Astoria, Cannon Beach, Secret Beach, Hug Point, and the cute, neighboring town of Nehalem.
Side Trip to Astoria
Side Trip to Cannon Beach
Side Trip to Hug Point
As we began our journey back to CA, our first stop was at Silver Falls SP (AKA Oregon’s “Crown Jewel”) to see some majestic waterfalls. This park offers views behind their famous South Falls which has an impressive 177 ft drop. I was gung-ho about seeing this rare vantage point until we neared its cliff-hugging trail and quickly remembered that I was afraid of heights. Nonetheless, I was very content to appreciate the view from my husband’s iPhone.
After the park, we then continued inland for a change of scenery and drove through Oregon’s wine country, Willamette Valley, and stopped for a bite to eat at Corvallis before heading to our lodging destination in Cottage Grove. In hindsight, I would much prefer staying over night in Corvallis rather than Cottage Grove because that little college town had so much more to offer.
Day 12: Cottage Grove, OR
Lodging: BW, Cottage Grove, where we took an epic driving tour to all of the town’s historic covered bridges.
Day 13: Crescent City, CA
Lodging: Anchor Beach Inn. As the name suggests, it’s located on the beach. Our stay also aligned with the low tide which made the Battery Point Lighthouse accessible. This lighthouse’s tower was the only one on our trip that was open to the public. The tour was totally worth the wait.
Day 14: Whitehorn, CA
Lodging: Black Sands Inn. I may have chosen this location purely for the alluring name of its beach: Shelter Cove.
