SF to Portland

NORTHERN WEST COAST

Pictures can often be worth a thousand words or more, so I will keep the words to a minimum and let the majesty of our coastal drive from San Francisco to Eureka to Bandon, Oregon, to Newport, Oregon to Portland, to Victoria, BC speak mostly for themselves.

Suffice it to say that while I thought the drive from San Luis Obispo to the Bay Area was as beautiful as it gets, I think what’s north of that is even better. 

We made it over the Bay Area and Golden Gate Bridges before 6:30am  

and began our winding route round about Muir Beach, CA.  The first 20 miles wind along some high cliffs, which afforded us incredible views back to the fog of San Francisco.  After a gorgeous farmland inland section, we found a great place called the Sea Ranch Resort.  I was amazed at how, not far north from San Francisco in such beautiful coastline, there was such a dearth of inhabitants.  The Sea Ranch came out of the blue and was quite a welcome and majestic sight, as all of us had grumbly stomachs after about three hours of coastal driving.  We passed towns like Elk (where I enjoyed my first anniversary), and Mendocino, which was having a huge festival, with streets crowded with tourists who certainly didn’t come from the south, because we felt as though we were one of the few cars on the road all morning.  

Fort Bragg was certainly nothing to brag about, but north about 50 miles or so, we headed a little eastward off the coast and through the beginning of the redwood forests on a 22-mile stretch of extremely winding roadway featuring turn after turn of 15 and 10 mph curves.  After about 45 minutes of this kind of driving, I was exhausted (we’d been driving for 9 hours at this point) and had an extremely strong yearning for just ONE STRAIGHTAWAY.  On top of that we had not too much gas left in the tank.  When we finally finished this stretch, we found our first gas station in 60 miles or so (this is route 101, remember!!??), which was an old style filling station with full service for the lovely price of $2.42 a gallon.  The Touareg took a few sips, but not gulps, and then we headed up 101 through the Avenue of the Giants, which of course featured some of the largest trees on the planet.  It’s a gorgeous meandering drive in and out of sunlight and full shade with plenty of opportunities to pull over and feel real small.

After a night in Eureka, we took a short drive up the Oregon Coast up to Bandon, Oregon.  Our reservation was at The Windermere, which turned out to be one of the great finds of the trip.  Certainly not luxury, but perfect for us:  A bedroom upstairs with two beds for the kids, and one bed down next to the kitchen… which had a slider opening up to the most beautiful beach view anywere.  Gigantic rocks were plunked right down on the beach and off the shore just a bit.  It was a bit reminiscent of the final scene from Planet of the Apes.  That 18 hour period we spent in Bandon was one of the most relaxing and mind-opening times I’ve ever spent.  I walked the beach all during the late afternoon, again with Parker at sunset… the air was so crisp and delicious anyone in their right mind would start to think about how to spend more time out this way*… As I went to bed late, the full moon was directly overhead, so I set my alarm for a ridiculous hour just to catch that huge white ball setting over the Pacific.  It worked, although I had to play around with my new camera to get the shots right.  They didn’t turn out perfect, but they’ll allow that memory to linger with me forever.  The boys and I then took an early morning walk, and then started back up the coast toward Newport, only to discover more gorgeous coastline.  This time the vista Gods laid it on even a little heavier with lighthouses and park after park of Pacific views that would make any artist squirm.

After this trip, my friend Cindy Tower painted this wonderful image she gleaned from two of my shots in Bandon.  One of them is above.  

Newport was more of a tourist trap than Bandon, it appeared.  According to the locals, Bandon's popularity skyrocketed after a PGA major event was played there a few years ago, and real estate had gone wacky.  Newport, however, didn't have that same cachet, but was still a fun place to bop around.   We had a low-key afternoon, and let the sun set on us and then enjoyed the wide open slider that invited the Pacific to lull us to sleep.  Much more refreshing than any Newport cigarette.  I guessed someone must have looked at a map of Oregon when naming menthol cigarettes.  We tried to come up with some other names that worked as well as Newport and Salem every time we passed a town.  Portland would be a good brand.  Hood... maybe--for the right market.  

I’d recommend our accommodations in Portland to anyone.  We stayed at a boutique style hotel in the trendy Nob Hill section.  It was called the Inn at Northrup Station, where there was a stop for the very clean and cool Portland streetcar system.  The room was done up on all sorts of limes, violets, oranges and blacks, featured very modern furnishings, a granite kitchen, and lots of space for us to spread out a bit.  I preferred this to downtown, as I could park my car easily, and walk right out the door and find coffee shops and great eating spots without the tourists all over the place.  Among all the tempting choices was a place called Muu-Muu’s World Diner, which was so Portland and had such a fun menu.  I sampled Karate Rolls, which were simply smoked salmon wrapped around alfalfa sprouts, with a dollop of some kind of sauce on them, to be dipped in wasabe oil.  As odd as that might sound, they were light and delicious, and we returned the next day for lunch.  The kids had one of their favorite meals of the trip, which was a smashed burger… basically it already had the fries stuck in with the burger on a long sub roll, and I had some incredible halibut in a red chile sauce which rivaled that which I had at Fresh in La Jolla.

Since we had a pretty nice layover in Portland, I had done a little Emailing in advance to procure some adult company… my kids are charming, but punctuating night after night of having family dinners with a date would be a nice break, I thought. Kathleen was a redheaded bellydancer!  Of course, that was a first.  While I had no clue what to expect (usually I do more groundwork before meeting someone I meet on the internet), she was a very attractive, fun gal with whom I enjoyed many laughs and good conversation at a great little bistro not too far from the hotel. 

I took my car in for its 5000 service at Ray Reece’s Friday Volkswagen in Portland.  Everyone was quite friendly there, even though the mechanic didn’t seem overly excited when I suggested that he’d done the first ever 5000 mile service on a Touareg.  I guess an oil change is an oil change to these guys.   Nonetheless, he explained to me how to get more distance from my remote door locking system, but putting the keyfob up to my chin.  I’m still not crazy about the fact that to lock it I have to be within five feet of the Touareg.  I want MORE distance.  We’re so spoiled.

That night, Parker and I got in the Touareg and drove into the hills of Portland to check out the houses and the views, which were amazing.  Most houses for sale had little flyer boxes attached, so Parker would scurry off and bring back the flyers on some of the hot properties to assuage the curiousity of a guy who all of a sudden couldn’t resist the idea of someday moving to the Northwest.  I think this is a great place, and perhaps after the boys go off to college, I might like to call this my new home… perhaps before.  One never knows where life will take us.  The nice houses with views ranged somewhere in the 500,000 to million+ range.  These were in the city.  My dreamhouse would be overlooking a running river in the forest with good access to Portland.  Again, just a dream.

We buzzed around the city late at night, passing the downtown music festival, which also happened to be sponsored by Volkswagen.  When we finally got back to our room, we conked once again.  Somehow, though, once again I awoke way too early.  This seems to be becoming a pattern on this trip.

* Well, so, reading this blog again 13 years later, I guess I found a way to spend more time out this way.  By now, I am very pleased to be able to be a RESOURCE for people wanting to visit all 363 miles of Oregon coast.