California Dreaming - Up to Oregon and back

After Lake Tahoe, we had a couple of long days riding to get to Oregon.  One of the nicest B&B’s we stayed in was the Grateful Bed in Chico.  It is a Victorian villa that the present owners have restored.  The decor is very tasteful, bed is very comfortable, and the breakfast was scrumptious! We had a lovely time chatting to the other guests over a nightcap on the veranda and next morning at breakfast.

From Chico we rode up Highway 5 to our next stop in Grants Pass, Oregon.  It poured with rain most of the way!  But we were rewarded with one of the best restaurants we found on our holiday, The Twisted Cork.  Here I am eating clams!

The next day the weather wasn’t much better!  It carried on raining.  We stayed with my friend Nancy, who I met on my goals class on www.simplify101.com.  This photo is taken in her back garden, and the forest behind us belongs to them!  We had a walk through the trails that Nancy’s daughter had made.  It was magical!  We had a lovely evening with them chatting about the differences between UK and USA.

We popped back out on the coast at Lincoln City.  The weather was still wet and windy, so the sea was rough.  It was awesome!  So bleak and wild.  We stopped at Yaquina Lighthouse for a walk and a look at the visitor centre.

As we made our way down the Oregon coast, the weather improved bit by bit.  Still bleak and wild though. Quite awesome!

We stayed at a couple of interesting B&B’s: The Old Tower House in Coos Bay, and Abigail’s Elegant Mansion in Eureka.  Both were decorated in a highly elaborate Victorian way.  We were intrigued at the attention to detail!  Abigail’s was like something out of a Disney film! 

I loved that all the trees had lichen and moss growing on them, like these in the background.

Just south of Eureka is the Avenue of the Giants, more than 30 miles of scenic roads through the ancient sequoia groves.  We went for a little walk along one of the trails.  The trees really are magnificent and it felt magical to be amongst them.

Of course, we had to drive through the Chandelier Tree!  What an American Icon!

The weather improved more and more as we approached San Francisco.  The roads were even more twisty and windy, and at times we were very high above the ocean.  Quite scary at times!

I was intrigued by the tsunami warning signs all along the coast.  Not something we see in the UK!!  There are lighthouses all down the coast, so we stopped at Point Arena Lighthouse and took the tour, and walked the Earthquake trail at Point Reyes, which was the epicentre of the 1906 earthquake.

We rode into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge.  What a thrill!  It was a beautiful sunny day, no fog! 

We met another of my friends from the goals class who lives in San Francisco.  We took pictures in front of the ‘Painted Ladies’ in Alamo Square.  Cynthia and her husband took us to a fabulous restaurant, The Water Bar, just by the Bay Bridge.  What a fabulous last evening of our holiday! The Bay Bridge has a wonderful light installation.

Sadly, the next day was our last, and we had the morning free:

We loved San Francisco!  Shame we didn’t have longer there really.  Cynthia cooked us a lovely lunch at her house and then drove us to the airport.

What a fabulous holiday!  A bit of a whistle stop tour, but we saw something everyday that wowed us!  It was lovely to meet my two ‘internet’ friends too.  Where next?  Watch this space!