The Dream of the 90's

Travel Itinerary
Salem, Oregon to Portlandia via 5N
1 Hour, 50 Miles


Adventures!
We spent the morning at the Y in Salem.  Then we hung out at the coffee shop owned by the Y, which was pretty awesome because it was in an old theater.  After we got our coffee fill we headed up to Portland.  We're staying with Mary Ann, a family friend of mine, who's been kind enough to take us in for a few days.  She also made us a list of adventures and fun things to see in Portland and the surrounding areas, so this will probably be a more thorough tour than we've had in previous cities.  Get excited.

Marissa

Sweet Oblivion

Travel Itinerary
Bend, OR to Salem, OR via 20W & 22W
2.5 Hours, 130 Miles


Adventures!
We didn't really do anything in Salem.  We drove by this pretty, historic theater and explored the downtown.

Then we called it a night and watched The Addams Family in the van.

Portland tomorrow!

Marissa

An Oregon Earth Day

Adventures!
We spent the day hanging out in Bend, Oregon.  It's another cute, small city.  We explored the bustling downtown area, which was packed with little ma & pa shops, then stumbled upon the Earth Day fair.

Fun! We got to wander around looking at booths! They even had live music!  As you can tell, it was a busy day in Bend.  We went out for dinner at a cheap Thai/American joint, then called it a night.  Salem in the morning.


Marissa

Falls, Cliffs, and Nudes

Travel Itinerary
Grants Pass, OR to Toketee Falls, OR via 5N & 138E
Toketee Falls to The Umpqua Hot Springs via 138E
Umpqua Hot Springs to Crater Lake via 138E
Crater Lake to Bend, OR via 97N
6 Hours, 280 Miles


Adventures!
YES! Finally, we did something cool!  We didn't go to the caves, but we did lots of other awesome stuff...

The Toketee (Tuck-et-tee) Falls and some surrounding areas. 

The Umpqua Hot Springs

Hot tubs in the middle of the forest!

They're right on the edge of this cliff that looks down into the river.

We got in them!

Crater Lake

Uh Oh...

*Special note to those who think we're awesome and are totally and completely jealous of all the cool stuff we do.... If you plan on taking a trip like this, when packing remember to think about elevation changes.  We sure as heck didn't.  Remember those pictures where I'm wearing a bathing suit?  There was a good ten feet of snow on the ground when we got to Crater Lake, and these two places are just few miles apart.

Sleeping in Bend, OR

Marissa

Don't Hold Your Breath

Travel Itinerary

Redding, California to Grants Pass, Oregon via 5N and a bunch of loopy back roads.

I don't know, too many hours and about 200 miles.

Adventures?

We managed to spend another day doing nothing.  We left Redding and tried to drive to the Oregon Caves.  Unfortunately, we drove within a few miles of the place and found out you can't get to it from the East, and we'd have to drive in a big pointless loop to get there.  That's what we get for not researching our stops.  In our defense, it's more fun when you don't know what to expect.  After that fail, we drove up to Grant's Pass and spent the night intending to go back to the caves the next morning.  I promise the next entry will be interesting.

Marissa

A Whole Lotta Nothing

We spent the day doing nothing in Redding, CA.  After the stressful adventure that was the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, we decided to be super boring and watch TV, go to the Y, and then go to bed early.  I swear we didn't do anything, I can't even really tell you what Redding is like.  


Marissa

Eureka!

Travel Itinerary
Santa Rosa, CA to Napa, CA via 101S $ 121N
Napa, CA to Eureka, CA via 1N
Eureka, CA to Redding, CA via 36E
It was supposed to be like 9 hours, but we pretty much drove all day and well into the night, 450 Miles


Adventures!


This is what Napa looks like...

Hm, I wonder if they make wine here?


Then we drove along the coast on 1N.  We stopped at a whole bunch of pretty beaches, then somehow ended up deep in the woods.

So after a lot of driving and beach walking we end up in Eureka.  Upon arrival we find out that the Walmart on the map is not actually built yet, AND a law has recently been put into place that doesn't allow people to park overnight on the streets.  So we go into KMart to ask them if we can park there.  Well they say yes, but are kind enough to let us know that the police have been really cracking down on overnight parkers and hand out tickets pretty freely.  Well the next Walmart is an hour and a half north, or we can drive three hours inland to Redding where there's a small city with YMCAs and coffee shops.  

There is, honestly, NOTHING out here.  So, we take the risk and drive through a national forest in the middle of the night for a lot longer than three hours.  Needless to say, there were deer, rabbits, stray dogs, and fog.  We made it out without killing anything, including ourselves, which is the most we can ask for.  

No driving tomorrow.

Marissa