We crossed many bridges, but only one was a toll bridge, and that was the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the SF Bay Area.
We took 101 up the coast, and encountered some beautiful scenes. The top speed was 55 mph, and when we drove thru a down, we had to slow down to 25, and when we went around steep curves, we had to slow down to 30 or 40, with a small leeway of probably 5 mph, but it was all good because everyone followed the speed limits (else they'd miss the curve), and there were no cars around us, particularly behind us, most of the time. I can handle driving the sharp curves with little or no stress, but having someone tailgate me or whip around to pass me is very stressful.
We actually saw two old looking Rexall signs - one in Willits, and one in Ferndale. I didn't even know there were still Rexalls.
We took a 20 minute detour at Ferndale, a town that has maintained its victorian buildings and charm.
The sunset on the Oregon coast was beautiful even thru the van window.
My former boss's widow has invited us to visit him many times. He lives in Bandon, OR, a coastal town that is gorgeous. We took a side trip to Bandon to see Mike and his beautiful house and view and town. This was the view from the guest bedroom. We hadn't seen Mike in over 6 years, at Marilyn's memorial service.
I took this picture from the street in front of Mike's house. His is the only house on the street, but a new house is being built next door to him. The new house is not between him and the beach, so that is good.
From Bandon we drove up 101 to WA. The forest next to the ocean is such natural beauty.
More bridges.
The bridge from OR to WA that goes over the Columbia River is huge. I was glad to have Will drive that stretch.
A view from the bridge.
We visited the in-laws in Ocean Shores, WA, but first we stopped in Aberdeen, WA because M-I-L had a bad reaction to new medicine and had to spend the night there. We got to visit with her new husband, and she was fine the next day, so it a worked out. Molly is waiting for her humans, who are in the kitchen, to throw a treat.
A rare, sunny day in Ocean Shores, WA, and we got two of them. Two in a row! To me it is just WRONG to drive on the beach. There were shells, all broken, with tire tracks next to them. Does anyone else see the connection?
Ocean Shores beach.
The road out of Ocean Shores is very pretty. It's not fun to drive in the dark, but in the daylight the color of the leaves was worthy of a picture.
From WA we drove to I-5 and stayed in Ashland, OR. What a cute town. At first I thought it was like Palo Alto, but I'll change that and say it's more like Santa Cruz. Here is our room at the motel. For the first time in years we had one of those old fashioned hotel keys. I took a picture, but it didn't come out, but if you're as old as we are, you remember those keys!
This was the view from out hotel room. The leaves changing were quite magnificent.
Ashland has a lovely yarn store. This was just one wall of several that housed beautiful, colorful yarn. Even Will was impressed by the beautiful colors.
I took many more pictures, but this gives the gist of our trip. Unfortunately, I-5 was not quite as interesting as 101 (going up) but it was faster! Mt. Shasta thru the van window!
There are so many beautiful places to visit so close to home! Speaking of home, we are happy to be back home. So are the kitties.
If you are my "friend" on Facebook, you can see these and other pictures posted there. If you're not my friend, then why are you looking at my blog?
