Over the back roads cross country trip Part 3

Continuing on our trip from Eureka, we were still on narrow winding tree lined roads for a bit. For the most part we stayed on Hwy 101 but cut over to the interstate in the afternoon in order to get to our next destination  - the suburbs of Sacramento.

Don't take these turns too fast or else.....

The rivers were low due to the lack of precipitation. But still pretty.

Our first stop was to visit with Anna, Kyle's mother-in-law in El Dorado Hills.  We had a great visit but had to move on.  We also tried to meet up with Alicia, former missionary in Brooklyn Center, who lives a couple of blocks away but with our estimated arrival time and her schedule we were not able to meet, except by phone. Next time.

This is the Crown of the King of Norway Flag (Royal Coat of Arms) and it was given to my paternal grandmother, Gunda, by the King of Norway for the government work that she did.  It is hanging on my brother Norm's wall.

We spent the night with my brother Norm and his wife Jill. Jill is an excellent Rosemaler (traditional Norwegian painting).

This is the marina at Half Moon Bay, south of San Fransisco (out of picture order).

The Princeton Seafood Company.

 And the Harbormaster.

We came across the Golden Gate Bridge. As usual it was foggy, but it was still exciting to see this American icon.  So be amazed.

We are on the toll bridge.  They get a lot of money every day at $6 a car.

Surfer on the coast.

Some of the streets of San Francisco

Notice the price of gas. We were prepared to pay $4.50 per gallon so this was a relief. But gas was about ten cents higher in Brooklyn Center, MN when we got back home. What gives?

The coast highway.  All along the coast, every few miles, there was a beach and a place to park. Each one of them was pay $10 to park.  All I wanted was five minutes to take some pictures, but I wasn't going to spend that kind of money for five minutes. So everyone of them was a drive by. Even though they were all pay on the honor roll system, I didn't stop; I just pulled off on the side of the road.

Here's another one.

Vineyards. We passed dozens of them in the California wine country.

No we didn't stop. Probably costs to get in anyway.

This is the small Scandinavian community of Solvang, a tourist trap.  We stopped to look around and see what they had as far as souvenirs.  It is a totally Danish town - everything was Danish, including Hans Christian Anderson Park.

I stopped in at an information place and I asked this guy, "I don't mean to disrespect any of you Danes, but is there anything Norwegian in this town?" He said, "No".  I saw an accordion on the table and asked him if he knew how to play it.  Of course he did and he played me a song, Waltzing Matilda.  It was great fun.

The clock bell tower in Solvang, that played songs on the hour of every hour.

 We finally made it to the Pierpont Hotel in Ventura, CA and this is what greeted up as we entered to register.  There was a wedding going on so that meant that the parking lot was full and I had to double park just to unload our luggage and then find a place down the hill to park.

Sunset at the Pierpont with the Ventura Pier in the background.

Over the back roads cross country trip part 2

We spent the night in Burns, OR and then continued our trip west.

This is our first view of the Oregon mountains, which we will be driving over.  See the snow capped mountains and see that there are still no cars on the road!

This looks promising as a rest area/fill-r-up spot.  Wait, nobody is there; it's abandoned.

We are headed to Sisters, Oregon, very close to these mountains.

This is where we first hit the lava fields which go for mile after mile.

I believe this is Mt Washington

More lava.

Even more lava.

This is Mt Jefferson and if you look very close, you will see Mt Hood to the right - 70 miles away.

This is the Dee Wright Observatory at the top of McKinsey Pass

Whew, still lava here. It was pretty hot here 10,000 years ago.

We finally left the lava fields and into the tree lined roads - still narrow.

I have tried several times to upload a short video of our drive and several times there was an error processing it.  So just imagine it.  The roads were narrow and had sharp curves and hairpin curves, many of them listed at 15 MPH. The lanes are normally 11 feet wide but in several areas your lane is really nine feet, due to all the lava rock that has fallen onto the road. Our goal was to make it to our friend Deb Lee in Eugene and spend the night. Then on south through the Redwoods.

We met up with my nephew, Erik, Kimberly and Sonia, in Ashland for lunch. and had a great visit. Their oldest son, Nels, was in school.and didn't get to see him.

The view of the Pacific coast.  This is a Crescent City, California. It was foggy along the coast - see the light house?

We walked out of the pier to watch the seagulls and pelicans and dozens of people fishing or going after crabs. This one is called One Leg.

And this was his friend.

Judy wanted to get a picture of her next to a gull but just as I snapped the picture, it took off.

 Mr. Pellican.

Then we got to the Redwoods.  This was one of the smaller trees.

I have never seen clover this big.  They are huge.

 A fallen redwood needed to be cut through to clear the path.

 Then we came upon a herd of elk.

And even more young elk just frolicking around.

 Surf along CA highway 101.

 

We spent the night in Eurika, CA.