Route 101

After the night out in Portland with Justin sampling the local hmm "fare" (we drank only Oregon microbrews) and some good breakfast we picked up Taylor from the RV place.


Taylor had an examination to see why the grey water tank was leaking (grey water is the sink and shower water). After ripping out a wall they managed to find a crack in the top of the tank like I thought. The picture looked like a hole but it was tough to tell. Either way I need a new tank but it will take weeks to get one, so at the end of this when I'm parked somewhere for awhile that will all happen. There's a whole story about being open on Saturday but not actually working and possibly having to make it from Portland to Vegas in 3 days...but that didn't end up happening. So I'll skip the details.


We drove out to Newport OR on the coast, heading down Rte 5 we saw these huge plumes of smoke to the east. Forest fires. There were a bunch of them burning in that part of the state and it was wild to see the smoke rising from them so far away.

Took pictures of the sunset and saw some sea lions chilling on the bank. We thought they were seals but the signs everywhere down the road indicated sea lions. Had some dinner and promptly passed out. The next morning we woke up and went to the beach. It was empty and kind of cloudy but beautiful. Justin also has a camera and it was fun to walk the beach taking photos with him...

We split up after that him back to eastern oregon and me south. I stayed on the 101 after getting some really good driving information from the woman at the KOA we stayed at. The drive down the Oregon coast was probably my favorite drive so far.

I was relaxed, it was interesting, I stopped and took pictures. It was what I envisioned this trip to be all about. I made it all the way to the Redwood forest of Northern California feeling wonderfully alive and blessed.


Summarizing the rest of the way...


...stayed in the redwoods, the towns up that way are a bit sad and lost, did "tree" in a giant redwood tree, got the creeps driving through the rest of the mountains of northern california, hit the sonoma valley late and drove a winding narrow road to the campground on top a hill, saw the most stars I have seen to date on this trip and then took off for Yosemite in the morning...

Yosemite and the rest of California for another posting. Have to get geared up and off to Viva Las Vegas to pick up my moms for the Grand Canyon adventure...

Cheers!
Kelly