Seattle Down

Trip Start Oct 15, 2007

Trip End Aug 24, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Flag of United States Port Orford, Oregon, United States
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

We headed out of Seattle and hit the southbound freeway, stopping after about an hour for breakfast in a little diner. Breakfast was not great. Jacob's was ostensibly biscuits and gravy, which is a recognised North American thing; biscuits being essentially scone like stodgy lumps. However, the 'sausage gravy' was nothing like gravy we've ever encountered. Packet mix white sauce with a lot of salt. Mmmm. The entertainment was reasonable though. It took the form of a woman called Patricia, sporting a teddy bear cardigan and a squint, exclaiming "Gee, your trip is exciting. Have you been staying in hostiles? Is there still war in England between the Catholics and the Christians?" throughout the whole time we were trying to eat.

We made our escape and Kirsty had her first experience of driving an automatic vehicle, a left hand drive vehicle and a vehicle that wasn't a Peugeot (practically unheard of for her). All at once. She was surprised how easy she found it, having expected it to be horrible and therefore being pretty terrified to begin with. Having circled the car park several times, she let Jacob take over again, and we were back on the road.

After a while on Interstate 5, we turned off to get on to Route 101, which follows the coast of Washington and Oregon down to California. Just about as we reached the coast, the heavens opened. We then proceeded to drive through incredibly heavy rain for several hours, covering several hundred miles of scenery that we couldn't see. We could barely see the road for a lot of the time.

We stopped at Hoover's Grill in Newport, Oregon for a meal and in the hope that the weather might improve. The weather did, but the day's dining experience didn't. Jacob had a steak (at least, that's what he ordered) and Kirsty had something called 'Chicken Fried Steak' which essentially turned out to be minced cardboard, marinaded in grease, breaded and deep fried. Jacob had a pint of thick cloudy orange stuff. "Beer", we think they called it.

Feeling less than satisfied with our repast, we pushed on for a bit with Kirsty having the luxury of driving under clear skies, although it was dark by then. Eventually, after another driver swap, we found ourselves a little layby just off the highway and bedded down for the night.

The following morning, cold and stiff, we drove into Port Orford, where we found a diner for breakfast. Kirsty complained bitterly about Jacob's snoring, best described as him lying there with his head open, rattling away like a pneumatic drill.

So, onwards, into California. We passed some gorgeous coastal scenery and then entered the redwood forests: "The Avenue of the Giants". Quite an appropriate name really, redwoods are as impressive as you may have imagined. We found a "drive through tree", so Jacob drove through it, whilst Kirsty took photos. No dings to the rental car, we are pleased to report.

When Route 101 headed inland, we took the coastal Route 1 instead. The extremely bendy Route 1. Jacob enjoyed that. The scenery was gorgeous, but once it got dark, we decided it would be sensible to head back to the faster Route 101 into San Francisco. More bends. Kirsty didn't enjoy that. It's kind of obvious which of us is the biker, isn't it?

Heading into San Francisco, listening to Billy Connolly, we stopped for fuel (by the way, it's about half price in the States, but they still complain about how pricey it is) and phoned our host Emmanuel for directions. We crossed the Golden Gate and found his street quite quickly, then drove around for ages cursing the lack of parking spaces. The uphill streets really are very uphill, with a great view of the bonnet and little else. Eventually, we saw someone getting into his car, so hung about and had his space practically before he had vacated it.

So, San Francisco, here we are.