Our road trip this year took us on a big six-state loop starting in Arizona, heading north through Nevada to south-eastern Oregon, then across into Idaho for a few days and a couple of graduation ceremonies, west again into Washington and all the way out to the Olympic Peninsula where we introduced ourselves to highway 101. We followed the 101 south with forest on the left side and ocean on the right, down the coastlines of Washington and Oregon and all the way into California before turning inland again towards home. We stopped at some interesting places and saw some interesting people along the way, but it was the view from the passenger seat that really made the journey enjoyable.
First, let me just be clear that Andrea really likes driving her new Suburban.
What is more Arizonan than the sun in the clear blue sky, mountains on the horizon, and saguaro cactus beside a long straight road?
One of my favorite things about Highway 93 west out of Phoenix is the layers of mountains fading into the distance.
In Nevada, the roads aren't just long and straight, they're endless.
The Steen mountains in south eastern Oregon where we stayed for a couple of nights with Andrea's cousin and his family.
The shortest route from Andrea's cousin's place across the bottom of Oregon to my mom and dad's house in Idaho includes 50 miles of gravel road. The dust cloud in the distance? Yup, that's where we're going. Watch out for the antelope.
No road pictures from Idaho, sorry. We didn't spend much time traveling there; instead, we stayed put for a few days at mom and dad's, relaxed, and enjoyed graduation festivities for the first of the cousins to finish up high school. Then, back in the car for part two of our adventure, heading west and north through Oregon again and then across the Columbia river into Washington.
The Columbia river valley through central Washington features mile after mile of orchards. Cherries, pears, and, of course, apples.
The Columbia gets a bit smaller as you follow it up river, but it's still an impressive body of water. One of many hydroelectric dams along the way.
Sometimes the view from the passenger side is of a handsome young man sitting in the driver's seat.
The rugged and snow-capped Cascade mountain range on Highway 2 heading towards Seattle.
A random Lamborghini on I-5. Much excitement from the back seat.
We stayed the night with my cousin and his family in Milltown, north of Everett, then continued west on Highway 20. Turns out the only way to keep going west without getting wet is to get on a ferry. Here's the view of Highway 20 as it crosses the Sound to Port Townsend - a new experience for the kiddos.
We made our way to Highway 101 and Port Angeles on the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and then took the highly recommended road up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. The peaks of the mountains were shrouded by clouds so we didn't get the full effect, but the view was still fantastic.
The next day we continued around the western edge of the peninsula and into the Ho river rain forest. It was a beautiful sunny day, which is unusual in a climate that sees 118 inches of rain a year.
Everything is soft and fuzzy in the rain forest.
We didn't spend a lot more time in Washington because we wanted to be able to spend a couple of days along the more accessible Oregon coast. The 101 winds through logging towns and fisheries and reservations until it meets the mighty Columbia river again.
The bridge across the river to Astoria is over 4 miles long and carries you almost 200 feet above the water. It is definitely an experience to cross. Sadly, we didn't get any good pictures of it.
Looking back north from Astoria with a section of the bridge just visible on the right side.
The Oregon coast is truly spectacular. It's usually cloudy and cold, but each beach is unique and the shoreline is always rugged and impossibly picturesque. Our first stop was at Cannon Beach.
Add a historic lighthouse to the mix and you really have something spectacular. Here were two of our favorites.
This is what our navigation looked like for most of the way down the Oregon coast. Ocean on the right, state park on the left, and Highway 101 winding its way south between them.
The northern tip of the Oregon Dunes state park. It started raining as got into the dunes, so we didn't get as much of a chance to play as we would have liked. Probably just as well, we had enough sand in our shorts as it was.
Every little bay has a bridge. Every bridge is unique.
The northern corner of California features a fine drive through the majestic redwoods. We saw some big cedar trees in Washington, but there's nothing quite like the scale of the redwoods.
Here's a bridge across a bay that is quite recognizable. San Francisco is the the end of our coastal journey - we'll turn inland here, get back on the I-5 and head south to Los Angeles and east to home.
You can't go to San Francisco without experiencing the impossibly steep streets of downtown. The kids were impressed.
Final tally: 4591.5 miles. The Suburban is officially broken in. And yes, that does say 20.9 average miles per gallon for the trip - an extra bonus!
