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Traveling the Pacific Coast |
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Scenes along the Oregon Coast
(Artistic license used to present these images)
Redwood Country
and Portland's Japanese Garden |
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Our trip north along
the Pacific Coast was borne of two purposes…the first,
to visit friends who live in the Los Angeles / San Diego
area and second, to travel the coast line from Los
Angeles, California to Portland, Oregon. Originally
we had planned to visit Crater Lake National Park in
Oregon, but that idea was scuttled when we were informed
that heavy snows in that region are not cleared out
until the end of May.
As we headed north, we
travelled close to the coast line driving most of the
time on the famed Highway 101. Wikipedia informs us
that this highway is known as El Camino Real (The
Royal Road), where its route along the southern and
central California coast approximates the old trail
which linked the Spanish missions, pueblos, and
presidios or fortresses. Our route took us through San
Luis Obispo, north to Carmel/Monterey, San Francisco,
Garberville (the beginning of the Redwood country) and
Ferndale (the Victorian town at the northern end of the
Redwood country) all in California. Then our travels
continued north to Gold Beach, Newport and Portland in
Oregon.
But first, I must
extend our affection for the friends that opened their
hearts and their home to us during our visits. Though
short, the visits were unfortunately packed into a
schedule that was far too limited. In that regard, our
visits took us to Oceanside, Studio City, Hollywood and
Pacific Palisades in southern California. The visit
with Frank and Lee brought back the great reminiscences
of our time together at sea where we would discuss world
events and many other topics of the day. Our visit
with Jerry and Susan taught us that even distance does
not diminish a close and loving friendship borne on the
Yangtze River almost ten years ago.
And our visit with
Michael and Aunene, who also traveled the Pacific coast
with us, grew from just an amazing eighteen days ….time
that we shared on the first phase of our world
cruise…..to a very warm and close “family” relationship
that will endure the test of time and distance. And
of course our visit with Estelle and Sy, whom we also
met aboard ship, was filled with humor and talks of
family. |
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San
Francisco Skyline (above left, clockwise);
Mission San
Luis Obispo de Tolosa; Redwood Trees in the Humboldt
Redwoods State Park , Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge,
the Getty Museum in Los Angeles; the Oregon Coast
and Pioneer Square in Portland.
(Artistic license used to present some of these images) |
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Leaving Los
Angeles, we headed for San Luis Obispo, stopping for
lunch in Santa Barbara right at the beach. San
Luis Obispo is Spanish for St. Louis, the Bishop
and is located midway between San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Founded in 1772, San Luis Obispo is one
of California’s oldest communities. It is referred
to locally as "SLO", "S.L.O." and "San Luis", and is
the county seat of San Luis Obispo County. The
recent census reports a population of 45,016 people.
We stayed at the Garden Street Inn which was most
pleasant and very much a part of the cityscape.
I liked the
city…..life seemed easy (to use), nice restaurants
and shopping, a river running through town which
makes a very nice venue for restaurants where you
can dine outside. There is a small office
building that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and
an appealing Japanese garden. There is also a
very delightful mission called Mission San Luis
Obispo de Tolosa. The mission was built with adobe
and tile structures and included, the Church, the
Priest's residence, the convent, the storerooms, and
additional residences.
Carmel / Monterey
is known around the country if not around the world
as the home of the Pebble Beach Golf course, the
famed Seventeen Mile Drive along the Pacific Ocean,
the unique charisma of the town of Carmel with its
wonderful beaches and stunning homes just on the
ocean. Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply
Carmel, is known for its natural scenery and rich
artistic history. The City of Monterey is on
Monterey Bay and it is noted for its history of
resident artists and its legendary fishery.
Monterey is home to the Monterey Bay Aquarium,
Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf.
It is not possible
for me to say enough about San Francisco nor can I
say what has not been said many times over. It
is a most exciting city with great architecture,
restaurants from almost every culture and famous
landmarks like Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars,
Golden Gate Park, and Chinatown. But if that were
not enough there is also Lombard Street that takes
you down Russian Hill, Coit Tower, Japan Town and
museums.
We went to the
Museum of Modern Art, the Contemporary Jewish
Museum, the de Young Museum and the California
Academy of Sciences, the latter two in Golden Gate
Park. And San Francisco is also noted for its
Fisherman’s wharf, the Embarcadero and Ghirardelli
Square. I could go on, but what I loved about San
Francisco this time was its many neighborhoods and
the character that each brings to this great
city. |
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We
continued north to the Redwood country, a
place I had not been before so I was excited
about experiencing new places…..and we
did. The entrance to the “Avenue of the
Giants”, the winding road that would take us
into Redwood country was just past the town
of Garberville. Not many people live in
Garberville, but those that do love it. It
appears to be the center of the marijuana
growing region there, if not the whole
country and the people we saw could have
moved there directly from the Woodstock
experience, they are just a little bit
older.
The Avenue
of the Giants is a scenic highway running
through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and has
many parking areas, paths to hike and
visitor attractions. The coastal redwoods
are simply amazing, with 51,222 acres of
trees, some as tall as 346 feet, with a
diameter of approximately thirteen feet and
over two thousand years old. The trees
are so immense that they live in three
climate zones…..the base being in one, the
stem in another and the crown in yet another
zone. Dead trees fall and through their
decay provide a source of nourishment to
those that remain. There is one tree set
aside for a commercial purpose that you can
actually drive through, but others have
bases that are open enough to readily walk
through.
Heading
into southern Oregon was a real treat…every
ten feet along the Oregon coast is a Kodak
moment. The Oregon Coast is the western
border of the state, and stretches
approximately 363 miles from the Columbia
River by Portland in the north to the
California state border in the south.
Because of the complex geological history of
the Pacific Northwest, the geography of the
Oregon Coast is diversely varied, and is
often separated into different regions based
upon three primary landforms along the
shoreline: sea cliffs, beaches, and stacks
or columns of rock. We visited Gold Beach
and Newport, where stayed and played to
experience life on the Oregon coast.
Portland
is probably the one city I would want to
live in if I was relocating. It is a city,
whose weather is cool all year round……I like
that; it is a city that is easy to use with
excellent cultural venues, wonderful
restaurants, educational and health
facilities and extraordinary natural beauty
close by. Portland also has beautiful
Gardens, notably the Portland Japanese
Garden and the International Rose Garden.
It is located on the Willamette River near
its confluence with the Columbia River which
flows through the Columbia River Gorge from
Mount Hood. Lewis and Clark came through
the gorge during the final phase of their
expedition to reach the Pacific Ocean.
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