Day 19
After all the activity and walking of the last few days, we slept really, really well the night before. For context, here is some FitBit data from Naresh’s FitBit. Trish’s figures were comparable, but she got more sleep.
| Date | Steps | Stairs (flights) | Sleep (hr:min) |
| Aug 9 | 20,061 | 42 | Bad Data |
| Aug 10 | 20,736 | 113 | 5:26 |
| Aug 11 | 16,863 | 61 | 4:20 |
| Aug 12 | 26,530 | 22 | 6:24 |
| Aug 13 | 17,160 | 11 | 5:15 |
At this point, we were both ready to give our legs a break so a driving day was definitely welcome. Destination? Coos Bay, Oregon. Never heard of it? Neither had me we until we looked for a place to say about 8 hours from Seattle.
We grabbed some of the hotel breakfast, but being in Seattle, we waited for Starbucks to get our caffeine fix. Right after fuelling at Shell, we ducked into the Starbucks across the street and ordered our usuals:
- Trish: Tall Latte, Lactose-free milk, 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Naresh: Grande Flat White, Lactose-free milk, 140 degrees Fahrenheit
That’s where everything fell apart. The staff had no idea what we meant by Lactose-free milk. Soy? Coconut milk? Almond Milk? No, nope, and no way.
While Trish can handle a bit of milk, it wasn’t going to work for me. That much milk would have seen me making me bathroom stops every 20 minutes or so. The bottom line? No Starbucks for me until we’re back in Canada. #firstworldproblem
Back to our story…
The drive was pretty straight forward once we got on the highway (I-5 South). We encountered some rush hour traffic in Tacoma, but being able to use the HOV lanes partially made up for it. The coolest thing about the HOV lanes is that they sometimes made the distance travelled shorter by breaking away from the main road and taking a more direct route, something we had never seen before.
Once we parted ways with I-5 and hooked-up with US 101, things got really pretty really fast.
The exception to the rule of prettiness was this poor little guy. While some people think of pigeons as “rats with wings” and think they should be stamped out, I find it hard to believe that this pigeon… no, any pigeon, deserved this.
We made it to Coos Bay a bit after 6pm, grabbed a fancy McDonald’s supper, and set about preparing the updates we published yesterday.
Day 20 – California Dreamin’
Aug 15 was to be another travel day featuring more time on US 101, which we must admit was proving to be the road that got better and better each time we blinked.
It had a bit of everything: the hills and fast sweeping turns on Hwy 17 in Ontario, only at 75 MPH; the mountain views of the TCH; tight technical sections like the Tail of the Dragon; and, on today’s route, the Avenue of the Giants.
The Avenue of the Giants is the original US 101, a two-lane running through a forest of massive California Redwoods. Some of the trees are close to 1,000 years old, so comparable to the old growth forest we saw on Vancouver Island.
Having driven the length of the Avenue, we resumed with US 101 until we finally parted ways for California Hwy 1 and new love affair was born. CA1 started provided a Tail of Dragon experience for what seemed like an eternity. At one point, I thought I was starting to get dizzy with all the switchbacks, banked corners, etc. In this part, it was impossible to safely/legally overtake, but most of the vehicles we encountered graciously (and in accordance with the signage) used the periodic pullouts to allow us and others by. That included two drivers, both pulling large trailers with their pick-ups. While we followed them, we remarked on their skill and the pace they were able to maintain.
The exception to the rule was a Ford Focus with US plates that would not pullover. No problem, but at one point he started crossing the centre line and short-cutting corners. Why, we don’t know. Was he trying to get away from us? We don’t know, but it didn’t work. Eventually, he yielded and we drove away. Best part? We were moving pretty well, but we kept it smooth enough to never trigger the seat belt locks. 🙂
Once we emerged from the twisty, hilly section, we found ourselves on the an amazing coastline. It took our breath away every few minutes, while still providing real engagment for the driver.
Our bed for the night is in Mendocino, CA, just off CA1. Dinner was at the Trillium Cafe, which was fitting for Ontariens like us. We’re staying at a funny little place called the Blackberry Inn. It’s an old school motel where your car is parked by your room, but the rooms are all named and themed to old time western locales.
Albacore Tune 
Trillium as the sun vanishes 
The water from the Village of Mendocino 
Before we leave you, we’d like to commend the people of Oregon on their commitment to attractive bridges. Even the small, old, and out of the way are well done and pleasing to guy. Well done, Oregon! These photos don’t do them justice, but you can see more and other photos here.
That’s it. We’re all caught up. So far Cali is living up to expectations. Tomorrow, we begin the San Francisco portion of the trip.