It's January 25th, 2007 and here we are in Hanoi having our first cup of Vietnamese coffee at a sidewalk cafe beside a lake!   Barbara and I were in Costa Rica in 2005 having coffee and in 2006 I was having coffee in South Africa with my friend Gail!   

So Barbara called me and suggested we do a fly and drive trip along the coast from San Francisco to Portland Oregon, stopping on the way to see the Mammoth Caves, go for a jet powered boat ride on a river and then see Mount St. Helen!  

I have never seen any of these sights so I said, "Go ahead and make the Southwest plane reservations for us.  Barbara will fly to Oakland and we will pick up the car and then spend the first night on the 28th floor of my apartment overlooking the City.  

Then we will take off to the wine country north of San Francisco and begin our adventures on the road to Oregon!  So far we have been ticketed by South West Airlines for our flights!

We had a great trip driving almost 2,000 miles in under seven days!  Talk about needing a good stretch! 

This link displays some of the photos taken along the way from San Francisco California - Oregon and Washington State!

Barbara flew down from Seattle and I picked her up at the Oakland Airport, Barted (Subway) to San Francisco, the we went to the Asian Art Museum for lunch, the City Hall to view the dome, the new library to see the atrium.  Next we went to Fisherman's Wharf, the Palace Hotel (Garden Court Dining Room), the the lobby of the new Four Seasons Hotel and finally to the new half a billion dollar Bloomingdale Store for dinner!

We went to the San Francisco Airport on Bart and rented a car and took off through San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridger and up Highway 101 to 128 and drove to the coast.  

We went through the Avenue of the Giants and drove through the red wood tree! 

 Then drove to Eureka and had dinner at the Samoa Cook House.

We then drove to Crescent City on 199 to Grants Pass - then N-15 to Crater Lake.  

We drove around the lake because that view point will be closed to the public in 2008, we then drove to Medford for the night.

We decided to get some munchies and a bottle of wine and then use the Jacuzzi to loosen up our tired muscles!

We again went through Grants Pass due west to Gold Beach.   (This was the road where the Japanese American father left his wife and children in an ice cave and tried to walk out of the forest!  

We wondered if this was the road he took and a woman at Gold Beach laughed and said, "Yes, that is the road!"  We continued up 101 to Coos Bay and went into the light house on Cape Blanco.  Then drove to Tillamook to spend the night.

The next day we toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory and had breakfast in Sea Side where Lewis and Clark ended their cross country trip.  Then stopped at Fort Stevens to see the armament and the Native American's long cabin and some wild deer.  

Then drove through Astoria and over the bridge into Washington State and back again.  Toured Astoria and drove to Portland to spend the night.

We took I-5 to to Tuttle River - 508 East, then 12 and 25 to Windy Ridge to see some Elk.  Next we stopped at the Johnson Center for a lecture and movie about Mount. St. Helens and walked around in the bright sun shine.  A perfect day again!  The we decided to drive to the east side, another long drive to see the decimated forests on the mountains.  Well worth seeing but we were told this viewing site would be closed next year so we decided to bite the bullet and drive the long way around to see the area before being closed to the public.

Today we toured Portland. We took the new Max Line around town, very nice and handy to use.  We went to the South Water Front and took the Portland Tram to the highest hill.  Great views of the city and river.  We went to the famous Rose Gardens by the zoo and walked the water front.  Then had a great lunch at Kells Irish Pub established in a building from 1889.   We toured a famous book store, Powell's Book Store.   Anything you could want was there.  We did some more touring of Old Town and then back to the hotel for a good soak in the Jacuzzi and a bottle of wine!

We drove along the Columbian Gorge and saw three great water falls and then visited the Bonneville Dam and Fish Ladder.  We also got to see the locks in action as a boat came up the river an into the lock.   The fish were interesting as they swam past viewing windows.  We then drove to Mt. Hood and had drinks at the famous Timberline Resort.  Then back to Portland for another Jacuzzi soak and a good nights rest before coming back home!

We got up early for breakfast and then decided it was easier if Barbara dropped the car off at the Portland Airport and left me there.  She returned to the hotel on Max and they shuttled her to the train station where she rode the train home.  I flew out of Portland at 12:45 and arrived in Oakland at 2:15 and was home by 3:30.  Downloaded my photos by four p.m. and Barbara probably still wasn't home!  All in all, a great trip and great weather even if it was in the high 80s and 90s at time. 

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