West Coast Roadtrip Pt. 1

It’s been four years since Covid. It feels like yesterday and it also feels like decades have passed.

BC - Before Covid, my partner and I traveled like normal, we flew. We went to Mexico, we went to London and Scotland, flew to see family etc. When Covid hit, when lockdown began, driving was the safest way to get the heck out of dodge. You could go somewhere, anywhere, and still be away from people, keep that safe distance. I feel like this hangover still lingers in our behaviors. We still want to drive, we still want to travel in our cars and even more so in our vans and feel this sense of escape from what is happening. 

We never got a van - although in hindsight, we should have for sure. We did however drive; everywhere. This slightly delayed roadtrip blog describing our epic road trip up the west coast at the height of Covid is being posted now because that feeling of freedom still pulses in me, I still ache a little for the freedoms of creativity, time, and money that we experienced. Everyone’s experience was different, and unfortunately I cannot speak for or to those who had more difficult and restricting circumstances. I feel like we were lucky and we didn’t truly realize just how lucky we were at the time. I’m grateful for this journey we had. It planted some seeds that I’m starting to see the sprouts of only now. That’s why this is important. 

We are here because we were there. And, I want more of it. I want to relive it a little, and I would love for you to join me! Thank you for reading this far and I hope this blog inspires you to find your freedoms, to go out and find the seeds of your hopes and dreams and plant them and nurture them. 

This blog will be in 3 parts:
1. California - headed North
2. Oregon
3. California - headed South (home)

Let’s go! Pt. 1:

Off the bat we watched the world wiz by as we sailed down the freeway, through the vastness of California’s Central Coast; the rolling brown and green hills, expansive pastures and sprawling agriculture. Perfect for the thinker who drives in that beta state while listening to the whir and quietly working through the things buzzing in the mind. This may have been our most silent part of the trip, maybe some light music, but mostly we were just on our way, the beginning.

From San Diego to San Francisco it’s about an 8 hour drive (depending on how fast you drive, wink wink), especially on the 101. San Francisco was our first stop. We both love San Francisco, for me, there’s always something that feels like home about it. At the time our beloved city was in decline, the city had become more dangerous, homeless were more violent, more theft and vandalism. It was a little scary, but ultimately we found the spaces in which we felt safe. This was our first time in SF together, we had both lived there at different parts of our lives and it was fun to show each other all things we remembered and loved.

After San Francisco we drove up the 1 through Northern California, stopping for coffee in Point Reyes, Oysters at Tony’s Seafood Restaurant in Marshall (delicious!), and finally staying the night in Mendocino, my new favorite coastal town in California.

Mendocino was our last hotel for 3 nights! We would camp the next 3 nights in a teeny tiny 2 person tent that we borrowed from my sister and her husband. Disclaimer - the coastal highway 1 from SF to the Oregon border is LONG. It takes the same amount of time to drive from SF to Oregon as it does to drive from SD to SF, for reference. California is huge haha. Also, that’s approximately the same distance from the Oregon border all the way to Seattle. Wild. Anyway…
We stopped to visit the glass beach outside Fort Bragg, visted the Redwoods (of course) and stopped for food in Eureka before our first night camping at the KOA in Crescent City, CA. It was CUTE and had all the amenities we needed, not busy and the camping spots were fairly private, with lots of big lush brush around us in a fenced in campground. It was a nice start to a funny few nights of camping.

And, then we crossed the border into Oregon…
Stay tuned for Pt. 2!
Any questions on details of this trip, please comment below!