Travels With Wesley

The drive from Ft. Bragg (Mendocino) was beautiful, and some of the scariest driving I’ve done.  Winding, narrow roads, along the cliff with no guard rails in many places, hairpin turns.  In several places the road had washed out on the cliff side, and it was down to one lane, temporary traffic lights regulating flow.  My palms were sweating for much of the drive.  But the vista were amazing, when I could look at them.

We stopped at the Point Arena lighthouse, a stop well worth the time.  The site features a small museum and gift hop and tours of the lighthouse, requiring a climb up 140+ stairs up a circular staircase.  The climb was well worth it for the views, and the guides were very informative.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Arena_Light

Caroline on top of Point Arena lighthouse.

Leaving Point Arena, we continued south on the coast highway, slowly I  might add.  Conditions did not allow for driving much over 25-30 miles per hour for long stretches.  We had a very forgettable lunch at the Lucas Wharf in Bodega Bay, then shortly after lunch  CA 1, our highway, turned inland and the driving got easier.  We then cut over through some very pretty farming and wine country and joined CA 101 and headed into San Francisco.

In San Francisco, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf, conveniently located to the tourist attractions of Fisherman’™s Wharf and to the bus stop for the tour bus, Big Bus.  We ate dinner at a mediocre Italian restaurant then called it a day.

Next morning we hit the bricks early, actually the hop-on hop-off Big Bus, and started to see San Francisco.  the first stop was the Ferry Building. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Ferry_Building

Caroline outside Ferry Building.  Shopping of course.

The Big Bus was a popular way t get around San Francisco as a tourist.  This is the crowd waiting to board two full busses stopped at Union Square.

I don’t think this guy was waiting for the bus.

We rode the Big Bus across the Golden Gate Bridge, sitting on the open top of the bus.  at 50 or so miles per hour, it was a windy, cold experience, but great views. Here is a view of Alcatraz in the distance as the bus went across the bridge.

Some other views from the bus:

We spent some time in Chinatown of course.

Caroline loves socks.

A couple of other shops in Chinatown:

Some other views around the town:

Â

We rode the cable car up to the top of Lombard Street, the most windy street in the world, or at least in San Francisco.

Finally a pencil sketch of a gnarled old tree that caught my attention.

Unfortunately, we had to return to reality.  A really great trip with my daughter.

We had an uneventful drive south from Leggett to Mendocino.  The weather cleared up as the drive went on, turning into a beautiful day on the California coast.  As we approached the turn to downtownMendocino, this view assaulted our senses:

We arrived in Mendocino about lunch time and starving, so our first stop was the Goodlife Cafe and Bakery.  A sign on the front door welcomed us, saying the Cafe welcomes all races, creeds, colors, genders and sexual persuasions, all were safe there.  We felt good about ourselves and entered confidently.  The food was excellent.  Fortified and safe, we ventured out to explore Mendocino.

Some views from around the town.

Entertaining the kids.

Taking it easy in a bookstore.

This nice lady is homeless, begging for lunch money

I painted this as we walked by.  Another example of fake news.

This lovely model posed for me on the bluff.

Mendocino does have a church or two.

After Mendocino, we returned to Ft. Bragg, 10 miles north where we were spending the night.  We had dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant, Luna’s Trattoria.  The food was excellent and the service was just as good.  We then went to see the sunset at Glass Beach.

 

The next morning we headed south to San Francisco.

Leaving Portland behind, we headed to the Columbia River Gorge.  About an hours drive on I-85.  We went first to the Bridal Veil Falls. It was overcast and misting rain, great day for a walk on the trails. Below is a view of the Columbia River from the trail at Bridal Veil Falls.

The Bridal Veil Falls:

 

There has been an unusual amount of rainfall in the Pacific Northwest this winter, and the falls were flowing mightily.  Below is Bridal Veil Falls as J. M. W. Turner might have imagined approaching it along the trail:

 

Multinomah Falls is more spectacular, as one would immediately note from the crowds there and not at Bridal Veil.  It was misting and there was a fog as you can see at the top of the Falls.

 

We ate lunch at the Multinomah Falls Lodge (which was a good choice) and then headed back past Portland to the Oregon Coast.  Our first turnout on Hwy. 101:

 

As one can see from the brilliant photography, the Oregon coastline is dramatic and beautiful.

 

We spent the night in Newport, Oregon, a charming little town with an attractive harbor.  It was an overcast evening with showers spitting at times.

 

The weather got worse as we drove south along the Oregon coast.  You can easily see the conditions from the following shots:

 

Quite a storm had blown through Newport during the night and early morning, and little did we know at the time the effect it would have on our plans for that day.  Sitting at lunch in Coos Bay (at Sharkbites Restaurant, not recommended) I received a call from the Holiday Inn Express in Klamath where we were to spend that night. The coastal storm had knocked out power in the area, and the young lady suggested we stay at the next Holiday Inn in Eureka.  That would make what was already going to be a long coastal drive an hour and half longer. So, we trucked on.  Caroline did most of the driving through the bad weather, rain and high winds that morning..  

Crossing the California line, we were soon in the redwood forests. The only word to describe the redwoods is magnificent.  Redwoods can grow to 300 feet or more, and can live over 2,000 years.  The oldest know living coastal redwood is over 2,200 years old.  Most of the redwoods we see are 50-150 years old, and can grow to 100 feet in their first 50 years. Writing this blog entry the day before Easter, I am reminded that the oldest living redwood was probably over 100 feet tall when Christ was on earth. 

We spent the night in Eureka, California and continued south early the next morning.  We intended to turn off of Hwy. 101 onto coastal California Hwy. 1 ay Leggett, Ca. Arriving at the intersection the road was closed.  There is a redwood tree attraction in Leggett on Hwy. 101, and paying for the entry fee, the attendant , who works for Catrans during the week, explained that there were two major landslides a week apart that completely blocked the road.  Sp we too a small detour.  First, a drive through redwood.

 

The weather finally cleared as we drove south toward our next stop at Mendocino, Ca.  But that’s another story.

Portland, Oregon.  Not a particularly beautiful city, at least the downtown portion thereof.  Caroline and I spent an evening and a full day in Portland.  The first stop, the absolute required first stop, was Powell’s Bookstore, the City of Books.  Probably the best bookstore I have seen, and I have seen a few.  We spent a couple of hours there, then walked around a bit before having dinner at Mother’s Bistro and Bar.  An excellent restaurant.  The weather was standard fare for the Pacific Northwest this time of year, drizzling and chilly.

Portland has a superb mass transit system, trains, streetcars and buses.  Very easy to get around the city.  Also, there is an arial tram going from the street level to the OHSU Hospital Complex.

Some random shots from above:

You ca see Mt. Hood just right of center in the picture below.

Some shots from around downtown Portland:

Food Truck row

The best bookstore I’ve seen, at least recently.  Luckily they ship.

We walked a lot in Portland, and also rode the trains and street cars.  Ate some really good meals, and probably didn’t spend $60 total for the full day in the city.  We only had the one full day there, and left the next morning for the Columbia River Gorge, then down the coast.

We travelled to Santa Fe in September, 2015 with two other couples.  A trip I recommend, Santa Fe being a lovely, friendly place.  Traveling with other couples means, of course, negotiation on what to do, where to go, etc, but we did get to see a lot and do a lot, and we look forward to going back to cover what we missed on this trip.

Our first stop was Sandia Peak outside  of Alburquque, where we took a cable car or tram up to the top of the peak.  We had a good lunch in the restaurant and enjoyed to vistas stretching out before us.

 

You have to wonder at times about people’s intelligence.  Would you ride on the top of the cable car?

 

A rose on top of the peak.

 

A car show on the square in Santa Fe.

    

    

 

 

Giving the burro a break

 

Santa Fe has a marvelous farmer’s market on Saturday, and also on Tuesday afternoons.  Some scenes:

A flower vendor

 

Some  of her wares

 

Peppers

 

Little fiddle player trying to earn a buck or two

 

Blowup balloons not people, a nice sentiment

 

One of the many sculptures around Santa Fe.

 

 

More chili peppers, a wall display 

 

Part of the Plaza, vendors selling jewelry, etc under the shade.

 

Some more indian sculptures:

 

The gal singing in the picture below had just wandered into town, and asked the guys if she could jam with them  She was singing her heart out.  Really pretty good.

 

Another sculpture:

 

Good dad:

 

As you can tell, the arts are alive and well in Santa Fe, as is the Native American and Hispanic heritage and culture.  A great place to visit.