Holing up in Tumwater

Stopped in Tillamook for part 1 of the US Cheddar Tour. It was a total zoo! We did get a sample of the Sticky Bun ice cream (quite good) and a walk along the cheese tasting line. Got to say the cheddar here is pretty weak. Their special 15-month aged Extra Sharp was on the high side of mild cheddar. Ah well. We did buy a small brick of the oldest stuff we could find, a 2-year white cheddar. It was a nice medium cheddar and went well with our soggy found-wood campfire, bread, and the last bottle of wine we brought with us (a William Hill Cab).

Map Link

So we're hiding from the rain. Yesterday we checked the forecast and it said Friday would be dry. We found a random little county park to hang out at. It was pleasantly empty and even came with showers. The forecast was unfortunately quite wrong. It rained all night. It rained all morning. It rained in the afternoon. Now we're holed up in a Motel 6 in Tumwater, and we'll use this as base camp for a couple days and day trip it to Seattle for the wedding tomorrow. Assuming it dries out, we plan to find a place to camp at Olympic NP.

The Oregon Coast is....wet

After several days of driving, we finally escaped the Great State of California (with its $35 no-showers-included campgrounds). Yay! Time for Oregon.

The southern Oregon coast is gorgeous. We've decided to move here. Perhaps take up fishing? We should probably see the rest of the country first...

Stopped at Whaleshead Beach on a whim, and it was great. Big rocks offshore, several streams emptying into the ocean (one frigid, one warm), and lots of cool colored pebbles. A little further up we camped at Sunset Bay state park. Lots of families, but it was a good campground. $19 with as much hot shower water as you want. Go Oregon!

Yesterday we found the rest of the tourists on the coast. Apparently it's a popular place to drive your RV, considering the towns we found (and drove 20 mph through) were about 60% RV park and 40% kitsch shops. And the people driving through the central coast area are idiots. Turn off your GPS and look out the window! Those 40 cars behind you? Yeah that's your fault. Needless to say, it was a frustrating travel day.

We did stop near Umpqua Lighthouse and walked on the dunes and the beach. Dunes? Yep, Oregon has dunes, and lots of them. For $200 we could have rode an ATV around on them, but decided to eat for a few weeks instead. We wound up at Cape Lookout to camp for the night. After a frustrating day of driving, we took ourselves out to Schooners in Netarts (pronounced NEE-tarts, apparently). It was AWESOME. They had Oregon beers on tap (got a Mirror Pond and a Dead Guy), a wood-fired oven, and oh yeah sat right on the ocean. We ate local oysters and clams, very home-made and very excellent chowder, and a pork shoulder that fell apart if you blew on it and was crispified in the aforementioned oven. Definitely eating those leftovers today.

And it rained. Not surprising that it happened, but the timing could have been better. We had to break camp this morning in the rain and stow a bunch of drippy gear. Our boots are still wet from the Redwood Creek crossings. Time to find some deserts. But wait! Next stop is the Seattle area and the largest temperate rain forest on the continent. At least it's summer?

Road Trip Begins

It's our first stop at a Starbucks with wifi on the trip. Time to update the blog!

Day 1 we drove out of the Bay Area and north on US 101. We stopped in Ukiah at Mendocino Brewing for a beer and a late lunch. We arrived at Humboldt Redwoods right after the ranger station closed. We were tired from the frantic last-second packing in the morning and decided to go for the $35 campsite after all. It was a good site with hot water pay showers and a nice fire ring. The campground was quiet and the DEET kept the mosquitoes at bay. (DEET does however attack rubber. Like sandals. And watch bands. Good to know.)

In the morning we rearranged the car to make it easier to find stuff. As a result we got another late start , ah well. We continued along 101 and stopped for lunch along the Elk River. We tried to visit Six Rivers Brewing north of Eureka, but unfortunately Monday is the day they don't open until 4. Too bad, we wanted to try the Chile Beer. Further along 101 we arrived at Redwoods National Park. We got a permit for backcountry camping (free!!!) and hiked down to Redwood Creek. Several river crossings and a giant tree across the river later, we found a nice sandy spot to camp. They even let us light a fire on the bank of the creek. The creek was deserted and we didn't see anyone hiking in or out. We were however awoken to the sound of ravens trying to open our bear can. Fortunately for us the birds haven't figured out tools yet.

The hike out was good, other than the toad who decided to camp in Hilary's boot. We visited Lady Bird Johnson Grove and walked around in the trees (very huge!). On our way out of the park we took the scenic alternate route for even more trees, and now we're in Crescent City where we got some Thai for lunch and are enjoying some hot beverages. Good trip so far!

Map Link

Say Hello to Scooby

Time to unveil the third member of our road trip party: Scooby the SCOBY!!


Scooby is our kombucha colony (aka mushroom aka SCOBY). Making kombucha in the car is about the most Bay-Area faux-hippie we can get. This picture shows Scooby being trimmed for the first part of the trip. We're taking what's in the jar and leaving the rest behind for our subletter to use for his own batch. We started him from a commercial bottle about 2 months ago. It took quite some doing to get him out of the jar.

Scooby is our official road trip mascot. That's a little creepy since we'll be eating little bits of him along the way. Hilary is now grossed out. Mmmm, Scooby!

Goodbye NDC

Wow. Last day at NDC. I can't describe how weird that is. Mostly it feels like a Friday; I wished folks a good weekend, said "see you later" and that was that. I don't really feel like I've left at all. At the same time, I know the trip starts in two days and I'm definitely gone. It's a very pit-in-your-stomach kind of feeling. I still am not sure if I'm being brave or just stupid with this whole world trip idea. I know it will be awesome, but at the same time I really want to turn around and go back.

Thanks NDC for a great two years.