PNW & Beyond
Since leaving Seattle, which now feels like forever ago but is actually 2 weeks from today, we have made such a journey! If you know my personality at all, you likely know I cannot stay in one place for too long or sit still in general, so naturally we are moving pretty aggressively across the country! We hit state 7 this week (California) of the road trip; week 6 since leaving home. We were a little sad saying goodbye to Oregon as it was a really beautiful and quiet state - camping was super easy to find and we had so much space and time with nature. Oregon does a really good job with their camping options - dispersed and national forests. Cali is just Cali; I think we will learn more about the non-San Francisco parts of Cali however and probably have a different perspective after the next couple weeks.
Highlights of Washington (Aug 9th - Aug 27th) :
North Cascades, Maple Pass loop - being in the mountains, first up close peak at the Cascade range. Even if you aren’t a hiker, the scenic pass is amazing!
Sammamish/Seattle area - visiting fam & skydiving, obvi. Also tons of cool trails in this area for trail running, mountain biking, etc. We got sent a pic this week of a bobcat in Jake’s brother’s front yard!!!
Mount Rainier - just incredible all around. Have to see to believe!
Piget Sound, Camano island - we loved camping on the island at the Camano island state park. The ferry experience out to the San Juans was also cool, but I think I preferred Camano if I had to pick!
Home Valley area - loved camping on the river & the hiking that was so close by, sandwiched in the hills between Mt Saint Helens and Mt Hood.
Highlights of Oregon (Aug 27th - Sept 3rd):
Mount Hood area - Timberline area and Trillium lake, ski lift in the summer
Sisters - cutest little town with delish coffee and also South Sisters Peak - tough summit with new, incredibly challenging terrain, but also worth it!
Oregon coast - no place in specific, but all of the rock structures and long beaches to run & play on, also can camp really near the beach in lots of areas. We only caught the Southwest coast of Oregon though - I know there is lots to do north as well! Including Tillamock’s cheese factory :p Until next time…I've also always been a mountains girl over beach girl; the weather was pretty iffy for us on the coast as well, so lots of HUGE rollers and morning layers <3
And now to…California (Sept 3rd - NOW):
We crossed the border at Crescent City, which is a really shit town that I wouldn’t recommend, and immediately ran into gas prices that rose $1 / gallon OVERNIGHT. For a bus getting 9mph, this dramatically impacts our costs! We figured Cali prices would jump because let’s be honest, it’s California, but when we got to Crescent City it was $2.59 and by the next morning the SAME gas station was $3.59. It is Labor Day weekend and that is all we can figure it is due to, but holy man. Those are some increased profit margins!
Anyways, aside from diesel situations, we mostly have spent time on the coast thus far. We have seen some BIG trees - and by big trees, I mean the worlds TALLEST trees. These things are monsters and like 2,000 years old. I cannot even imagine the things these trees have seen - so wild. If only they had eyes and could talk!
Redwoods National & State park - now home to 3 of the tallest redwoods in the world! However, locations of many of the newly discovered tallest trees are not given to the public as they don’t want people tampering with the tree and affecting the nature cycle. Sounds ridiculous but their root systems travel laterally up to 100 feet (source: NP pamphlet), so people walking on the roots and touching the tree really can change its course.
Avenue of the Giants, Humbolt Redwoods State park - used to be home to the tallest redwood giant - Dyerville Giant, that sadly fell over in 1991. It’s death is almost as young as me! We got to go check out this fallen giant - trees that have a diameter double my height is just nutty.
We are headed inland now; we unfortunately took some nasty national forest roads or what they call “scenic routes” around here in an attempt to shave some time and get to Redding - MISTAKES. If ever you have the choice to take smaller, NF roads (orange or white in this atlas) or a highway, ALWAYS choose highway. It’s no fun driving up and down hills and winding around turns, averaging 20mph through these gnarly roads. There is also a heat advisory in Redding which is our destination city, with a high of 111F today and tomorrow. BLESS US, please. We were so happy rockin’ that 60F life!!! Maybe we need to turn around.
Just a quick update for ya’ll! Peace, love, & stay wild,
yo’ girl Jen
PS) September is full of family milestones! Coarliie princess turned 1 this week! <3 HBD little lady. Sept 5th was our 1 yr of engagement! One of my besties had a BABY on Sept 6th. And Sept 13th is our orig wedding date :0 Woah, woah, woah. I can’t handle this.
