Seattle to San Francisco and Back Again

...in four days! When I mentioned that I'd driven 1,978 miles total, one of my Westie team friends noted that that was almost 500 miles a day! Well, all I can say is that Amy and I packed a lot of sights, laughter and fun into those miles. I just wish that driving was considered a cardio activity. Here are a few photos of our adventure.

This clear blue sky is reason enough to leave Seattle for a few days. The mountain is Mt. Shasta in California. We stayed in Medford, OR the first night, got to S.F. on Sat., Amy danced Sunday morning (got two first places and has now moved up to Preliminary Champion status).


I was so proud of myself for getting us down to the Golden Gate Bridge, but all we could see of it were a couple of supports! Darn that fog, but we had fun anyway.


After leaving San Francisco, we visited the Ghiradelli Outlet Store in San Leandro (per Amy's request), then headed toward the ocean. The road we decided on was a straight line on the map, however, it looked like someone's intestines when we were actually travelling it. Amy was so scared, I think she left permanent imprints on the door handle. Whoever posted the 55 speed limit has never driven on that road - I was going 20 and even that felt too fast. (I guess our clue should have been the name: Mountain VIEW Road.) We finally made it to the ocean just before sunset.


At this point, we were pretty much stuck. Our hotel reservations were 180 miles north in Arcata and it was getting dark, which meant I had a LONG drive on more curvy roads (Hwy. 1 to Hwy. 101), plus I had the added excitement of watching for deer. 4 1/1 hours later, we arrived at our destination, a little worse for wear, and collapsed into bed. The next day (Mon.), we headed south again to see the redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants.






Then we headed to Oregon to find the perfect beach...




We left the beach and headed for home. Literally. I drove all night (with two rest stop naps) and arrived home at 8:30 a.m. Three days later I am still recovering, but it was so worth it. Loved every minute and had a wonderful time with my beautiful, fun daughter!