To Carmel

Thursday morning we headed down the “Wild Sonoma Coast” toward San Francisco. It was a bright sunny day and the drive was spectacular. We got back on Highway 101 in Petaluma and headed south. We drove through San Francisco and headed for Carmel.

In Carmel we stayed at the Cypress Inn. It is owned by Doris Day, so it is truly dog friendly. The room was small and the fireplace was sterile, but it was nice. The Inn had a patio where we had a drink and sat with Tasha in front of a real fireplace. We ate at Port a Bella Restaurant. They have an inner patio where dogs are welcome. When we entered the Inn, the bar was really hopping. There were almost as many dogs as people. I wish I had taken a picture. Carmel is known as the most dog friendly city in California – they are right.

To Mendocino

Tuesday brought a pleasant looking day. We drove down highway 199 toward the California Coast. The road, know as “Cave Road” passes Oregon Caves National Monument. Other than the caves the road is pretty ugly until we reached the California border. We climbed to over 2,000 feet and ran into snow. Since the sun was shinning, it was beautiful. There was close to a foot of snow on the ground.

The road wound down to the coast at Crescent City. We stopped at the “Tree of Mystery” just south of Crescent City. Susan and Tasha especially found the walking trail very interesting. The rest of the trip took us through groves of old growth redwoods.

We reached the Stanford Inn in Mendocino late in the afternoon. This Inn is a classy place – and it even allows dogs. In California dog cannot be in the interior of restaurants. The Stanford Inn has gotten around this by putting tables in the lobby near the restaurant and dogs can sit with their owners as they eat. The food was good even though it was all vegetarian. Our room had a “real” fireplace which we enjoyed. We also had a great view from our balcony.

We stayed two nights in Mendocino, so we had time to let Tasha run on a beach, walk the Mendocino Headlands, and around the village of Mendocino. In the afternoon we drove down to the Anderson Valley and visited Roeder Estates. We ended up with champagne to bring home. We walked the grounds of the Stanford Inn, which has horses and llamas. It truly was a beautiful place, we will stay there again.

To Grants Pass

We left for Grants Pass Monday morning. The seven hour drive had it all: sun, rain, sleet, and snow. We hit heavy traffic outside Tacoma, and heavy snow fall outside Olympia. It snowed again north of Salem and just outside Grants Pass. When we finally reached our destination, the sun was shinning. Our hotel overlooked the Rogue River. We had only drizzle during the night.

Terri's and Dave's House

Thanksgiving Day was great. All of us worked on the Turkey dinner. Tasha and Maggie even got some turkey. It drizzled most of the time, but the company and conversation made it a great day.

Friday took the group minus the dogs to Seattle. We saw the end of the Thanksgiving Parade and visited many stores. In one hotel there was an auction of decorated Christmas trees. They were beautiful and the proceeds of the auction go to the Children’s Hospital. Seattle Center had a collection of Gingerbread houses created by local chefs. They were neat. Lunch was at Shuckers and it was delicious. On the way back we stopped at a pet store called All the Best. We bought Tasha a raincoat – we need it in Seattle.

Saturday we awoke to snow. It didn’t stick to the ground but it was snow. As the day warmed, the snow turned to rain and then some welcome sunshine. Again minus the dogs we went to Bellevue Square. It‘s just a big mall, but it was interesting. That evening we visited an Afghan restaurant. It was both different and delicious.

Sunday we again awoke to snow. It didn’t stick either. Susan went to visit her friend Marilyn during day. That evening we went back into Seattle to “White Christmas”, a play put on by a local group. It was great.

To Issaquah

The morning brought a cloudy day. We walked Tasha and then sat down for breakfast. Since it is the off-season in Seaside there were not many guests at the bed and breakfast. It was nice because the manager let Tasha sit with us in the dinning room. We had a great breakfast before hitting the road.

Wednesday was mostly a driving day. We stopped at a few rest areas in Washington. It rained most of the way to Issaquah. As we got closer to Seattle, the traffic increased exponentially. We got to Terri’s and Dave’s about 1:00 pm.

Tasha and Maggie the Irish Setter got reacquainted. We took the dogs for a walk and enjoyed the company of our hosts.

To Seaside

Tuesday morning was a beautiful day. We walked Tasha along the coast and began out drive to Seaside, Oregon. This was another lovely drive. We found more State Parks where Tasha could run on the beach. Newport was the most interesting city. We also stopped at a number of lighthouses along the route. The most beautiful of which is the Yaquina Head Light.

Yaquina Head's rock outcropping and 93 foot tower are visible for several miles along the Pacific Coast Highway. The light was completed in 1873 and is a classic example of the towers of that period. Inside the lantern is a huge 12 foot high First Order fresnel lens.

The history of Yaquina is as shrouded in mystery as the cape is in foul weather. A persistent myth is that the lighthouse was mistakenly constructed in the wrong location, but mislabeled government survey documents seem to be responsible for this historical inaccuracy. In any case, Yaquina Head Light was built just north of Yaquina Bay Light, dooming the smaller tower to obsolesence.

Today the lighthouse is the centerpiece of Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, and is one of the most-visited lights on the west coast, with over 400,000 visitors each year.

Pacific Coast Highway goes inland at Tillamook. We encountered rain on this part of the drive. We did stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory to get some cheese and crackers.

We went through Cannon Beach just before Seaside. We had visited Cannon Beach on our Columbia River Cruise in 2000. Susan wanted to stop and browse the shops, but I used Tasha as an excuse not to stop.

In Seaside we stayed at the Sea Side Inn Bed and Breakfast. It too was a little dated, but very quaint and a bit frou-frou. It was right on the Seaside Promenade and a very pretty sandy beach. Tasha loved running and digging in the sand. Our room overlooked the beach. The bed was small and left us wanting sleep.

To Yachats

Monday morning started with the same walk as Sunday night. The difference was it wasn’t raining. We got gasoline and headed toward Oregon. Rest areas in Oregon aren’t the same as in California. They are State Parks with facilities. Some of them along the coast are not bigger than a California rest area. We stopped at many of the parks along the coast so the dog could run on the beach.

Monday brought no rain and the coast line was beautiful. Yachats was the next stop. By the time we got there rain was threatening. Our neighbors have land in Yachats and we slowed to look at it. Yachats is a very small town, but very pretty. We stayed in the Fireside Motel. It looks a little old and worse for wear from the outside, but the room was really nice. It was large, had a fireplace and a balcony that overlooked the coast.

We took Tasha on a walk along the coast. There is sort of a promenade in front of the hotels and houses along the rocky coast that runs at least a mile. The weather was getting colder and the wind was about 30 miles an hour.

Yachats has no fast food restaurants, but we did find a place where we could order and take food out. We had crab cakes, they were a little greasy, but good. Both of us were awakened in the middle of the night by the wind. We found out later that there were gusts of over 60 miles an hours. There was also a little rain.

To Crescent City

The trip continued to Crescent City on day two. This drive through the redwoods was beautiful. We stopped often to look at the trees. We took and alternate route to Highway 101 called the Avenue of the Giants. There were many places to stop and read about the History of the area.

The rest areas in Northern California are much nicer and cleaner than those to the South. All went well until the rain started about a half-hour outside Crescent City.
The Anchor Beach Inn was not the nicest place, howerer, compared to the rest of the places that take dog in Crescent City, it was the best of the litter. Walking Tasha was difficult in the rain. We walked down a pier type area in torrents of water. We heard the sea lions making all kinds of noise.

Dinner was carry-out from KFC -- aarg! We did sleep well and were ready for a nice drive in the morning.

The Washingon Driving Trip

Susan and I left the house for our trip to Washington State at 7:00 am. The first day’s drive to Santa Rosa was uneventful. We stopped at every rest area on Highway 5 for Tasha the Beagle. Lunch was at an In-and-Out Burger in Mill Valley.

The Fountaingrove Inn in Santa Rosa was especially nice considering they take dogs. Tasha had a long walk in Howarth Park, a huge recreation area not far from the hotel.

Dinner was carry-out from Baja Fresh. We actually got a good night’s sleep in the king size bed.