We left Whistler on 30 April, with few plans other than to collect an RV in Everett, just outside Seattle and drop it off 21 days later in Los Angeles, California via San Deigo. We squeezed 5 excited humans (Bren, Sam, Chris and ourselves) into a 25 foot motorhome, and set forth on what would be one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
We opted to hug the coastal route of the US Pacific West Coast, passing through 3 American states and covering a total of 2050 miles. Although our RV driving was tested on many tight curves and cliffs, the views were spectacular and it was awesome to watch the gradual change in vegetation and landscape as we crawled down the coast.
State 1: Washington
After collecting the RV and doing our big Walmart shop, where we purchased some cheap bikes (which turned out to be a genius idea, as we could explore the cities efficiently), we explored Seattle and then headed to the coast. Although the weather was cold and raining, our time here was interesting, spending of first night at Cape Disapointment.
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| Our Walmart shop on Day 1 |
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| Bike rats in Seattle |
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| Pike Place Market, Seattle |
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| The Space Needle, Seattle |
State 2: Oregon
We decided to head inland to Portland, which was a wonderfully culture enriched city. We spent an evening tasting micro brewed beer, walking the streets, eating delicious Thai food, and somehow got roped into an underground 'First Thursday Party' (every first Thursday of the month there is a city celebration), getting an authentic taste of the local Portland arty culture.
The following day we took the beautiful wine route back toward the coast, passing through the wine region of McMinville. We enjoyed a wine tasting at Youngsberg Winery. A highlight was visiting the largest Sea Lion caves in the world. There was an elevator that took us down into the cave, where we could watch thousands on seas lions bath in the cove. It was amazing!
The next few nights were spent at state parks, where we enjoyed many big bonfires in the open country. Although the weather was still cold, the scenery made up for it.
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| Portland |
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| Micro brewery, Portland |
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| Absolute randomness |
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| Sea Lion Caves. Enough said |
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| Bliss in the sand dunes |
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| Sundowners and pipe at Cape Blanco |
State 3: California
California made up more than half of our trip, and had a very different feel with densely populated coastal towns all along the coast, which was a change from the vast Washington and Oregon country.
From sleeping amoungst Redwood trees that were 2000 years old and 800 feet high, cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransciso, playing Hacky Sack on Huntington Beach, enjoying a variety of Clam Chowder tasters at Fishermans Wharf in Monterey, driving the famous '17 mile drive' pass Pebble Beach, swimming naked in the Big Sur National Park river, Racoons running on the RV roof at night in Morro Bay, experiencing the night life in San Diego, sleeping on the curb in the fanciest suburb in Laguna Beach, taking a train through Compton (dodgiest suburb in the world) in LA, and a bizarre bus trip around Hollywood where we looked at the houses (or hedges) of famous stars!
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| Northern Cali coastline |
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| Laundry littering our first camp in the Redwood Forests |
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| Redwood glory |
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| Seaside diner with a view |
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| San Francisco |
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| Alcatraz |
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| An authentic seafood lunch at the Wharf in San Fran |
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
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| Monterrey and its flowers |
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| Pebble Beach golf course |
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| Bathing in the Big Sur river |
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| Henry Miller library, Big Sur |
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| Santa Barbara promenade |
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| The San Deigo Night life |
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| The beard! |
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| Dinner in Laguna beach |
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| Laguna beach vibes |
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| Hacky Sack at our site in LA |
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| Hollywood |
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| Bren tired of seeing the hedges of celebrity homes in Hollywood |
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| Enjoying our last coffee of the trip (minus one member) |
