Yucca Valley 2020
Our last day had arrived, and we began our journey home again. I was closely watching the weather forecasts, and we would head for the coast to take Hwy 101 home since snow has started to fall in the California/Oregon passes along the I-5.
It was a nice sunny morning when we left, the further we got from Yucca Valley, the worse the weather got.
At one point the fog was so bad we had to slow down to almost half the speed limit.
After filling up with gas, and getting a free bag of Oranges, we continued on and spent the night in Santa Nella, CA. What can I tell you about Santa Nella? It had a decent hotel, and a lousy free breakfast. There's just not that much else there.
January 9
From Santa Nella we took a little detour around San Francisco, and cut over to Highway 101. A little rain, a little blue sky, at least we weren't going to be hitting snow and whatever travel delays or danger that might ensue.
We took a little break in the cute town of Cloverdale... no, not that Cloverdale.
Then continued on towards the Redwood Forests of Northern California.
Silva didn't really appreciate the winding roads, but at least it wasn't raining for a little while.
Before long the sun was setting, and we arrived in the coastal town of Eureka, CA. It probably would have been a nice place to visit in the daytime, but at night it felt sketchy, and because of the parking area having a roof, we had to park our truck on the road. It is entirely possible that we may have checked out our window every hour through the night, as there were people sleeping in a car parked in front of it.
January 10
The "free" breakfast was pretty sad, unless you enjoy Biscuits and Gravy.
This section of the trip should have been a nice drive, continue through the Redwoods and wind along the Coastal drive. It wasn't, the weather sucked. Rain was coming down so hard at some points that we almost had to pull over, winds were gusting so hard we thought the truck was going to blow over at one point. But, when the rains slowed a little, there was some highlights.
You know when you see those signs that indicate Elk on the road ahead...
As a kid I fondly remember stopping at the Trees of Mystery every time we went through Northern California, even though Silva wasn't up for a walk through the forest, we had to stop and say Hi to Paul Bunyan and Blue. Silva wasn't quite sure what to make of that giant blue dog.
A little detour along the Valley of Giants, then we were back on the coast and crossing into Oregon.
We took a little rest break at Lake Tankenitch campground. It was a little obvious when the camp host let her little dog "escape" and come running up to greet us. She was very nice, apologizing for her friendly dog, and happy to tell us about the area, but she just wanted to know why we were stopping in her campground. Silva seemed to be a bit revived to have some dog company for a little while, and not be stuck in the car, even if it was for just a little while until the rains started up again..
Every once in a while we would get a little break in the weather just long enough to check out a few recommended viewpoints.
Looking ahead at the weather forecasts for Seattle and Vancouver, we decided to push a little further, skipping our regular stop at the Oregon Sand Dunes. What is likely to be our last stop was the Ashley Inn & Suites in Lincoln City, OR.
It was a nice hotel, with a grassy area just outside our end of the building, so Silva could go pee without having to go too far in the pouring rain. The highlight of the evening was me going to get food from the recommended Puerto Vallarta Mexican restaurant nearby, and bringing back way too much food.
January 11
The weather forecast didn't look good for Sunday in Seattle and Vancouver, so we got up early, wolfed down our free breakfast, and made the push for home. I didn't want to be driving through Seattle in the snow, traffic there is bad enough at the best of times. As we are coming up the last hill towards our house, it is snowing.
It basically snowed all week, our "Operation Escape Winter" was a fail, as we didn't miss any of this weather while we were gone. There was precipitation on 30 of 31 days in Vancouver, at least we missed 10 of them.
It snowed a lot, and Silva was happy to be home!
It all started as an idea for a great winter escape, a chance to take Silva with us on another adventure. We saw some amazing sights, some surprising weather which made things even more visually amazing, and avoided a lot of Vancouver's rain. Silva got to watch the local wildlife, hike in the snow, and chew a bunch of sticks... all her favourite things. We got to tick one more thing off our travel list, and get a couple more items for next years infamous travel tree... unless we try to avoid winter again.
