September | 2014 | New Oregon Trail

Where we last left off we were driving through Northern California along famous highway 101, enjoying a beautiful day along the coast. We had spent the night in Fortuna, parked behind the Eel River Brewery. Our goal for the day was to drive through some of the redwoods, cross the Oregon border, and find a place to camp close to the beach. This was the big day! We would be seeing that “Welcome to Oregon” sign for the first time in almost 2 years.

Crescent City was the last large town before we got to Oregon, I recall some wild stories from my Grandpa’s early days working as a logger here. Back when they worked hard and partied even harder. We passed through without stopping, as we were too excited to get to the border. When we finally saw that Oregon sign we had to stop and take some photos with the bus. We couldn’t believe that we were finally here, the southern Oregon coast is so beautiful! After we took enough pictures we kept driving, heading along the coast until we reached Bandon, OR. This is where we would be camping for the night, at a nice little campground just a short bike ride from the beach. Once we were settled into our camping spot and said hi to the neighbors we unloaded our bicycles and rode down to Face Rock State Park, where we locked up the bikes and hiked down to the sand. The beach was mostly empty so we got to enjoy a beautiful summer evening all to ourselves. After cleaning up the dinner dishes we crawled into our cozy bed and felt the cool breeze come in through our windows.

The next morning we were on the road early and heading for the northern end of the Oregon coast. Before we left Bandon we had to stop in at the Face Rock Creamery, where we enjoyed sampling all of their delicious cheese. We couldn’t leave without buying a couple different types, as well as some of the best butter ever.

Our next (and last) stop on the trip before reaching home was Pacific City, one of our favorite beaches on the whole coast. A big part of that is due to the Pelican Pub, an award winning brewery right on the sand overlooking the ocean. Even though it was the peak of the busy season we managed to snag an RV campsite at the county park directly across the street from the beach and the pub. What luck! The tricky part is that the site was listed as only allowing an RV up to 23′ long, so when we called to book the site I asked the camp host to measure the site, and she reported that the absolute maximum length that would fit would be 35′. Dang, should we attempt to squeeze our 40′ bus in there? We didn’t have any other options so we crossed our fingers and headed for the campsite. When we got there we unloaded the motorcycle and took the rack off the back, giving us just enough clearance to fit in the site with 2 feet to spare. Woohoo! We were ready to have a couple beers at the Pelican and wait for our friends from Portland to join us for our last night camping.

While we were relaxing on the back deck at the pub we started chatting with the guy next to us, and quickly discovered that he was riding his bicycle around the US. Daniel was a very interesting guy, and it was a lot of fun to exchange travel stories with him. His trip is mostly centered around craft beer, kind of like ours is, so we had plenty to talk about. Pretty soon we offered to let him camp at our site with us, so he joined our group for the rest of the night. You can check out his travel blog here.

Pretty soon our friends from Portland arrived, and we went out to the beach and built up a nice fire to sit around while we enjoyed a few more beers and some good company. There was a lot of catching up to do after being away for a while, and it was nice to finally be camping with some of our oldest friends. That night the floor of the bus was packed with sleepy campers, which is always a fun experience. The next morning we made a big breakfast for everyone, really putting our little kitchen setup to the test. It worked wonderfully, and we even got to make some beermosas using Widmer Hefeweizen, which is a beer that we really missed. We packed up our camp and prepared for the drive up to Tillamook and over to Portland. Daniel was heading toward Tillamook, so we loaded his bicycle up and gave him a ride. He was very excited to get to experience riding in the bus, and we always enjoy having extra passengers! Having Daniel along for part of the trip was really fun, it is always nice to meet another unconventional traveler.

After dropping Daniel in Tillamook we turned onto highway 6 and headed toward Portland. We were going to park at my moms property in Sherwood, where we would meet a large group of family and friends that had gathered to welcome us home. Getting to see so many people that we’ve been missing all in one place was a real treat.

It was such a surreal experience driving through all these familiar towns and roads. After driving this bus all over the country in unfamiliar places we were finally home. We are so excited to be here and so proud that our old bus made the journey without much of any issues at all. It has carried us safely and in style through some of the most interesting terrain in the country and hasn’t let us down. Now we are working at finding jobs, finding a place to park the bus and work on it some more, trying to decide if we are going to live in it full time or just use it as a camping rig. So many questions! We will be keeping this blog updated with any interesting bus adventures or additions to the project. Thanks for following along with us!

Apologies everyone for the lack of updates lately. *Spoiler Alert* We have made it back to Portland and our time has been consumed by family and friends, as well as job hunting and figuring out what to do with the bus.

Where we left off, we had been in San Francisco for several days enjoying some great friends and an amazing city. After we said our goodbyes we climbed back aboard our trusty Bird and continued our trek north. We stopped to visit some family outside Redding for a few days, and had a great time exploring some back roads in the mountains. The bus does surprisingly well on rough gravel roads. There is something to be said for the robust build quality of an old Blue Bird school bus. Lindsey and I talked it over and decided that we would have much more fun following the coast up to Oregon, rather than taking I5 straight through the middle. We didn’t want to trip to end, so extending it by an extra 2-3 days was a welcome idea.

Leaving Redding we headed west on highway 299, winding our way up and down through the mountains. It was hot out but we were really enjoying the drive, these were some of the greatest driving roads I have been on for a while. The closer we got to the coast and the further we got into the forest the more it cooled down. We marveled at the beautiful scenery going by, and even though I had to really hustle the bus along the curvy road we were really enjoying the drive. Little did I know what waited ahead would make me regret that statement later. We passed a few hitchhikers along the highway, but they always seemed to be waiting along the guardrails next to a steep drop off where there was no room to pull over, so we continued along without extra passengers.

Pretty soon we were turned off 299 at Douglas City and headed down highway 3 south. The road got a little narrower but it wasn’t enough to cause alarm. We were really enjoying ourselves now, cruising through some beautiful forests and along some small rivers. It was so nice to be out of arid Southern California and see so much greenery and water flowing. Eventually we turned onto highway 36 and made for the coast. This is where things got interesting, as the road narrowed so much that most of it didn’t have a yellow center line. We snaked our way around the mountain for miles, trying not to look over the side at the steep drops. Crossing our fingers at every switchback, hoping there wasn’t another vehicle coming from the other direction, as we needed most of the road just to negotiate the turn. Fortunately we managed to squeeze by all the oncoming traffic and eventually made it out onto the foothills where the road opened up again. By the time we got to the bottom I was a sweaty mess. This was definitely one of the most harrowing roads we have been on so far.

Meeting up with highway 101 again we headed to Fortuna, where we planned to spend the night. A few days earlier Lindsey had found the Eel River Brewing Company online, and learned that they allow overnight RV camping, which we eagerly took them up on. We found the brewery and parked in their large gravel back lot, which was perfect for the bus. It was so nice to relax with some cold fresh beer after such an intense day of driving.

Spending a peaceful night in the bus we got up early and hit the road. We stopped at a state beach just north of Eureka and made some breakfast, then walked down to the water and enjoyed the cold sand on our bare feet. Driving along the coast through the chilly early morning fog made me nostalgic for the days I spent with my grandparents at the beach when I was growing up. The smell of the ocean rolling in the open window just added to the experience.

We continued our drive north, stopping at a few overlooks to watch the mighty Pacific crash against the rocks. Pretty soon we found a scenic byway that led us through the Redwoods National Park, where we were awe struck by the size and beauty of the old trees. Parking the bus at the base of some of these trees we marveled at their immense size, making us feel so tiny and unimportant. I can see how the Redwoods hold such a sacred place in many peoples minds and hearts, and I can’t wait to go back and spend some more time camping and exploring around the park.

As we drove north toward Crescent City a new reality hit us: it was only a few more miles until we crossed into Oregon, and a couple more days until we were back home in Portland. This brought feelings of elation at being back home after a year and a half, and also sadness, for the New Oregon Trail was coming to an end. It was hard to be too sad though, as it was a gorgeous August day to be driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, with the water so blue and the forests so green. It sure feels nice to be back on the West Coast.

New Oregon Trail

Taking The Long Way Home

Month: September 2014

OREGON COAST

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA