Travel in the time of Covid
Vacation 2020
On June 27th we left for a 2 week road trip into the void of Covid, protests and staring at our walls.
Day 1- Today was a LONG day. We knew it- we planned it. We packed up our rented SUV after a thorough Clorox wipe down..and headed up the 5. with a stop at In-N-Out past the cows and oil wells bypassing San Francisco to cross the Oakland Bay bridge. FYI... Not a lot of mask wearing out of the main cities.
Passing thru cute wine towns along the 101 near Mendocino. It’s called the Redwood Highway at this point
Our 1st stop. Shelter Cove, CA. It is a tiny town on the California coast in an area called The Lost Coast. It is beautiful. A bit of a stretch to do it on one day from Los Angeles. But arriving in the area driving thru the Richardson Grove State Park redwoods was an incredible ending. We stayed in the Oceanfront Inn. A cute clean room with a HUGE tub. The are a few places to stay here all look to be similar. Not all were open. This was our 1st stop in a Covid era hotel and we will be here 2 nights. Check in was a note in an envelope with a code to unlock the door. We wiped down everything with Clorox. YAY it’s crazy new world.
The town was basically closed. But the hotel had a fantastic Thai restaurant. Who knew. It was all take out, but they had tables overlooking the ocean. We took a great walk to see the town... It’s less than a mile. Sunset was SPECTACULAR. The interesting part is we walked the runway of the local airport home. LOL cute airport at the end of the world.
Day 2: We got up and headed out to The Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwood State Park. About an hour away. Wow my favorite part was a hike near bull creek. It has a beautiful stream and many enormous trees. The park wasn’t very crowded. Everyone wore masks- at least when we saw other people. :) We ate a picnic of PBJ and did a cool, off-road drive back to Shelter Cove and dinner at the local brewery. It was the only place open. But tasty.
Day 3: Back in the car with stops. We headed into Oregon. WOW the drive from Shelter Cove to Port Orford is INCREDIBLE. We stopped for a hike in Redwood National Park at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. It was an easy beautiful stroll thru the park. empty free and well groomed. Oh and a very clean bathroom. :)
There are many famous beach overlooks along the way North. Pick some and stop..
On arriving at Port Orford we realized most everything was closed, but our hotel Wind-spring Guest Habitat had a guest kitchen and we had a cooler full so we were able to have a nice cheese and salami plate with a view.
Day 4: We did a small but beautiful hike along the headlands. Great views of an old coastguard launch. Lunch on the docks at a fish and chips place. Griff’s on the docks. Sadly the famous Crazy Norwegians was closed well almost every thing was closed.... The the Halibut was fresh and yummy. The beach just south of the dock is super pretty and has caves after exploring that and driving the area we hung at the room and took a nice hot tub with a view after and cooked dinner in the kitchen.
Day 5: Super long drive- We meant to drive up thru wine country to Hood River outside Portland. BUT I wanted to try a scenic route. Oops The drive was incredible but our phones had no service so we wound up looping around Mt Hood. Again beautiful but 10 hours instead of 6 or 7. In my defense we did get to wander some dunes and see covered bridges. :) Dinner at the Hotel- Best Western Plus Hood River. We booked this after I saw it in Wine Enthusiast. Best food so far... delicious and a great bar. Martinis help any long day. :)
Day 6: Most of Northern Oregon closed. They finally realized there is a pandemic going on. We did a beautiful drive and a great hike to 2 waterfalls. Man I need to get in better shape. Dinner back at the hotel. It was Indian theme night.
Day 7: We stopped at a great local bakery. Pine Street Bakery. Yum. Then headed to meet friends David and Patrice Ekstrom for lunch in a cute Brewery in Cascade Locks. after we did a tough but beautiful 3 mile hike on the Washington side of the river and managed to make out wine tasting reservations by 5 pm. Dinner was pizza take out.
Day 8: We drove from Hood River up to Forks. Home of Twilight. :) 6 hours. Lunch on the way at the Kalaloch lodge. Cute place average food cute cabins.... We are staying at the Pacific Inn Hotel. Most comfy bed of the trip. Dinner was hard to find. So we went to a food truck. Today is the 4th so it’s pretty crowded everywhere
Day 9: we got up early and headed to the Hoh Rainforest trails to hike, then we went to Lake Crescent and hiked Rialto beach for sunset. Busy day. Lunch at Granny’s
Day 10: we got up early for low tide at Ruby Beach then went to Ruby beach. kinda mellow day. Nice drive up to the northwest part of the park and sunset back at the tree of life.