To the emerald city!
July 13, 2008
Well, the move to Seattle is on. I’m going to be adding to this post as our road trip progresses, and then put it up online when we’ve finally made it. Click the day headings for the route(s) we took.
Movers turned up at 8am with, as usual, a giant truck. I’m always impressed (even after seeing what these drivers can do for so many years while touring) at how they can back these huge things around obstacles and down small spaces. The guys (3 + driver) had everything that we hadn’t boxed like furniture wrapped in moving blankets and down in just 2 hours. Worrying how all your life can disappear onto the dance-floor of a truck (the slightly raised area of the trailer where it attaches to the hitch on the cab) and look so insignificant.
Once everything was signed, for both moving and to release the apartment, we were on our way. Got past LA pretty quickly and past Malibu, which we hadn’t really ventured past before. The landscape changed dramatically, from palm trees everywhere to more “normal” flora, which was a present surprise.
Got to San Luis Obispo at about 7pm and met up with Eric (old work friend at FS) and Kim. They were really good at giving us a whirlwind tour of the town, which isn’t complete without having a look at the Madonna Inn and Bubblegum Alley! Also, Eric had picked up a fantastic gift for us of some (signed by the artist) Serenity posters, which just blew us away and I really am lost for words at how grateful and thoughtful that present was. Had dinner with Eric and Kim and then crashed out 
Day 2
Got up early so we had time to visit Hearst Castle. It was very good, but what is it with very rich people and a) their complete lack of taste, b) wanting to model their houses on “European” style (read - of course all us Brits live in castles with huge tapestries on the wall!), and c) they never really come from “nothing” - even if they didn’t have specific support from how they made their money, they very seldom don’t come from successful families in some way or the other. Perhaps it’s just in the genes.
Really wanted to head up to Big Sur, but couldn’t because of the fires in the area. We were actually in this area on the 8th, but this has a good map of the area - see the other posts in this blog for a good update on what is happening.
Went to Santa Cruz, mostly for one picture in the sand! Don’t ask! Was the usual run-down seaside amusement town, so didn’t really stay all that long.
Stopped both sides of the Golden Gate bridge for a loo-break and some photos, then pushed on to Santa Rosa. Had an excellent dinner at the Toad in the Hole pub, and saw a statue for Snoopy (who Tara is *big* fan of) - we had completely forgotten about the museum in the area so it was serendipity that we stumbled upon it. We’ll take a look tomorrow before we head off again.
Day 3
Today we rested up in the hotel in the morning until the Charles M. Schulz Museum opened. It’ only a small museum, and unless you are a fan of Peanuts/Snoopy, then there really isn’t all that much there. However, for us (who are Snoopy fans), it was a good stop-over. After visiting the shop and stocking up on some merchandise, we were back on our way.
If we are going to do this route again, or anyone else is thinking about it for a sightseeing trip, it’s best to go from north to south (instead of the way we are going) because all the best views, stopping places, etc, are on that side of the road. It’s not that we are missing out on lots, but it would certainly be easier.
On the way up, we took a detour from the 101 to drive the Avenue of the Giants. Words, pictures or video (of which we used a lot of all three) do not do this place justice. It’s just superb. Winding around these huge trees, many of which have been around for ever (well, hundreds of years) was just so picturesque.
We then booked it up the 101 to Eureka pretty quickly so we could get dinner early and relax in for the night. Tomorrow is a big push through the mountains (and more redwoods) to Portland.
Day 4
Ok, so it’s getting very prosaic (one of Tara’s favorite words at the moment!), but the scenery on this drive is just stunning. We left the coast road for route 199 going through the mountains into Oregon which went through another redwood forest and seemed to follow a river. Stopped off at a few places to take more photos/film and just enjoy the countryside.
Stopped off in Grants Pass for lunch and to refuel the car. At McDonalds (ok, we were stuck for choices and couldn’t be bothered to look around any more) there were 3 young (I guess around 9-10) that were just being absolute bitches - generally playing up everything, like how one of them didn’t like their cheeseburger and sent it back for another one (much to the prompting of the one that was clearly the “queen bee” of this group). I had really thought that we’d left this attitude behind, but clearly girls aspire to The Hills (seriously, they were talking about it!) even if they do live in po-dunk no-where.
The drive onwards to Portland was long, perhaps the longest leg so far, which not much to stop off for, but it was I5 all the way so I just stuck the car on cruse control and sat back.
Day 5
Rest day in Portland - didn’t have to drive anywhere today :) Spent the time exploring the city, doing some shopping, and caught Hancock. Good to see Los Angeles again, even if they do take liberties with the geography (Alameda is nowhere near LAX, and there’s not a Mercy General Hospital in downtown by city hall), but that’s pretty normal :) Overall enjoyed the film a lot. It’s a little slow in places, but well worth it.
Day 6
Well, this is it - final leg. Made the drive from Portland to Seattle pretty quickly. Have great weather in the NW at the moment - clear blue sky, 70-80F - so had fantastic views of Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and Mt Ranier all the way up.
Got the keys to the apartment, unloaded the car, and went out to get supplies - it’s amazing how much basic “setup” stuff costs to restock your home, but it’s a necessary expense (no point in keeping things like cleaning supplies, etc). The apartment is very bare as still waiting on the moving truck to arrive with everything which should (fingers crossed) be Tue or Wed.
So, I guess that’s about it - our trip up to Seattle. Actually quite miss SoCal at the moment (Tara a lot more than me), but it sort of “feels right” - very much like the UK both of us keep saying. It certainly feels a slower pace of life at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll post more about the area and our “adventures” over time. For now though, signing off as there’s lots of things to get done like connecting utilities, getting us back on the net (this post courtesy of some nice person who as left their dlink wifi open :))
ETA: Posted some pictures up and linked to them. Will be editing the video when we have more time after our stuff has turned up, so will add that here when done. One last photo for the trip - it’s a long way back, even by the “quick” route (which we certainly didn’t follow :))
Posted in Trip Report
