June 2 to June 13, 2015 San Francisco to Seattle along the Pacific Coast Highway
For our vacation in the Summer of 2015, we decided to fly to San Francisco, spend a few days there and then drive the Pacific Coast Highway north to Astoria, Oregon, turn inland and drive along the Columbia river gorge then north to Seattle. While in Seattle, we were going to also go on a whale watching tour leaving out of Anacortes, WA.
We flew into the San Francisco airport late on June the 2nd.Rather than driving into the city at night we got a hotel in the southern outskirts. It was not far from the airport and we thought that would make it less stressful. The hotel, a major chain had very tiny rooms and virtually no parking. We circled the hotel for at least 30 minutes trying to find a spot. Additionally the Dennys on the adjacent property was closed for remodeling. So breakfast was difficult to come by. Not an auspicious start - but it did get better!
Our first day, Kevin wanted to head south and we ended up driving all the way down to Carmel by the Sea. We stopped at Half Moon Bay to see the Elephant Seals and Sea Lions. Here Barry and Kevin stand on a bluff with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop.
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The sea lions lounging on the rocks at Half Moon Bay.
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South of Marinas, CA we turned inland for a detour to see the John Steinbeck House in Salinas. We toured the inside. We decided to eat lunch at Carmel and drove on.
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Our hotel was located very near the Port of San Francisco building and the bay. This is a view from our hotel window.
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Also from our hotel room - the iconic Port of San Francisco building and the rebuilt Bay Bridge linking San Francisco to Oakland.
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We visited the Presidio, a military reservation at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was established in 1776 as Spain's northern-most outpost of colonial power in the New World. It also has a lovely park associated with it.
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A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio.
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Barry arranged this family portrait while we were exploring the park above the Presidio.
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After driving through the Presidio we went to the beach area at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and enjoyed the sunshine. Here is a view of Alcatraz from the beach.
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A seagull out for a stroll on the beach!
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And a blue pigeon. He was absolutely fearless around humans.
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Our last evening in San Francisco Barry and Lori went on a paddlewheel dinner cruise around the bay. This is our boat - the California Hornblower.
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A view of San Francisco from the California Hornblower.
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Lori sightseeing aboard the dinner cruise on the California Hornblower.
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A view of the Oakland Bay bridge from the California Hornblower.
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The next day we started up the coast. Our first stop was the Marin Headlands and Golden Gate National recreation area. It was a very scenic drive and we stopped and walked around at the Point Bonita Lighthouse. Barry is on the path toward the light house.
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Kevin examins some of the gun emplacements left over from World War II.
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No sand here - the beach is rocky and uninviting!
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Another item on our bucket list while driving up the coast was to visit some of the California redwood groves. This segment of road had redwoods lining both sides of a narrow two lane road. The majesty of these sentinals was breathtaking.
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Lori and Kevin contemplate the "Giant Tree" in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is 363 feet tall and 53 feet in circumference.
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Looking up at the redwood canopy.
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Not only are they tall, they are also huge. Lori is dwarfed by the base of this tree.
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The drive north was very beautiful on a winding road that, for the most part hugged the coastline, sometimes at ocean level but often elevated above the water. This was the view of a little cove and beach that we found particularly scenic. Barry and Lori had driven the PCH from San Francisco to Los Angeles a few years ago and while it has some similar coastline views, this segment is much nicer because of the lack of traffic!
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Another beach was interesting in that is seemed to collect an amazing amount of driftwood. It must have been located at just the perfect place to capture it. The other memory of this trip is how cold northern California was for mid-June. We froze most of the time!
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This is a very pretty iron-work bridge we crossed over. At some point on our journey we passed into Oregon.
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Just south of Astoria, we stopped at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park near the western terminus of the Lewis and Clark expedition. A replica of the stockade called Ft Clatsop that they used to winter in Oregon is shown here. It was small and had two rather uncomfortable looking cot-beds in each of the rooms.
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Here is a statue to honor Sacajawea, the Native American guide for the Corp of Discovery.
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The hotel we stayed at was located in the old Cannery pier area at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a lovely hotel located out over the water with a great view of the Astoria - Megler Bridge which runs from Astoria Oregon 4.1 miles to Megler, Washington.
The pylons visible in the water are all that is left of the once thriving salmon canneries that occupied this space.
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The hotel had an abundance of wildlife in the waters around it. Here was a family of ducks we saw.
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One of the supports for the Astoria-Megler Bridge roadbed. It is a beautiful work of iron craftsmanship.
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Pacific Sunset from our room at the Cannery Pier Hotel.
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The next day we turned away from the coast to follow the Columbia River inland. We passed through Portland and then followed the river to end up at the Bridge of the Gods which spans the Columbia River between the Cascade Locks, Oregon and North Bonneville, WA. It opened in 1926 at a length of 1127 feet. In September 1927 Charles Lindberg made a low pass over the bridge, executed a turn and flew back underneath it before landing at the Portland Airport. It still operates as a toll bridge today.
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A view of the Columbia Gorge near the Cascade Locks.
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Maryhill Stonehenge near Maryhill, Washignton is a concrete replica of Stonhenge, England. It was dedicated on July 4, 1918 as a memorial to the soldiers killed in World War I.
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From one of the "windows" of the Maryhill Stonehenge is a view of Mt. Ranier and the Columbia River.
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After leaving Stonehenge, we drove through Washington into Mt Ranier National Park then up to Seattle and north to Anacortes where we stayed before taking a whale watching tour in the waterways around the San Juan Islands.
0n the whale watching tour it was a beautiful day for a boat ride. One of the first things we spotted was this P-3 on patrol from Whidbey Island.
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We passed a small island which seemed to have an abundance of wildlife. Barry got this great picture of a gaggle of geese under a very unusual tree.
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Early on we saw a small group of Orca Whales - here is a tail slap Barry captured.
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We saw a number of bald eagles in flight. Here is a pair in a tree. Just outside the field of view of the photo was their nest.
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A pair of Orca Whales swimming very near our boat.
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We had several Orca encounters but most were very quick or at a distance. But the highlight of the tour was this school of Orcas which swam around our boat and lingered for quite a while. Kevin captured this wonderful video.
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On our way back, Barry got a great picture of this bald eagle pair high atop a pair of trees on a tiny island.
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As we were headed back into port our guide pointed out this wonderful view of Mt Saint Helens in the distance.
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After wrapping up the boat tour we headed south and arrived back in Seattle. We stayed in the downtown area. Here is a view from our hotel.
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The Space Needle is an iconic Seattle landmark left over from the 1962 World's Fair whose theme was the Age of Space. Here it is viewed from the Chihuly Garden adjacent. What a beautiful setting for both!
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This is a view from the top of the Space Needle.
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We also went through an exhibition hall filled with some breathtaking Chihuly glass sculptures. While Barry's picture is gorgeous no picture can capture their colorful and fragile beauty.
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Of course no visit to Seattle would be complete without a visit to Startbucks. This is a multi-level large footprint store which sells all sorts of coffees, coffee making paraphenalia and of course, coffee drinks. And it was packed!
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The next day we headed to the airport and flew back to Atlanta still excited over our encounter with the Orcas two days ago!
