We finally made it!! Our beloved home State of Oregon!!!
Yes, I did screech my tires, pull over and run up to the sign and hug it.
We had fun in California, but nothing quite compares to the ocean air, the fresh water, the incredibly nice people…
Almost as soon as we crossed over the border, I stopped at Dutch Bros. I couldn’t wait to get an Iced Kicker! As I finished paying, the teenage girl handed me my coffee and said, “How are you doing today?”
I almost started crying. I missed this! People actually caring about others. She was considerate and polite and didn’t even realize how rare of a find she was in this country, let alone her age group. Once again, Oregon proves its worth.
My Mom loves the old bridges in Oregon, so she decided to sketch one out to paint later.
This was going to be our last day traveling. We left Arcata that morning and ran through the redwood forest. All that was left now was to enjoy the Oregon Coast line on the way up to Florence. There was no way I would be driving to Oregon and not getting a bowl of Mo’s Chowder…but that comes later.
What I had initially planned, months before this whole trip, was to visit as many light houses as possible on the California/Oregon coast. I failed miserably at this. I overbooked myself, thinking I could do a zillion things, but driving eats up so much of the day!
We did manage to see one, Cape Blanco Light house, located just outside Port Orford, Oregon.
It’s part of Cape Blanco State Park, home to the windiest, steepest, gravelliest roads ever.
Another attempt at watercolors, this looks almost identical to one I did…when I was seven.
As we climbed further north, my Dad kept calling, asking when we would be home. He was getting very impatient since we were a day behind schedule (thanks a lot San Francisco).
But we couldn’t help pulling over to soak up as much of this gorgeous coastline as we could!!
I’ve always loved how outrageously graphic Oregon warning signs are.
We even stopped at a bookstore in Gold Beach, Oregon. It was a dollar sale, how could we resist?? We ended up buying a book on tape to keep us awake. BEST IDEA EVER. I can’t believe we hadn’t been doing this the whole time instead of playing the alphabet game a billion times (and Taylor’s 1989 album of course).
Driving through trees and misty corners gets a little creepier when you’re listening to Stephen King’s book Salem’s Lot read to you in very convincing voices. (it’s about vampires)
Luckily, we escaped from King’s creepy clutches by reaching Mo’s!!
We’ve been going to Mo’s for over twenty years, because it’s that good. The clam chowder is the reason you come; the service, atmosphere and clam strips are why you stay.
Because we are the nicest people ever, we brought a case of chowder base home for my Dad.
After a very long day of driving, we finally made it home to Central Oregon. I was so happy to see my Dad and my brother again!
This was an incredible trip. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. Although we had some hang ups and wished we could’ve stayed longer in places, every moment spent in that car with my Mom was wonderful. We hadn’t spent 15 days straight with each other for almost ten years! Not only did our mother-daughter relationship survive, but I think our friendship as two women really grew.
Travelling together really tests a relationship. You experience a lot of discomfort and discover new things that may annoy you about a person. It can also show you how they handle a crisis, what kind of music gets them in a good mood, and it reveals the goofiness that exhaustion brings, creating the best jokes on the planet.
So choose your co-pilots wisely. Make sure your personalities will compliment each other. If you are a planner, and your friend likes to wing it, communicate before you start driving what kind of schedule you’d like to keep. If you’re on a budget, but they want to wine & dine the whole way, that needs to be addressed as well. It can all go swimmingly as long as you both communicate everything you expect from the trip.
Beginner’s Road Trip Checklist:
- killer mixtape (books on tape highly recommended)
- good co-pilot (must be willing to chat it up when it’s dark)
- road snacks (nothing smelly or crumbly)
- water water water
- general plan of where you wanna go. (this can be wibbly wobbley)
- Zero Expectations, just a goal to HAVE FUN!!!
It’s pretty much free rein for artists to paint as they please. The only rule I saw was a general request for respect and not to paint over the exceptional pieces that clearly took some serious time and talent to complete. It would have been an excellent location for Avril Lavigne’s 
At this point in the trip, we realized our painting project was getting neglected. I hadn’t attempted watercolor since grade school, so I decided to try it out with some flowers from the botanical garden.
Since my friend had to go to work, we decided to hit the road and drive as far as we could through Texas. Our next stop wasn’t until New Mexico. Everyone warned us that this would be the most miserable and boring leg of the trip. They all said Texas was big, flat, and a whole lot of nothing.
While yes, it was hot and miserable weather-wise, we enjoyed the scenery and the tiny towns we drove through. There was only one moment where we were a little uncertain…
This was by far my favorite activity so far. I’ve always loved caves, despite their tendency to house creepy crawlies. Something about being underground makes me feel cozy and safe. Weird.
My mom got out of the car and stood dumbfounded looking out over this vast scene, which to her, looked like an ocean, even though she knew it to be otherwise.
Did I mention it was paved? How cool is that? Spelunkers can’t have all the fun! It was a steady decline the whole way with an elevator at the bottom to bring you back up. OR in other words, a lazy girl’s dream. It was nice and cool down there, and quiet.
If there is a more relaxing and tranquil place in North America, I doubt it compares to this. We considered scrapping the whole trip and moving in. You know you’ve found a great friend when you can nap on the couch, even though you haven’t seen each other in two years.
It functions as an art museum now, but it began as an exhibit as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition. It was a nice break from the hot day in the car.
Fighting Fernweh 