Homeless and Road bound

As we arrived at our planned departure date, one of the most important lessons of travel was reiterated - flexibility and adaptability. On Christmas day 2021 in Seattle the snow began to fall. It snowed the entire next day as well. Before it was done there was about six inches of snow and some of the coldest temperatures Seattle will ever get. We had already booked our hotels and had all-wheel drive so we loaded up and set out on the 27th as planned. It was slow going the first few hours as the snow was widespread all the way into Oregon. As we passed through Portland the roads were basically clear and we were able to move at regular highway speed from there down to Grants Pass, Oregon for our first night.

Grants Pass/Crater Lake

Grants Pass made for a logical first stop being a good day’s drive from Seattle and the closest town to Crater Lake with several options for lodging. After about a ten hour drive, including a stop for tacos outside of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, we pulled into Grants Pass. We had planned for two nights at each stop to have a chance to see the town and take a break from non-stop driving. Motivation for exploration was non-existent after the drive and we settled into the room for a shower and enjoyed the Christmas brisket leftovers we had brought along for dinner. As we contemplated the next day’s explorations we discovered that Crater lake was basically closed due to heavy snow. One more blow to our curated plans. Overnight 4 inches of snow fell, but it was large heavy snow that quickly melted in the morning. We adapted our plans for the town to now be a stop at the local Goodwill to get rid of some more things we had not yet gotten to in Seattle before leaving, and wandering the downtown area. It is still not clear what brings people to Grants Pass, Oregon but it is a pleasant town with a decent old town center. We passed the afternoon in an antique shop before heading back to the hotel for the evening. We found a Lebanese food counter within walking distance of the hotel and chose it for dinner. Feeling satisfied we had covered the main attractions, we moved out first thing in the morning, headed to Eureka, California; excited for new adventures.

Eureka, CA

We first met the coast in Crescent City, California and found a diner for a quick lunch. Since Eureka was not a long drive we also stopped for a walk in Trinidad, just because it was along the way. A lovely little village with a large flat beach area which we explored to pass the minutes before check-in time at our hotel in Eureka. Some of the rocks were moving in the shallows at Trinidad beach.

Our hotel was about half a mile from Eureka town center so we settled into the room for a bit before making our way downtown.

I can’t really justify why, but I had certain expectations of Eureka. The initial thought was it would involve some “sudden, intuitive perception or insight” but in the end it is a waterfront town with a cool winter breeze cutting through to your bones as you walk around. The historic center was kept up nicely but the smell of marijuana seemed to ooze from every corner. In retrospect we should have had lower expectations but the small pizza place we stumbled upon the first night was not terrible. We spent our free day at a highly reviewed brunch spot, also more in the ok category (I never thought I would make a good food critic and you will not find my reviews on yelp), and wandered through the main mall that was at most 50% occupied by actual tenants. There was a large contingent patiently waiting at the game stop, for what we did not inquire. Since our morning adventures only took a couple hours we concluded with a quick trip over the bridge to the barrier island and made a quick walk on the beach. We were again reminded of the winter sea breezes of northern California and shortly retreated to the hotel for the afternoon.

The hotel was sparsely occupied and I decided to have a quick workout in the fitness center, which I had entirely to myself. I actually never saw anyone even in the hallway throughout my hour-long workout. As I neared the end of my workout I heard police sirens and saw flashing lights through the window before a large pickup raced past the window, squealing tires to make a turn at the corner. I assumed it was the local police on their way to some small town excitement and thought to myself “fresh donuts does sound good about now.” By the time I got back upstairs to the room I had nearly forgotten about this brief moment of excitement but found my wife staring out the window, phone in hand, with elevated excitement. She explained that there were multiple gunshots only a block away and I could still see the heavy police activity across the way. As I understand it now, the police attempted a traffic stop at the corner of the hotel and during the stop the suspect drove off. The police response involved gunshots as they caught up to the truck that sped past the fitness center window. I was an eyewitness to the attempted escape. Such excitement I thought we had left behind in Seattle.

As the weather turned rainy that evening we decided the Indian restaurant on the corner would suffice for dinner. As we returned to our room we noticed local police in the hallway, knocking on doors. They asked if we had heard or seen anything during the afternoon activity and I told them my insights from the gym. They were very interested in what I saw and took down my number for future discussion if needed. I am still awaiting if I will be part of the trial. I suspect my insights would be of little value but I am now a part of Eureka official records I think.

Knowing the next day was one of the longer drives we headed out of town early, contemplating why we stopped in Eureka in the first place. We did not even stop for breakfast until well down the road to Monterey.

Monterey Peninsula

Attempting to cover ground more quickly, we skipped the coastal drive and made good time down US 101. As we neared the outskirts of San Francisco we discovered all but one route involved tolls. Since we planned to sell the car after reaching LA we thought it best to avoid any pay by mail tolls that we would likely never receive or be able to pay. After a long days drive we pulled into the Monterey peninsula as the sun was setting.

We had envisioned the land of “Big Little Lies” but found ourselves in a middle class area with a few touristy places near the aquarium. We later learned most of that show is not really based on Monterey at all. Only a handful of the scenes are even filmed in Monterey.

Being new years eve we thought it would be nice to have a higher class dinner and arrived at the restaurant at lovers point, a short walk from our hotel. Since it was a last minute idea and we did not have a reservation we had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Again we opted for a quick walk around the waterfront and once again were reminded that winter in northern California on the water is not for the weak. As I was losing feeling in my face we decided to wait inside the restaurant and thankfully they sat us quickly. We enjoyed our dinner and made a walk through town center on the way back to the hotel, mainly to decide where we would be getting coffee in the morning. We retreated to the hotel to celebrate a low key new year's eve.

We secured our tickets to the aquarium and had our plan for January 1. We stopped at our curated coffee shop and made the mile and a half walk to the aquarium. The scale of the aquarium was a bit smaller than expected but well done nonetheless. We enjoyed the large tank of sharks and sea bass, then the jellyfish exhibits before taking in the sea otter tank for a while. Afterwards we walked along the waterfront around the westernmost point of the peninsula, peering into tidepools where it was convenient. The chill is muted by the sunshine in the afternoon and made for a very pleasant afternoon. After a low key dinner I anticipated a scenic drive the next day down the pacific coast highway to our next stop.

Morro Bay

In 2010 I made the drive from LA to just south of Monterey and had what I thought were clear memories of the scenes along the way. The big sur bridge and viewpoint was a highlight I was hoping to revisit. As we headed south out of Monterey an ominous sign indicated closures along highway 1. Knowing there are few routes to and from the coastal drive in this stretch we pulled over to check what that meant for our plans. Sure enough, the road was closed towards the southern end and we would not be able to make it to Morro Bay through this route. Being a relatively short distance we needed to cover we proceeded down the coastal drive anyway looking for the scenes I remember, knowing full well we would have to retrace our path to get to our next stop. After an hour’s drive down the scenic stretch of road I concluded that my memory from 11 years ago was not as accurate as I thought. While it was scenic and lovely, I drove far too long looking for a specific point that I have come to realize possibly only exists in my invented memories. We snapped some photos and made our way back out to US 101 and sped through the valley that grows much of the US produce supply, stopping for some tacos once again on the way.

We made it to Morro Bay about an hour before sunset and checked into our hotel. We walked along the bay and the touristy section of town while the sun set. I had stopped at Morro Bay in 2010 for lunch and had a picture of the beach in my head. Once again my memory proved inaccurate. We did enjoy watching the sea otters and their babies in the bay, walking along the big rock, and observing the throng of surfers in the real beach at Morro Bay. A quiet beach town with little excitement but a relaxing 42 hours we spent there before heading down to LA, specifically our rental in Burbank.

Burbank and Wedding

After more than a week of the "drive a day sit a day" routine it was a relief to know we could settle in for nearly a week. Being Los Angeles, the options for rentals were limited and expensive and us being less inclined to spend money, the accommodations were at best habitable. It had been a while since we had used a short term rental like this and my first thought is that standards have gone down as the popularity of such services has increased. But in the end, I think we are just not willing to pay twice the price for slightly more comfortable accommodations. It was conveniently a few short blocks from a grocery store and a 99 cent store, so we had shopping options close at hand.

Since we had arrived in town a few days early we were able to have some extra time with old friends I had not seen in a while. Pizza in Hollywood and BBQ in Glendale afforded some enjoyable time to catch up. During cocktail hour after the ceremony we were chatting with some new acquaintances about our upcoming plans and mentioned how we had to finalize the sale of our car. To our surprise another attendee who had flown in seemed very interested so we extracted ourselves from the celebrations for a few moments to allow for a test drive. We negotiated the price on the short walk back to the party and one more item had been checked off our list. We finalized the sale with title transfer at the brunch hosted by the newlyweds at the park the next day. The new owner agreed to wait for delivery till we had finished our errands and arrived at LAX. Feeling pretty good about our weekend thus far we decided to make the most of the gorgeous January LA weather and hiked up a nearby hill to take in the view.