Road trip!

We spent the last almost two weeks on a road trip: north along the California and Oregon coasts, then a swing inland and up to Edmonds, Washington (just north of Seattle), to visit David's sister. On the way back we took I-5, over a few days. All this included visits with our nephew and his wife, a great-nephew and his girlfriend, a writing friend, my niece's ex, an old singing and dancing friend, and another singing friend. And some exploring, though we also realized that we really need several months, not just two weeks, to really do a road trip justice. It was a lot of driving . . . I'd rather do more walking and poking around. Next time! But all in all, it was wonderful to do so much connecting over these few days. Worth all the miles, for sure.

On the first day, we headed north along US101, ending up in Eureka, 385 miles away.

Day 2 was more driving: another 340 miles, to Lincoln City, OR. 

On day 3 we finally slowed down, our goal for the night, Astoria, being but 120 miles, though we took a couple of detours. It ended up being a several-parter. Part one, morning.

Part two, the Tillamook cheese factory—well worth a visit.

Part three, onward to Astoria.

And part four, our evening in beautiful Astoria.

On day 4 we spent the morning in Astoria, hiking up to the Column—a great viewpoint, and fortunately the fog cleared by the time we got there—then headed north to Edmonds and David's delightful sister, Patty.

Day 5 was a stick-close-to-home day. I spent much of it bonding with Patty's 12yo poodle Maggie.

On day 6 we headed via lightrail into Seattle—Pike Place Market and an amazing art exhibit.

The art show got its own post.

On day 7 we headed to the University of Washington to meet up with our writing friend Andrea and for a stroll along the watery edge of the Arboretum.

Day 8 took us to downtown Edmonds, on the Puget Sound, and a stroll around to see some murals.

On day 9 we hung out with our niece's ex, took a nice walk.

Day 10 was the end of our Seattle stay—though we stopped to visit our friend Thelma, and go for a walk in the rain. Then: on to Salem, Oregon!

Day 11 included a stop in Corvallis to visit our friend Spencer, a walk in a wildlife refuge, then on down to Ashland, with its Shakespeare Festival.

And so we come to the end of the trip, day 12, in Ashland, where we went for a nice long walk, and finished things off with a magical production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." So good!

Day 13 (no pictures) was a remarkably easy six-and-a-half-hour trip from Ashland to home, with virtually no slowdowns whatsoever. We got home at two. And now, it's back to real life.