Boxster Road Trip

Day 10 of our #BoxsterRoadTrip and we headed out a little later than usual (9:15 am) and our first stop was Starbuck’s for a good cup of coffee to get the day and our hearts started right.  It was a sunny day to start with but went downhill as the day progressed.  At one point in Montana, we had the windshield wipers on full blast.

I would have photos (I’ll add them later) but the camera cable is in the car and it is too darn cold to go get it.  So photos will get added to the blog later.

Even in the rain, the drive along US-2 was beautiful.  We stopped in Libby MT for lunch at a great little restaurant called “The Last Straw Café”.  Jo had breakfast and Steve had a burger.  The restaurant was homey, the menu was surprisingly extensive, the food was prepared perfectly (not everyone can do over-medium eggs right and these were perfect), and the staff was friendly.  If you ever find yourself in Libby MT, you would do well to stop here for a meal.

Anyway, the goal today was to get to Sue & Bill’s as early as possible so we had lots of time to get caught up.  We are only in Kila for 2 nights and we want to spend as much time as possible with Jo’s childhood “bestie”.

I am going to sign off for now – my battery is beeping and Steve also left the power cable out in the cold car!

The journey continues . . .

 Started Day 9 of #BoxsterRoadTrip with a little bit of rain.  We know it was rain because we looked it up on Wikipedia (not being too sure because we haven’t actually seen rain for so long we forgot what it looked like).  But, yep, it was rain!  However, it didn’t take too long for the sun to come out and make us very sorry that we had on long sleeves and long pants.  The temperature went from mid 50’s to mid 80’s in a little over an hour.  Yowee, were we toasty for the rest of the day.

Our first stop today was in Leavenworth, WA, a little town in the mountains that reminds one of a village in Bavaria.  It is charming and absolutely filled with flowers.

Our second stop was in Wenatchee, WA, where we had brunch at a lovely restaurant called The Wild Huckleberry.  Another great meal!  And Wenatchee seemed like a very charming town.

I thought I’d share some scenery photos, to show you the variety of landscapes we saw today.  Everything from forests, to river, to apple & pear orchards, to high desert.  And, for my sister, some interesting rock formations.

Arrived at Coeur d’Alene and checked into the Greenbriar Inn around 5:30 pm and, once again, it has been a long day and we are ready to chill.

And the journey continues . . .

Sending you a lovely bouquet of flowers from the Pike Place Market on Day 8 of our #BoxsterRoadTrip!

And of course, to make this really feel like Seattle, it has been grey and overcast and very cool all day.  But that is what makes this an authentic Seattle day, right?

We started the day with a light breakfast at “A Bed & Breakfast Inn Seattle“, where we will be spending our second night tonight.  It is a nice B&B, located in a quaint part of Seattle.  It was close to a bus route that took us to within a couple of blocks of the Pike Place Market, where we wandered for a couple of hours, ogling the fresh fish and the flowers (smelly and smelly) .

The plan was to stop at the original Starbuck’s, but the line was out the door and Jo wasn’t that desperate for a cup of Joe.  We did wander up to the Hard Rock Café for lunch and then walked around the city a little more.

We really wanted to do either the Space Needle or Smith Tower, but couldn’t justify spending the money to see clouds!  So we passed on that part of the journey.  Next time . . .

Dinner was at Ivar’s Salmon House which was fabulous!  Steve had Fish & Chips (Halibut) and Jo had the Salmon Sampler, which had three different types of Salmon:  King, Sockeye and Coho.  It was nearly impossible to decide which she liked best, but she finally decided the Sockeye.  We would HIGHLY recommend Ivar’s Salmon House, especially if you are looking for Alder Wood Grilled fish (or just plain grilled fish).  Great food and good value.  We would come back to this one!

Tomorrow we start heading east, with our first stop in Couer d’Alene, ID.

Jo did get a bit of news a couple of days ago.  Seems her cousin Janet, whom she hasn’t seen in 50+ years, has invited us to get together in Big Sky, Montana.  So a little adjustment to the schedule and route is being made.  Should be fun and, heaven knows, if we wait another 50 years we will have missed the opportunity!  So, look out Janet & Paul, cuz you are now on the journey!

And the journey continues . . .

Day 7 of our #BoxsterRoadTrip.

We got up at an indecent hour to get in the queue by 7:15 am for the 10:30 am CoHo Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA.  So, here is our observation.  It would have actually been easier to take the BC Ferry back to Vancouver and drive to Seattle from Canada.  The BC Ferry is way nicer than the CoHo Ferry, less stressful, and the drive would have been about the same.  The CoHo Ferry packed the cars in like sardines in a can and there was barely enough room to squeeze out of your car door before the next car was crammed in next to you.  We were concerned about dings.  Even though our Boxster is an early 1998 (one of the first ones delivered in California), is has virtually no dings and we work hard to keep it that way.  So if you are going to take a car ferry to Victoria, seriously consider the BC Ferry.

Once on the Ferry, the trip was smooth sailing and we said goodbye to Victoria and hello to Washington.  We were still sleepy from having gotten up so early, so we skipped the Olympia National Park and headed straight for Seattle.  Well, not exactly straight, as there is no direct way to get from Port Angeles to Seattle.  You have to either take another Ferry (no thanks) or drive around the Sound.  It was about a 3 hour drive from the arrival dock to the Bed and Breakfast Inn Seattle where we are staying.  And, since Jo was driving, there had to be bridges.  Several of them!

This evening we went to Rock Creek Seafood & Spirits for dinner.  It was excellent!

Tomorrow we tour Seattle.

The journey continues. . .

Today was simply a day of walking around Victoria’s Inner Harbor and enjoying the sunshine and sights.

The journey continues . . .

We left Vancouver and headed to the BC Ferry Terminal in Tsawwassen.  The trip from Tsawwassen to Schwartz Bay in Victoria was 90 minutes and the scenery along the way was beautiful.  Smooth sailing!

We arrived in Schwartz Bay around 12:30pm and headed to the Stonehouse Pub for lunch.  Steve had Shepherd’s Pie and Jo had Cumberland Sausage and Mash.  And, of course, a beer to go along with it.  Cute pub with great food and close to the BC Ferry Dock.

After lunch, we headed to Butchart Gardens.  All I can say is indescribably beautiful.  I only wished our garden looked like this!  But what struck me was not only the visual beauty, but also the fragrance.  Breathtaking!

By the time we got to our Victoria Airbnb, called Bright Studio in Old Town District, we were ready to call it a day.  We decided to pass on dinner out and just spend an evening relaxing.

The journey continues . . .

Today was pretty much a driving day, and most of it on I5.  I hope this is the last Interstate we have to drive on (but I know it isn’t).  I am more of a back roads person (minus the gravel, of course)!!

We left Portland after a very nice breakfast at the Airbnb we stayed at called Bedroom, Breakfast and Bikes!  If you haven’t already looked into Airbnb, I highly recommend that you do.  It is a great way to save money, meet nice people, and have a “local experience”.  We left Oregon and entered into Washington and before you knew it, we were in Vancouver.  However, we discovered it was Vancouver, WA and not Vancouver, BC.  That was another six hours away (plus the time at the Customs and Immigration Checkpoint).  We stopped in Everett WA and had lunch at a cute little restaurant called Cafe Dijon.  I had one of the best salads I’ve ever had.  And we even got a homemade cookie for desert (included with lunch).

We made it through Customs and Immigration around 4:00pm and were in Vancouver BC by 4:30.  We are staying at another Airbnb, this one called Downtown Vancouver Condo.

We met up with Sandy & Sylvia for a wonderful evening of great wine, dinner and lots of catching up.  Dinner was at Water St Cafe and it was excellent.  It was a lovely evening, but way too short.

Tomorrow we are off to Victoria.

And the journey continues . . .

A light day today.  Started with a wonderful breakfast at The Grand Victorian Bed & Breakfast.  It was actually nice to see our car covered with rain (something novel for those of us who live in California).

The day may have started a little dreary but the sun was out before we hit our first stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  We nibbled on some cheese and then followed a logging truck to Forest Grove and the David Hill Winery.  And believe it or not, it was another gravel road to get to the winery (which sits atop a lovely hill).

From the hillside, you could look across the valley and see another hill with a string of lonely trees along the ridge.  A unique site.

We stopped for a brief (and excellent) lunch at 1910 Main in Forest Grove and headed to Portland, where we are staying at an Airbnb called “Bedroom, Breakfast and Bikes!“.  Had dinner at Olympic Provisions.

Tomorrow we leave the country!

The journey continues . . .

After a lovely breakfast at the Airbnb “House in Downtown Arcata“, we headed on to Oregon.  The trip started with a light fog and before long, we were in full sun, shaded only by the canopy of awe inspiring redwoods.  Such grandeur and beauty makes one feel very insignificant indeed.  And very grateful to have this opportunity!

We arrived in sunny Oregon in the late morning and continued our drive northward along the seashore.  Again, the scenery was fabulous.  Special care to keep to the speed limit, of course!

The shoreline and outcroppings are possibly even more spectacular than Highway 1 in California (if that is possible).

After lunch and cheese sampling at Face Rock Creamery in Bandon OR, we headed north again.  Our via point was to be Sunset Bay State park, off of Highway 101.  BEWARE!  Setting your GSP to shortest route can have unforeseen consequences!  After two miles of lovely paved roadway, we found ourselves on a crushed rock single lane, twisty, inclining, “highway”.  This continued for another 6 miles (at a snail’s pace).  Boxsters are not designed for four-wheeling!  The GPS had decided that this backroads track was, in fact, the shortest route.  Got the adrenaline pumping.  We suddenly got dumped back onto a smooth “standard” road, that we could have taken the entire way, but would have cost us four extra miles at 7x the speed we traveled on the gravel road.  This is the road we ended up on . . .

We did eventually end up at Sunset Bay State Park; indeed a beautiful bay and worth the journey.

And just to prove this is all being done in a Porsche Boxster (and not an RV), we took a picture of the topless beauty (the car, that is)!!!

Turned out that to get from this beautiful bay to our final destination of the day, we had to cross a large bridge.  In fact, the first of six large bridges.  Jo does not do well driving across large bridges and, of course, she was driving!  Steve says she did a great job (but he didn’t know her eyes were closed the whole time).

We ended the day in Newport OR, where we had dinner at the South Beach Fish Market – fish (halibut & salmon) & chips.  It was as good as it’s reputation.

We are spending this evening at a Bed & Breakfast called “The Grand Victorian” in Newport, Oregon, where we were served a shrimp cocktail and candied salmon upon arrival.

The journey continues . . .

     No better way to start the day than a trip across the new Bay Bridge  . . .

Into San Francisco 

     and on to the Golden Gate!  It doesn’t get much better than that!

We stopped for lunch at David’s in Fort Bragg (excellent food and very nice staff) after winding our way along Highway 1.  Wow, what beautiful scenery and, oh so many twists and turns!

We ended the evening with a light supper at the Plaza Grill.  We are spending our first night at an eclectic Airbnb called “House in Downtown Arcata“.  We have our own private upstairs room & bath and the pillow is calling to me!  It has been a long day.

The journey continues. . .

We’re off!!!