Road trip! My husband’s 40th Med School Reunion was in San Francisco, so we planned a road trip through Northern California and back, and had a very fun adventure. Part of my heart will always be in California. I was born and raised in southern California, then went to college and worked in northern California, before going to grad school in Arizona, then ending up here in Oregon. California is complicated because it is crowded, traffickey and hot, but my word, it has some of the most beautiful landscape in the world! Here we live an easier life, a good life, but dipping back into a the Golden State for a visit was pure pleasure…

April 7th – We drove south as far as Dunsmuir, CA, about 6 hours. We had one planned stop for a short hike in the Cathedral Hills just outside of Grants Pass to see the famous Indian Warrior flowers. And there they were, right in the parking lot of the trail head, in plain sight. Very rewarding!

We continued south into California, with our first views of Mt Shasta…

April 8th, also eclipse day…We planned our stay in Dunsmuir, CA, so that we could hike in nearby Castle Crags State Park in the morning. I had never had time to stop here before – we always whizzed by on our way to a farther place. We were in luck with great weather and a clear view of the surrounding mountains from the Castle Crags Viewpoint. We took a short hike along Castle Creek while occasionally looking at the sun through our Eclipse Glasses. The 28% bite migrated from south to north across the bottom of the sun over the couple of hours that we were walking. Nothing like the totality experienced elsewhere, but still an interesting phenomenon to observe.

From there we drove south, passing Mt Lassen, and the extremely green hills along I-5 that will turn into Kate Wolf’s “golden rolling hills” as soon as it gets hot. There were many miles of almond groves, and clusters of poppies blooming on the verge. Eventually we reached San Francisco Bay. We crossed over the Bay Bridge, pierced the heart of the city before rush hour, and checked into a hotel near the airport for the night.

April 9th – to Carmel by the Sea…Our good friend K flew in from Chicago, and we scooped her up at the airport, and headed south and west to Carmel. We had so much fun catching up during our drive that the miles went by quickly, and soon we were eating our lunch at the beach on Carmel Bay. Turquoise blue water and lovely cliffs. After a walk on the beach, we checked into our hotel in Carmel Valley.

April 10th – Point Lobos State Reserve – We hiked along the rocky coast from Whalers Cove to Point Lobos in the morning.

After lunch, we drove a bit south of Point Lobos to Calla Lily Valley – a stream lined with the lilies, apparently very popular with the “influencers”, but not too crowded when we were there.

We returned to Point Lobos, and walked the short Bird Island Trail at the south end of the preserve, where we saw birds, otters, seals, and more poppies. Lovely!

April 11th – Time to head north again. We drove up Highway 1, passing strawberry fields, and stopping at a few of the beaches along the way.

Our last stop was Devils Slide, where the old Hwy 1 was abandoned in 2012 and replaced by tunnels. We walked along the old road, admiring the Pacific Ocean and the wildflowers. From there, we drove through the tunnels and into the city.

Next stop…San Francisco!