I was born and raised in Riverside, a city in southern California. I haven’t lived full-time in California since I graduated from high school, but I still love my home state and visit often. Three years ago, my family saw a section of California from a new perspective when we took a road trip on Highway 1 from San Diego to San Francisco. We had a fabulous time!
Back then, many readers who followed along with that journey reached out to say, “You should come back in the future and drive north from San Francisco.” I agreed. And so His Highness and I made that happen last month.
Here’s our route! We stretched it out over seven days.
We took a short (stunning) hike near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge to a spot I hadn’t seen in the past — Point Bonita Lighthouse.
We rested and relaxed for two nights at Indian Springs in the Napa Valley. I recommend it! We’re still talking about how much we enjoyed their mineral pool and have been googling, “Mineral pools near Dallas?”
From there it was north to California’s redwood forests. We drove our car THROUGH this tree, as tourists have been doing for decades. Super tight squeeze!
I fell in love with the redwoods. Can you see my husband in this picture? That gives you a sense of the scale.
This was our AirBnB in Ferndale, CA. It was unbelievably cute. (As was the whole town because it’s full of surviving Victorian houses and buildings.) You can find this house on AirBnB here or on Instagram here.
Sue-meg State Park in California was breathtaking
Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint. During our visit, the Oregon coast was gorgeous, moody, misty, and cool. We were thrilled to escape the heat in Texas and have a chance to wear sweatshirts in June.
Cannon Beach Oregon with the famous “haystack rock” in the distance.
We finished with a night in Portland. Then His Highness flew home and I stayed three additional nights in order to attend and speak at the Cascade Christian Writers Conference. I met so many wonderful people there.
We had a fantastic trip! I’ve added “Road trip from Cannon Beach, Oregon up to Vancouver, Canada” to my Future Travel Wish List. If we drive that section, we’ll have completed the whole Pacific coast.
Are you familiar with any of the places on our route?
Before I go . . . The conference I attended in Oregon reminded me what a joy it is to gather with others who love Christian fiction. I encourage you to join me (and lots of other readers and authors) for JustRead Rendezvous on November 15th in Chicago. We’re going to have a ball! You’ll find more information about the event here.
Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.
19 Comments
Loved following your path, Becky. Ken and I made that trip after the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference a few years ago, driving the coast from San Jose up and over to Seattle to spend Easter with our sons and family, who lived there at the time. Being a land-locked Kansas gal, that drive was magical!
“Magical” is the perfect word for it. I didn’t “do” anything in the passenger seat other than look out the windows. It was a full time job to admire the view and say, “Look at that!” “Look at that!”
I’ve spent most of my life living in SoCal and never been above San Francisco. Your pictures were lovely.
Thanks! It’s such a beautiful part of our country.
That route is on my bucket list. We did highway 1 from San Francisco down to San Diego as a baby-moon trip (20+years ago) and it was fabulous. The California coast is beautiful for sure. Glad y’all had a wonderful time together. FYI there is a new resort in The Colony with several mineral pools.
😉 https://www.worldsprings.com/
What a fun trip! That’s an area of the country I haven’t explored much. My sister and I will be at the JustRead Rendezvous!
I’m so happy to hear that you and your sister are attending the Rendezvous!
Cannon Beach Oregon is GREAT!
Please read about Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center…..a real family vacation spot. Great speakers, good food, fun activities…. The list goes on and on.
My husband and I went there as volunteers for many years….
I didn’t know there was a Christian Conference Center at Cannon Beach! What a perfect place to gather.
I’ve driven a lot of that same road over the course of my life. It is so beautiful. And yes to the sweatshirts in summer along the Oregon coast. I visited several lighthouses in Oregon about 20 years ago when thinking about a new series. I ended up writing something else, but the proposal is still in my maybe folder.
Readers love lighthouses! There’s just something about them that tugs at the imagination.
My parents took my brother and me on a road trip from Virginia to California when I was twelve years old. I still remember the Drive-Thru Tree, among many other memories from that trip. In adulthood, I have been to California several times and visited San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The furthest north I have been is the Humbolt County Airport, but I flew there. I have only driven an hour or two north of San Francisco along the coast. My wife and I still hope to visit Oregon and Washington.
It made me smile to hear that you have memories of the drive-thru tree froom that amazing-sounding road trip when you were 12!
Great Pictures! During my many trips from Virginia to California to visit my daughter, I have been from Rosarita, Mexico to Sonoma.
When we revisit a place many times (like you and I do with California, Betty) it’s wonderful to have the chance to explore places we haven’t before. 🙂
That sounds like a fun trip! I’m not a fan of flying, but I LOVE road trips!! Our family took a 17-day trip West (from Missouri) in 2015, the year our daughter graduated HS & our son was 15. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge & saw Alcatraz, a place I’ve always wanted to see. We drove through the Redwoods & we all came away saying it was our favorite out of all the places we saw on that trip. Those massive trees are so awesome!!! We drove through a tree also & our mini van barely fit! It was a super fun trip with lots of great memories! 🙂
I have family in Portland. The only time I’ve ever flown in a big plane was a trip to Oregon to some friends’ wedding back in 1998. We stayed in their home & saw a few sights close by. The Oregon weather didn’t sit too well with my asthma & I was nervous on the flight (with a 15-mo-old daughter), so I’ll have to say that trip was memorable, but not so enjoyable! :/
Lori, the redwoods were the highlight of the trip for me, too. We were fortunate to see a great deal of beauty during the days we were there. But the redwoods were my absolute favorite.
We haven’t taken 101 or Route 1 up from anywhere in California since we migrated to Texas, and out route was from Los Angeles to Grants Pass, Oregon. I recognize the Sequoia Tunnel tree,(We actually drove through with the “light Blue” Chevy. San Fransisco was exciting, but much of THAT old highway is in the ocean now. We had a cabin in Grants Pass. My husband and I traveled from L.A. to Monterey up that highway. I miss the mountains and the Sequoias and want to go back so my daughter can see them. Texas DOESN”T have mountains!!
It’s so true that Texas doesn’t have mountains. As a former CA girl also living in Texas, I thoroughly enjoy getting away to the mountains when I can. 🙂
Loved following your path, Becky. Ken and I made that trip after the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference a few years ago, driving the coast from San Jose up and over to Seattle to spend Easter with our sons and family, who lived there at the time. Being a land-locked Kansas gal, that drive was magical!
“Magical” is the perfect word for it. I didn’t “do” anything in the passenger seat other than look out the windows. It was a full time job to admire the view and say, “Look at that!” “Look at that!”
I’ve spent most of my life living in SoCal and never been above San Francisco. Your pictures were lovely.
Thanks! It’s such a beautiful part of our country.
That route is on my bucket list. We did highway 1 from San Francisco down to San Diego as a baby-moon trip (20+years ago) and it was fabulous. The California coast is beautiful for sure. Glad y’all had a wonderful time together. FYI there is a new resort in The Colony with several mineral pools.
😉
https://www.worldsprings.com/
What a fun trip! That’s an area of the country I haven’t explored much. My sister and I will be at the JustRead Rendezvous!
I’m so happy to hear that you and your sister are attending the Rendezvous!
Cannon Beach Oregon is GREAT!
Please read about Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center…..a real family vacation spot. Great speakers, good food, fun activities…. The list goes on and on.
My husband and I went there as volunteers for many years….
I didn’t know there was a Christian Conference Center at Cannon Beach! What a perfect place to gather.
I’ve driven a lot of that same road over the course of my life. It is so beautiful. And yes to the sweatshirts in summer along the Oregon coast. I visited several lighthouses in Oregon about 20 years ago when thinking about a new series. I ended up writing something else, but the proposal is still in my maybe folder.
Readers love lighthouses! There’s just something about them that tugs at the imagination.
My parents took my brother and me on a road trip from Virginia to California when I was twelve years old. I still remember the Drive-Thru Tree, among many other memories from that trip. In adulthood, I have been to California several times and visited San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The furthest north I have been is the Humbolt County Airport, but I flew there. I have only driven an hour or two north of San Francisco along the coast. My wife and I still hope to visit Oregon and Washington.
It made me smile to hear that you have memories of the drive-thru tree froom that amazing-sounding road trip when you were 12!
Great Pictures! During my many trips from Virginia to California to visit my daughter, I have been from Rosarita, Mexico to Sonoma.
When we revisit a place many times (like you and I do with California, Betty) it’s wonderful to have the chance to explore places we haven’t before. 🙂
That sounds like a fun trip! I’m not a fan of flying, but I LOVE road trips!! Our family took a 17-day trip West (from Missouri) in 2015, the year our daughter graduated HS & our son was 15. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge & saw Alcatraz, a place I’ve always wanted to see. We drove through the Redwoods & we all came away saying it was our favorite out of all the places we saw on that trip. Those massive trees are so awesome!!! We drove through a tree also & our mini van barely fit! It was a super fun trip with lots of great memories! 🙂
I have family in Portland. The only time I’ve ever flown in a big plane was a trip to Oregon to some friends’ wedding back in 1998. We stayed in their home & saw a few sights close by. The Oregon weather didn’t sit too well with my asthma & I was nervous on the flight (with a 15-mo-old daughter), so I’ll have to say that trip was memorable, but not so enjoyable! :/
Lori, the redwoods were the highlight of the trip for me, too. We were fortunate to see a great deal of beauty during the days we were there. But the redwoods were my absolute favorite.
We haven’t taken 101 or Route 1 up from anywhere in California since we migrated to Texas, and out route was from Los Angeles to Grants Pass, Oregon. I recognize the Sequoia Tunnel tree,(We actually drove through with the “light Blue” Chevy. San Fransisco was exciting, but much of THAT old highway is in the ocean now. We had a cabin in Grants Pass. My husband and I traveled from L.A. to Monterey up that highway. I miss the mountains and the Sequoias and want to go back so my daughter can see them. Texas DOESN”T have mountains!!
It’s so true that Texas doesn’t have mountains. As a former CA girl also living in Texas, I thoroughly enjoy getting away to the mountains when I can. 🙂