[vikram31]

A very wise saying I once read was, Traveling – It makes you speechless and then makes you a story teller. There can be no better way to travel than to hit the road, live like a local and experience places from behind the wheel.

I got this lucky opportunity in April 2018 when I got back in touch with one of my best friends after a 5-6 year hiatus. Time zones between India and the US and pressing careers had left us both with no time to keep in touch and we decided to let everything go and take 10 days off to explore the US over a road trip. Ofcourse the United States is a mammoth place to be and we had to narrow down to a small area given paucity of time but we still managed 1800+ miles (2880 kms) travelling incredible terrains, absorbing cultures ranging from busy melting pot cities to <5000 population towns and traverse roads that still bring a smile to my face whenever I think about them.

The plan was for me to reach SFO, explore the city for a day and then we would kick off the journey.

Choice of rental vehicle – A search on www.priceline.com showed me that one could basically fulfil any car fancy if one hits US roads. I could find deals on the Mustang (my dream ride) for as low as 100$ per day!! However, we wanted to pick up a mini SUV considering a coastal terrain and hours of daily driving. In the end we narrowed down to the Jeep Cherokee Limited and got a great deal via www.alamo.com for <50$ per day!

A quick note on the car:

Pros
• Lucky to get a brand new rental car with just 500 miles on the odo!
• Very plush and classy interiors
• Incredible handling with great steering feedback
• Near zero fatigue even after 6-10 hours of driving per day
• Oomph factor – Stunning exteriors

Cons
• Only one – On steep inclines and during overtaking maneuvers, the petrol engine just failed to deliver and we had to go upto 6000 rpm to get to speeds of 80 mph!




Here is a quick look at the route we took (breakdown coming up):



As per plan, I arrived at 11 am on day 0, just acclimatized to the jet lag and hit the sack early to kick off an epic road journey

Day 1 – Saturday, 7th April – Belmont to Rohnert Park, CA

Breakfast at home and saw a few important sights at SFO before hitting the highway

Sight#1 – Twin Peaks
The twin peaks are 2 small hillocks that give a stunning 360 degree view of SFO city. One needs to get on a 20 min hill drive and climb up on any of the peaks to gaze at the fascinating city

Open winding roads..





The quick trek to the twin peaks..and views..







Sight #2 – Golden Gate Bridge

Well you cant be in SFO and not go the golden gate bridge. Yes it is as grand and magnificent as it looks in pictures and standing across the bridge one can only gaze and wonder the effort and skill required to create this massive suspension bridge. I will let the pics do the talking






Sight #3 – Lombard Street – The crookedest street in the world

Well, from a photo op view, this was a great site but essentially Lombard street is a sharply descending street where you feel really cool sliding down a <0.5 mile stretch but its over before you know it! However, some pics really came out well





Sight #4 – Fisherman’s Wharf

Another touristy pitstop – hustle bustle of the Oceanside with innumerable dining, drinking and shopping options. Also a great place to pick up souvenirs and click some cool photos





Interestingly, the terrain of SFO makes it a fantastic destination to just drive through. I loved clicking a typical drive through the city and thought the place had an awesome character






Once done with these, we wanted to hit the highway and satisfy our lighthouse fascinations as well!
Drove out to point Bonita Lighthouse first – The curvy roads out of SFO change almost immediately with mind boggling Oceanside and jungle routes. Tall trees, freely grazing cattle and watersides gave us company as we reached the trekking path to point Bonita. Sadly, the lighthouse was closed due to bad weather. We did not let that bum us down and still got some amazing clicks of the Pacific Ocean!







...Keep reading..more posts coming up!

[vikram31]

Contd..Day 1

We now started driving to the town of Sausalito. California has many ocean side towns that serve a dual purpose – 1. provide fishing/sailing opportunities for the uber rich and 2. Give a beautiful location where one could go out for a day trip or weekends. Coming straight out of a European tourist book, the town feels like a piece of heaven just outside of the busy and dense SFO area. We stopped for lunch at this shopping and food mecca and soaked in the sights of some beautiful boats and yachts









With Sausalito ticked, we started towards Point Reyes Light House, our 2nd and only other light house point on the road trip. The drive to Point Reyes was equally beautiful but weather played spoilsport again. Whilst we could trek to the stairs of the lighthouse and get some clicks, the lighthouse itself was closed due to bad weather. We were still in high spirits and kept our road journey on heading to Stinson Beach











Stinson beach, sadly was our 3rd disappointment of the day with the rain playing havoc and a big gaping hole on the beach making it a dangerous place. We decided to call it a night and checked into Good Night Inn at Ronhert Park for the Night. For dinner, tried a Vietnamese place and savored some interesting cuisine.





Some pics from our final leg of driving on day 1:






Here is the map for the day's journey:



A quick note on our hotel stays, the US has an excellent culture of motor inns where one could just drive up to small structures (just 2 floors) and park near the room and checkin for the night. Given we were just 2 guys on the road and wanted the room only to crash for the night and an early am departure, we ONLY stayed at such motor inns at all our pitstops. Costs of stay ranged from 60-100 USD per night depending on the location.

Keep reading for upcoming days!

[vikram31]

Day 2: Rohnert Park to Eureka, CA

I was craving to have local food and kept pestering my buddy to only take me to specialist places. One such place near our hotel was the skillets diner that specialized in skillet breakfasts. I had a chili and bacon potato which was essentially a roasted potato plate with kidney beans, shredded meat, cheese and sour cream. Very filling and delicious.



Here is the map of our Day 2 plan:



Fueled up the car after fueling up ourselves and left for Bodega Bay. Bodega Bay was just a short drive away and we had to take a small detour of ~5 miles to reach the hillock that overlooked it. The bay is basically a view point but there was a small route to hit a beach section that was not more then 100 mtrs long. Waves crashing over rocks, thick sand with each grain of 2mm or more width made it a wild wild ocean side. In typical Indian style I went to “dip” my fee in the water only to be greeted by a 3 foot high rebound wave hitting me hard. Just like rajmata saved Bahubali, I managed to save my slr by keeping my hand above the water! Nevertheless it was an incredible, albeit chilling experience and I decided not to mess with the Pacific for the rest of my trip!

The following photos will do the talking …









On the way, we also visited Korbel Winery which is one of the largest selling champagnes in the US. Its a free tour with tastings and a great deli. We highly recommend a pitstop here..




Our 2nd pitstop was the sleepy town of Fort Bragg and we went here with no expectations again. Boy were we in for a surprise. To my fellow Indians living on the west, if you thought that the monsoon beaches of Goa or some Alibaug beaches are wild, Fort Bragg just put things in perspective. Not only is the Pacific Ocean majestic and humbling, its forces are impossible to comprehend. Our walk at the MacKerricher State Park revealed stunning picture perfect scenery and even though we looked at the waves from equivalent of 10 story high cliffs, the waves hit us on our face, such was the force. The noise was deafening and we felt scared to stay here for long. Some pics to give you an idea of what we experienced.



















From Fort Bragg we had to complete the long drive to Eureka via the redwood forest. A bonus on the way was a signboard that said, drive thru trees! We couldn’t resist and took the turn to see what this was. Basically, one of the mammoth redwood trees had been cut at the base to have just enough space for a car to go thru.



After a compulsory click, we checked this off our bucket list as well and kicked off the long winding drive to Eureka. At Eureka, we stayed at a popular motel chain – Travelodge

We reached Eureka around 8.30 pm and realized most of the town goes to bed by 9! However, the saving grace was that the oldest brewery of Eureka was functional till 11 pm. We couldn’t find a better way to end the day than having some bar grub and headed there immediately after check in. Enjoyed their innovative creation, the mandarin wheat beer with hot buffalo wings. I have to say, it looked like the perfect prize after the long journey. Retired to bed ahead of another day of long drives the next day



Day 3..on the next post!

[vikram31]

Day 3: Eureka, CA to Medford, OR



We had the luxury of complementary breakfast the next day and I experienced a typical American start of the day. Toasted bagels and coffee. No complaints there. We had some of this treat and checked out by 9 am. Roamed around the town which was probably a couple of square miles big with a lovely waterfront and some stores straight out of a kids story book. For me, experiencing a small town like this, their food, their culture is always preferred against a large city’s dazzle.
















Having said that, we had run out of things to do by 10 am and kicked off our drive to Medford. Since we had already driven through the forests the previous day, we chose to take the shorter Oceanside route to Medford.

On the way to Medford, we crossed massive elks just grazing on the highway. This was an incredible sight and since we could not stop on the highway, I still managed to get some slightly hazy clicks of these gorgeous animals.





Roads to Medford were a mix of small town highways and gorgeous Oceanside views. Medford was like a small town. Typical low lying buildings and full of shopping and automotive stuff.
Since we had reached the place early, we decided to drive to the neighboring town of Ashland and were amazed to see a plush, modern rich town in the middle of nowhere. We realized here that this was probably a west coast thing. Just like there was Sausalito near SFO, Ashland was full of modern rich looking buildings and a very fancy shopping district. Had our fill of window shopping and gazing and returned to the hotel to kick of one of our most interesting days..

Signing off..but not before adding some more pics!






...the most exciting day of our trip coming up in the next post!

[vikram31]

Day 4 – Medford, OR to Bend, OR



Day 4, to my mind was the biggest on this trip in terms of revealing the beauty and natural areas of the gorgeous Oregon state. We kicked off the drive by first driving to the Howard Prairie Lake. This is a natural water lake where temperatures reach sub zero and there is a long boardwalk from where one can enjoy the cold, fresh air and beautiful pine views as well as greens and blues of the fresh water lake.





When we reached the lake via twisty roads, we realized we were the only people there. We were promptly approached by a ranger who told us that the park was closed for some renovation work but gladly allowed us 5 mins to click some pictures. We were out in no time but were now very excited as we had just started to see some snow on the roadside and our other 2 lake stops were all at significantly higher altitudes from here.






Our next stop this day was a wild lake called lake of the woods. Just like some of those thriller Hollywood cabin by the lake type movies, we saw damp weather with slight rainwall, howling winds, wet teakwood cottages and the sound of the lake’s lapping water on the jetty. It was sinister and gorgeous, all at the same time! The pictures don’t even do justice to this beauty spot and if one wants to cut off from the world and wants to spend a night twisting and turning in bed due to the water and rain sounds all night, it’s the place to be!







Our third water body spot of the day was Crater Lake. On the way to crater lake we realized how harsh the terrain was. There was one fuel station in a 50 mile radius, no phone signal and very windy weather with snow on both sides of the road for more than half the journey! On the way we stopped by a quaint and warm place called Jo’s Motel. The place is run by a lovely couple who made us home style sandwiches and chatted about their life story and how living in this remote part of the world and living the organic way of life was what they preferred to a Californian life style. I have to say I learnt a few things and realized there is more to life goals than a bigger bank balance.

They pride on not having cable tv or wifi and prefer that their guests have as much of a natural lodge experience as possible. Very reasonably priced, clean and pretty place. If you are looking to stay or take a pitstop, I would highly recommend this place to you. Here is me posing with the lovely couple and some other pics from the place:





With lunch done, we started the drive to crater lake and my eyes kept widening as the blanket of snow kept getting thicker and thicker. What started as a couple of inches of snow became a couple of feet and then a couple of meters! We were also amazed that despite this harsh climate, the roads were spotless and we were curving around on these roads at 35 miles per hour!






When we reached the summit, we were greeted with a wall of snow on both sides of the road.




A little trek (and a few steps on the slippery snow) got us to the crater lake viewpoint. So here’s what I want you to do…don’t read further. Close your eyes. Mentally take the temperature in your mind to 2 degrees, think of a confluence of turquoise and sky blue water, think of a snow clad dead volcano in the middle of the lake….ok now open your eyes and look at the pics below…










Unfortunately I have run out of photo attachments...will send a couple more on the next post before talking about the next day's journey!

[vnabhi]

You have us excited already! Waiting eagerly for more.

Travelogs like this are what makes this forum so outstanding!

Waiting with bated breath for updates. I heard Oregon is beautiful, as my brother visited Portland and its surroundings last year.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

You have us excited already! Waiting eagerly for more.

Travelogs like this are what makes this forum so outstanding!

Waiting with bated breath for updates. I heard Oregon is beautiful, as my brother visited Portland and its surroundings last year.

Thanks vnabhi. Oregon is a seriously undermarketed destination. We loved every minute. What was amazing was the diversity in climate and terrains that made this journey larger than life. I will post more tonight..Cheers

[Aditya]

That's a lovely travelogue Vikram. If these images don't make someone wish he / she took a road trip in the US, I don't know what will. From urban surroundings to the wilderness and from a sun-soaked city to snow-covered mountains, you've captured it all.

It's really fascinating to see something like the tunnel through the redwood tree and the beautifully painted walls. The view from the lighthouse must be mind-blowing too.

Originally Posted by vikram31

I was craving to have local food and kept pestering my buddy to only take me to specialist places.

I firmly believe one should always sample local food. A trip cannot be termed complete without doing so.

Lastly, the roads look like a treat to drive on - wide highways, undivided roads, roads winding through mountains and even the crooked Lombard street .

[Foxbat]

Nice write up and amazing pics! A few weeks back I also did a 1k km random long drive in California and Nevada in 2 days.

Can you tell me more about these rental car rates:

" I could find deals on the Mustang (my dream ride) for as low as 100$ per day!! However, we wanted to pick up a mini SUV considering a coastal terrain and hours of daily driving. In the end we narrowed down to the Jeep Cherokee Limited and got a great deal via www.alamo.com for <50$ per day!"

Do these rates also include comprehensive insurance and zero liability? I got a Camry for about $41 a day(special rate for my company) from Enterprise in California with comprehensive insurance and zero liability.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by Aditya

That's a lovely travelogue Vikram. If these images don't make someone wish he / she took a road trip in the US, I don't know what will. From urban surroundings to the wilderness and from a sun-soaked city to snow-covered mountains, you've captured it all.

...
Lastly, the roads look like a treat to drive on - wide highways, undivided roads, roads winding through mountains and even the crooked Lombard street .

Thanks for your kind words Aditya. Yes, whatever we could have asked for from the road, we got it all.

I recently drove in Europe as well but there is NOTHING that can compare to the US coastal drive..The Europe travelogue has also been long pending. will send it shortly.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Nice write up and amazing pics! A few weeks back I also did a 1k km random long drive in California and Nevada in 2 days.

These rates include comprehensive insurance. Zero liability was 15$ per day extra. I used priceline.com which is a great aggregator. I believe Enterprise is a tad more expensive. Let me know more about your Nevada drive. I am sure there would have been some brilliant photo ops!

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by vikram31

These rates include comprehensive insurance. Zero liability was 15$ per day extra. I used priceline.com which is a great aggregator. I believe Enterprise is a tad more expensive. Let me know more about your Nevada drive. I am sure there would have been some brilliant photo ops!

Will try priceline.com next time. I am always afraid of exorbitant bills in case some accident happens so prefer to get zero liability insurance.

I didn't take many pics as it was a solo drive, but here are a few:




Lombard Street as in your photographs.

[HKap]

Beautiful pictures. You make a fantastic point about life being more than just a big bank balance. Huge respect for the couple that are living THE LIFE! They are breathing pure air and eating fresh organic food. Wouldn't we all love to live that life?

This is a philosophical discussion that I often engage in with a few friends. For now most of us are extremely uncomfortable without internet for even 1 day. Living your whole life without internet or TV? That would take some doing. I've visited this monastery on highway 1 near the big sur and the experience was out of this world. We didn't have the opportunity to stay overnight but I imagine it would be fantastic.

I believe it was this one.

https://contemplation.com/photo-gallery/



Keep the pics coming. This is fantastic stuff.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Will try priceline.com next time. I am always afraid of exorbitant bills in case some accident happens so prefer to get zero liability insurance.

I didn't take many pics as it was a solo drive, but here are a few:

Bang on..thats the bottom spot on Lombard where we just drove thru instead of stopping. TFS

Originally Posted by HKap

Beautiful pictures. You make a fantastic point about life being more than just a big bank balance. Huge respect for the couple that are living THE LIFE! They are breathing pure air and eating fresh organic food. Wouldn't we all love to live that life?

Absolutely! It was humbling to see them and honestly I got some perspective. Almost seemed like life should be lived in one direction and we are running fast in quite opposite way..The monastery looks serene, I continue to be amazed by the diversity in the US. This is a great example..

[vikram31]

Day 4..contd - Crater Lake to Bend..

As promised in the previous post, here are a few parting pics from the Crater Lake National park..

The awesome roads back..

The toasty park building with a cafe and shop


Here are some fun facts about crater lake:

The area belongs to Native American Indians. Its depth of 1,943 feet (592 meters) makes it the deepest lake in the United States, and the ninth deepest in the world. Its fresh water is some of the clearest found anywhere in the world. The interaction of people with this place is traceable at least as far back as the eruption of Mount Mazama. Founded May 22, 1902, Crater Lake National Park seeks to preserve these natural and cultural resources.

If you wish to contact that motel for stay/food, you can visit http://www.josmotel.com/ for more details.

At the final summit at Crater Lake, I kept staring and staring and staring but could not believe that a sight like this could exist. If it wasn’t for the biting cold, I would have believed this was a dream and I was floating in heaven. Crater lake left a lasting impression on my mind. There was something about this place that inspired me, to come back here, to get into nirvana, to think about life beyond its materialistic contours. I don’t know if it was the history or some ashes from the dead volcano, but I had goosebumps and an eerie chill when I drove back into our next pitstop of the day, Bend

As we descended down to Bend, the weather kept getting sunnier and the snow started to fade away revealing beautiful arrow straight roads shod with pine trees on both sides. With road limits of 65 mps, these were a joy to zip on..








Checked into a hotel Called Holiday Inn run by a lovely Punjabi family.



Bend is another beautiful town that has a lovely lakeside walkway and downtown. Just like Eureka, it did not take us much time to browse around the town.

The lovely old school look of a simple town



Yes, Cannabis can be picked up just like a candy from stores strewn across town!


Finished off the day with an NY style pizza and wrapped up the day.

But not before I clicked some of the monster trucks that are just a way of life in the US. Their sheer magnitude blew me away..

[vikram31]

Day 5 – Bend, OR to Astoria, OR

The drive from Bend to Astoria was passing 2 pitstops – Salem and Portland. Whilst Portland is a city that deserves an overnight pitstop, we decided to stop there just for the city’s food truck experience and continue our journey.



Our first stop was Salem, the witch town. An internet search revealed that this was an old town where the main attraction was haunted houses and charms but sadly, the town seemed nothing like the legend. First things first, the drive from Bend to Salem went through a beautiful mix of forest roads on one side and snowclad cliffs on the other. Slipping around these curves and PS4 worthy roads in real life was a lot of fun.




In Salem, we went to the central park that is on the banks on a gentle river and clicked their beautiful suspension walking bridge.





At an intersection at Salem - Looked like a modern town


A bonus - Found cherry blossoms!


There wasn’t much to do here and we quickly left for Portland to fill our tummies. Portland is a modern city and we could immediately see skyscrapers, modern roads and transportation systems the minute we entered the city.



Very interestingly, right at the centre of downtown is a food mecca called Alder Street Food Cart Pod. The place has dozens of vendors conjuring up local delicacies and serving them to one and all. I focussed on stuff I dont get in India - The middle eastern fare and the typical american grill. Infact the food was so good I had 2 back to back lunches - beef gyro and bacon bluecheese grill

The awesome cart


Meats being grilled in front of my eyes..Yummy!


The brilliant roll


The finishing course


Today had started with a lot of rain and that played a spoilsport in getting good clicks of the road and sights. However, we took every day in our stride kept going. Reached Astoria around dusk and checked into the Columbia Inn. Found our way to a cool diner for a couple of beers and finished the day at Nisa’s, a specialy Thai restaurant that was fulfilling both in flavor and quantity.



I want to dedicate the following section of this day to the Astoria bridge. So far the most majestic bridge I had seen was the Golden Gate Bridge. However, the Astoria bridge changed this impression owing to the following factors:

1. This bridge first escalates for a mile and then then descends over 2 miles into the ocean giving an impression that one if driving right into the ocean! Add heavy rain to this scene and picture becomes even more thrilling!!

2. Right at the middle of the bridge, one crosses over from Oregon state to Washington state

3. The green color just looks majestic against the town/ocean backdrop
Both of us became kids on this bridge and did a few trips up and down as if it was a free to ride roller coaster

Here are a few pics from the rainy drive..





Post dinner, it was already quite dark so we retired for the day and left Astoria visits to the next day..