Part 3 was all about Newport Oregon, Part 4 is all about the drive from Oregon to California.
Our must-see’s on the way to our next camp spot, Santa Cruz!
• Sand Dunes **This was Brian’s ONE request**
• Prehistoric Gardens
• Valley of the Giants
• San Francisco
Day 5 – September 24
It was time to say goodbye to Oregon (insert sad face) and start our long trek to California. As much as we would have loved to have spent more of our time in Oregon, we knew our time was better spent in California this trip as we could very easily come back to Oregon, because of this we jam-packed our days so we could spend most of our time in California.
Southern Oregon was so scenic, Our first stop was at the sand dunes! This was Brian’s one request. Brooklyn was napping when we arrived so the boys went out on an ATV adventure while mom enjoyed some peace and quiet lol.
Our next stop in Oregon was at the Prehistoric gardens to stretch our legs and learn all about dinosaurs. We made it just before closing and thankfully they let us in. Plus side… we were practically the only ones there. The kids got to run loose and see all the different dinosaurs.
We hit the road and got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset before making one last pit stop in Brookings for some dinner. We decided on McDonalds because it was quick, the kids would eat it and we could get back on the road faster than a sit down dinner.
FUN FACT: Brooklyn definitely learned what McDonalds was after this trip and would point out the golden arches and say “donos” every time she saw it lol.
In California! (Please tell me you just rapped that LOL) We crossed the state line and we were officially in California. Hooray!! We drove through most of the Redwoods Forrest at night and to be honest we were a little bummed we didn’t get to do this in daylight. We were still able to see a lot of the massive trees and it was a pretty cool drive but it would have been way better to enjoy during the day. We planned to call it a night in once we got to Eureka so we drove around until we found a motel with a nice big parking lot.
Day 6 – September 25
We noticed a cute little restaurant right beside us when we woke up. It was so nice to roll out of bed and have someone cook me breakfast for a change, haha. I remember the waitress being really great with the kids, I am pretty sure I had waffles with berries, whip cream and bacon and of course coffee! MMMM.
We still got to cruise through a little big of the forrest in the morning! Here are a few iPhone pictures from the truck window lol.
Our goal for the day was to make it to San Francisco and spend a few hours adventuring there. We could have stayed the night in San Fran but we decided to make our way to Santa Cruz instead (so happy we made that decision). There was SO much traffic going over the Golden Gate bridge and we didn’t see a good spot to pull over until it was too late so you’ll have to enjoy some out the window iPhone shots instead lol.
FUN FACT: it would have been $32 US to drive over the Golden Gate bridge with the trailer in tow but thankfully we never got a bill in the mail lol.
Once we crossed the bridge we found a spot to park along the water, we had a view of Alcatraz (that would have been a lot better if it wasn’t so damn foggy), a big grassy area for the kids to run loose and we even made some friends, a few seals that popped up for a visit.
I was determined to find the Full House house!! I should have looked it up before we got there because it ended up being quite the adventure lol.
When you google the address for the Full House house you get 1709 Broderick St! So we head there, Brian insists it’s fine to drive up the steepest hill that I have ever seen, even though I told him I would get out and walk it lol. When we get to the top, we start to panic at how steep it was going down, remember we are towing a 26 foot trailer fully loaded, we get to the bottom of the hill and a random light comes on in the truck.. Great! (it took about a day for it to go off so happy we didn’t have to end up taking it to the shop). Once we find the address we also find out this house is where the show was actually filmed, not the row of houses from the opening scene of the show and the owners don’t want you showing up there lol. There were signs everywhere saying stay out but hey I got one picture lol.
We had ordered some of the most delicious pizza from a restaurant called Patxi, it had great reviews, but you know else what it had… 2 locations! So you guessed it we had to drive across town to pick up our pizza. FUN FACT: Pizza while driving in the truck, with kids was a terrible idea (looks like it’s laundry time again)
This gave us some time to figure out where the the row of houses actually was. Turns out they call this the Painted Ladies and it is actually in Alamo Square. A much better and less stressful spot to pull over and get some pictures haha. But we were done by this point so I hopped out quick to snap a few photos while Brian turned around (FYI this would have been a better spot for us to let the kids run loose)
This day turned out to be quite the eventful one, but the best part about eventful days is all the good stories you are left to share. We couldn’t wait to get settled in at our next stop, Santa Cruz! This was a location that was a must-stop for me, can’t wait to share 🙂
