I don’t know about you but my Instagram feed has been flooded by images of wild coastlines, magical waterfalls and brooding sunsets. To say the Pacific North West has been on my mind would be an understatement. Specifically Oregon. Oregon state seemly has it all. More waterfalls and food trucks per square inch than any other state. Oregon, the place is my ultimate definition of bucket list destination. So when planning out the year’s travel, we decided to take advantage of the generous Easter weekend holidays and fly out west to explore and check this place off the bucket list.
Did it live up to all the hype? Beyond it! It remains on the bucket list and the main lesson learnt from a week driving from Portland to San Francisco is that a week is not nearly enough time.
Lessons learnt:
- Budget time accordingly. Despite all the clichés about America being a big place, we underestimated just how big. Each day was a solid 8-10 hours travelling. In hindsight we would have preferred spending a few extra days to enjoy some of the places more.
- Dungeness crab is awesome! We ate a lot of it at the many amazing crab shacks and sea food joints along the way.
- Invest in a GPS. We picked up our hire car from Avis in Portland airport without any hassles. I’m normally not keen on GPS units. However, given the amount of driving ahead of us, we could ill afford to lose time getting lost. Plumping up the extra cash proved to be a wise decision in the end.
Trip highlights:
- Portland served up arguably some of the best chicken wings and donuts we’ve ever had (not at the same places!)
- The waterfalls of Columbia River Gorge
- Tulips fields to rival the Netherlands in Woodburn, Oregon
- Massive Red Wood trees, including driving the Avenue of Giants. Humbling
- Geyserville, California wine farms are way quieter than Napa’s but equally as good (if not better!)
- Driving across the iconic Golden Gate bridge
Trip itinerary:
Day 1 – Arrive in Portland, Oregon in the afternoon.
Day 2 – Columbia River Gorge in the morning, Portland in the afternoon
Day 3 – Drive to Newport, Oregon via Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
Day 4 – Drive from Newport to Gold Beach, Oregon
Day 5 – Cross into California! Drive from Gold Beach, Oregon to Fort Bragg, California
Day 6 – Fort Bragg to San Francisco
Facts:
Miles traveled: Approximately 1,065 miles (1,714 km)
Time of year: April
Weather: The Pacific NWÂ has a reputation for being a wet place. Given that we live in London we felt prepared for this, and were pleasantly surprised by the weather. Portland’s weather was a bit “all four seasons in one day” but the rest of the trip was glorious spring sunshine.
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