I have decided that this time I will blog the diary of our trip to the United States but it will not be in diary form. It will be an overview of my thoughts. I will leave it to Vern to write a day by day account.
The 12 hour flight across to San Francisco, via Air New Zealand was just as tiring as the other two times we have flown this route. Not much sleep because of the constant drone of the engines and the hustle and bustle of other passengers who don’t wish to or can’t sleep.
It took an hour to get through US Immigration and Customs because we had to have fingerprints recorded and photographs of our eyes taken. I thought I was going to have to spend the night in the Police Cells because my fingerprints wouldn’t clear from the computer. After a further delay because of this we finally made it out where Russell and Calvin were waiting for us.
Weather was fantastic – cloudless skies which we experienced the whole time we were there. The first week we spent basically recovering from jet lag and getting to know our two grandchildren. I don’t think Calvin remembered us from the last time we saw him but we soon got to know him and I think he will remember us better next time round 🙂
Russell took us on a tour of the Google Campus where he works. It was quite unbelieveable to think that here we were, visiting a Company that is a household name around the world. We had lunch at the Google Cafeteria, which is free to all Google employees. All equipment in the cafeteria is in the Google colours even the salt and pepper shakers. Lots of amenities designed to keep their employees at this company happy – massage chairs, fully equipped kitchens, doctors and\the list goes on. Quite an eye-opening experience which I found really interesting.
The rest of the week we spent shopping and visiting the Valley Fair Mall (which by the way is Westfield owned). Vern bought up large by buying a telescope and an up to date GPS. I spent my share of our spending funds by paying $200 US to see a doctor and get a prescription for antibiotics for an ear infection 🙁 Vern and I also did quite a bit of walking, even though I was under the weather with a virus most of the time we were away.
Second week – a planned 9 day visit up to Northern California and Oregon. The first 3 nights we spent at Redding which is sort of the gateway to the Lassen National Volcanic Park. Novey certainly picked some lovely motel/lodges for our accommodation and the Travelodge in Redding was no exception. Vern and I visited Turtle Park which we were able to walk to (we just wanted a rest from driving) while Russell and Novey went up to Shasta Lake with the children. Turtle Park is really designed for families with children with many kiddie focused themes. But it was just nice getting some exercise. The main attraction here is the Sundial Bridge which really tells the time.
Our last day in Redding – a visit to the Lassen National Volcanic Park. We all managed to squeeze into Russell and Novey’s van. Vern was quite happy that he could have a rest from the driving and was able to look around at the scenery for a change. This is a lovely scenic national park with lots and lots of little lakes, forests of spruce/larch trees (will check I have the right trees) lots of little chipmunks and other little critters we don’t see in NZ and very high volcanic mountains the highest I think is Mt Lassen. It was a very long tiring day, but I would not have missed seeing the fantastic scenery, for the world.
Goodbye Redding and California and hello Oregon and out to the Oregon Sand Dunes. A very long (6 hour plus drive) up the Interstate 5 mostly at high altitude. My ears had been playing up and were completely blocked after visiting Lassen Park but no rest for my ears today travelling at high altitude. More ear problems and to top it off another virus in the form of a head cold. But you have to grin and bear these things when you are travelling. The Oregon countryside is absolutely beautiful. I just loved it. The forests of trees and winding rivers and streams – just what you read about in the Travel books. My cold took a back seat as I just felt so in awe of the countryside travelling out to the Oregon Coast. Our accommodation on the Coast was in Florence, a picturesque fishing town situated at the mouth of a river and right in Dune country. We only spent one night here as Vern and I were more interested in travelling up the Oregon Coa\t while Russell and Novey wanted the Dune experience of riding in a Dune buggy and seeing the Dunes at close range.
The next morning Vern and I pottered around the ‘old’ town of Florence, photographing and souvenir shopping. We then drove up the Oregon Coast, stopping now and again to photograph the coastline and old lighthouses.
When we reached Waldport we had lunch and decided at this point that we would head back inland and up to Portland. We had arranged to meet Russell and Novey at our next accommodation in Portland. Once again we travelled through very peaceful river valleys. As we neared the Interstate 5 the peaceful mood of the countryside changed to the hustle and bustle of traffic. The relaxation that I felt up to this point changed to one of stress in having to navigate onto the extremely busy Interstate 5 and up through the City of Portland to the Apartment which was to be our home for the next 2 nights. We made it with only one wrong turn. Phew!!!
Portland seems a nice enough city but I am not a city person so one city looks just the same as another to me. I could just as well have been in Auckland. However, Vern and I did a quick walking tour to get a feel for the place – trams, nice trees, quite a nice waterfront and heaps and heaps of road works. In fact it seems we were constantly trying to get around workmen and machinery. But as we were only in the city for a couple of hours it was hard to get a real feel for the place. In the afternoon we visited Washington Park – a very well-known park in the Region, renowned for the International Test Rose Garden spread over 4.5 acres.
Absolutely magnificent. Some locals we met while walking here recommended we have a look around the Memorial to the Holocaust. Vern found this Memorial extremely interesting, but I felt quite moved and sad at the sight of abandoned teddy bears, suitcases, dolls which had been recreated from metal and looked so realistic. I just wanted to go and bury my head in the sand and pretend that nothing of this ever existed.
Farewell Portland. It was also farewell for a few days to Russell and Novey, Calvin and Owen. Novey had decided to fly back from Portland with Calvin and Owen because the travel was getting too much for two little boys. Russell drove the van back to Santa Clara (a 12 hour trip). Vern and I had decided to travel along the Columbia River Gorge and then down to Bend which is a small city at high altitude surrounded by desert. I was a wee bit disappointed with the drive along the Columbia River Gorge. I think after reading the glowing reports in the Lonely Planet about how scenic this area was I expected more of a tranquil riverside drive. But it turned into a main highway drive. We did manage to find some vista areas to view the vastness of the Columbia River so in a way this compensated for my initial disappointment.
Now, down through high altitude deserty countryside and Bend passing Mt Hood on the way.
Vern’s ears were now a problem and by this time mine were just about normal. I found that with a cold it was quite hard to breathe at high altitude and when we walked into Bend shopping area I just could not hack the pace. I struggled to keep up with Vern and was just relieved to get back to our motel. I also had the same problem when we were in the Lassen Volcanic Park.
Next day a 60 mile drive to Crater Lake and with a $10 note in my hot little hand ready to hand over to the man in the booth at the entrance to Crater Lake National Park we got a pleasant surprise. He told us that as it was National Parks Founders Day, all National Parks had free entry for this day. What a bonus this was as Crater Lake was absolutely awesome. There were 30 stopping areas around the rim of the lake. Everything was so well maintained and not a piece of rubbish to be seen. Magnificent views from every vantage point – it’s the deepest lake in the USA. The deep blue of the water has to be seen to be believed. I’ve never seen such a rich blue body of water before.
The main focus for the tourists was the Information and Tourist Centre which we happened to arrive at around lunchtime. Hundreds of people had congregated here for lunch, souvenir shopping and it was also a first view for many of the Crater Lake. We decided to buy some takeaway food and found a lovely little spot further down the mountain to eat in peace. Next stop – down to Medford which for us was just a convenient place to stop for the night.
As we were up nice and early we decided to visit Jacksonville, a nice little historic town about 15 minutes away. And nice and early we were because when we arrived in Jacksonville not a person to be seen except the local Fire Brigade setting up a road block to elicit money from passing motorists for a community children’s cause (have now forgotten what it was). We walked the deserted streets and through a park where a mother deer and her two babies were wandering. Managed to photograph them even though they were very flighty.
Nothing much was happening in this sleepy little town so tackled the road block and gave the firemen all our coins. Ashland was planned to be our next stop as the Lonely Planet had very nice things to say about this little city. It is home to the Internationally renowned Oregan Shakespeare Festival which was in full swing while we were there. Had a look through the replica Globe Theatre and the Souvenir shop which contained souvenirs, all with a Shakespearian theme. We both really enjoyed our little sojourn in Ashland and wished we could’ve spent more time there.
But time to get onto the Interstate 5 again and down to Redding where we stayed at the Travelodge again. Next day, Interstate 5 again and back to Russell and Novey’s house.
The last few days in Santa Clara were spent doing last minute shopping and wondering how we were going to pack our suitcases so that everything would fit in.
Our departure day arrived so it was goodbye to Russell, Novey, Calvin and Owen and goodbye to hot, cloudless days and a wonderful stay in the United States.
This was written without reference to any diary entries so I stand to be corrected on some of the above information.
Place names that we found quite unusual for names of places were –
Bend, Weed and Winters
Great to read about your trip