Cross-Country Vacation 2023

We awoke at our AirBnb at Floras Lake Guest Cottage . Today is Mother's Day. Floras Lake The plan today is to drive 189 miles in 6 hours. We headed south for about 20 minutes to Portside Cafe in Port Orford, OR. It was a nice little place, serving good food.(Click on any photo to enlarge) 45 minutes later we stopped at Battle Rock Wayside Park for an educational break. Battle Rock Sign Broadleaf Lupine Hottentot Fig Battle Rock We made a couple quick stops, first at Ophir Wayside State Park, then in Gold Beach, Oregon for some souvenvirs, finally an unplanned stop at Ariya's Beach for some amazing rocks in the water. Ariya's Beach Ariya's Beach We drove through the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor . It was a beautiful drive on winding roads. I wanted to look, but also had to keep a close eye on the road. This was definitely a place where we could have spent more time, with 18 miles of hiking trails and lots to see. Using Alltrails we

Our morning started admiring the gardens and some birding at Eureka Garden Bungalow Airbnb . Today's plan is to drive 311 miles in 7 hours. Clematis Clematis Columbine Common Camilla Common Camilla Flame Azelea Mexican Snow Ball Eurasian Collared-Dove Female House Finch Male House Finch Eureka, CA is a beautiful city with lot of old architecture. Julie and I enjoyed driving the streets and looking at the Victorian Houses. We ate breakfast downtown at Ramone's Bakery & Cafe . Eric Hollenbeck restores Victorian Homes; he has a show called " The Craftsman " on Magnolia Network that we watch. We wanted to visit Blue Ox Millwork his place of business and check it out. Though this photo doesn't show it, Julie was downright giddy to meet Eric. We spent an hour here and could have easily spent more time. This is another special place and deserves a separate page. https://travelingvtjs.blogspot.com/p/blue-ox-millworks-and-his

Day 1 - Our Airbnb Business Travel Garden Bliss  was located in a residential neighborhood that was quiet and easy to access. We had our own private outdoor sitting area and enjoyed coffee outdoors at the garden patio. (Click on any photo to enlarge) Today was all about family, so we took a 40 minute commute to Palo Alto to visit. Midday we got lunch at Mendocino Farms . It was a nice relaxing day. Day 2 - Started with a stop at Chuck's Donut to pick up some tasty treats. Then we headed to Philz Coffee  in Menlo Park, a place we were very familiar with from a previous trip. It's amazing to watch, they make one cup of coffee at a time, and deliver in order received. There are a lot of call in orders that sit on the counter with names on them; you just walk up when your name is called. Delicious and fresh! Later, Jessica gave us a 2.5 mile, 2 hour walking tour of the grounds at Stanford University . We took so many photos and there was so much to see t