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Did I tell you that the California redwoods are huge? Here, all that incessant practicing of parallel parking that my dear driving school teacher Ivan put me through really payed off. I made it through, without a single scratch on our Toyota Camry. Hanna, on the other hand, didn’t dare to try.

Hanna’s first steps on Californian soil was on this tiny rest stop. A short drive later, we reached the Kalmath River Overlook and got this even more beautiful view of the northern Californian coast.

Friday (8/6), we started early and drove down the coast from Port Orford toward the Californian border. And I’ve seriously never seen a more rough and wild coast in my life. The pure drama was actually a traffic hazard, it was so hard to keep your eyes on the road. Cape Sebastian State Park hadContinue reading “Chapter 216: The southern Oregon coast”

7/6: The first American motel that Hanna and I ever stayed at was called Sea Crest Motel, situated in Port Orford, Oregon. It also turned out to be the nicest. The bed was so beautifully made, and the view from the window was stunning, high upp on the cliffs looking out on the ocean. WeContinue reading “Chapter 215: Sea Crest Motel”

We reached to ocean and the coastal highway 101 at Florence. I think it’s really funny, how many small towns and even cities in the US are named after European cities, and even countries. From what I’ve read, it’s mostly because the first settlers at the place that eventually turned into a city named theirContinue reading “Chapter 214: From Florence to Port Orford”

7/6: But we didn’t have the time to stay with the wackoes and hippies in Eugene. The road was calling. From Eugene we drove straight west toward the coast. Pretty soon, the landscape changed from slihtly hilly to seriously mountaineous. The road crawled in the valley, between trees and cliffs and the occational rushing springs.Continue reading “Chapter 213: The gingerbread diner”

Leslie told us that Eugene is the hippie town in Oregon. And seriously, the number of buddhist flags and odd street art in this town turned out to be uncountable. When we arrived on Wednesday night (6/6), we drove past several garden parties full of people with dreadlocks and tie-died shirts. The smell of weedContinue reading “Chapter 212: Eugene”

6/6: Our second stop on our first day of driving was Silver Falls Park. We arrived late in the afternoon and got to see the trees and the beautiful waterfalls in the setting sun. You could even walk behind the big waterfall. Kind of scary, but so cool. Awesome tree, right? The vitsippa from Oregon.Continue reading “Chapter 211: Silver Falls State Park”

6/6: And so, finally, were we on our way. For some reason, we decided I should drive the first stretch, out of Portland and onto the freeway and beyond. I was terrified, my heart was beating like a drum, loud in my ears. But really, it didn’t turn out that bad. We got on theContinue reading “Chapter 210: Mount Angel”

Our last morning in Portland, Wednesday 6/6 (Svenska flaggans dag!), Leslie made us a heavenly breakfast with omelette, fruit and berries. She is such a sweetheart. Then, she drove us in to the car rental office and made sure we got all our old and new stuff into our grey Toyota Camry. Overall, I enjoyedContinue reading “Chapter 209: The last breakfast”