Road trip – Nicci Carrera

First I must show you a shot of the sky at twilight in Trinidad, though it was technically on day 1.

Breakfast at The Lost Whale Inn was noteworthy.

After a long day of driving we arrived at The Best Western at Pier Point in Florence Oregon. This place sits right on the estuary with lovely views.

Today we are going to explore the beach in Florence. The Oregon coastline is different from the California coastline. There are no redwoods. There are a lot of sand dunes and what looks like a fun time to be had boarding down the dunes, but we are going to go out for photos at the jetty. Lunch will be back at the hotel on our deck overlooking the estuary, enjoying food we brought with us in our plug-in cooler, then we head off to Portland, Oregon!

Oh, it was so pretty that day! I’m really appreciating these photos now that I’m glued to my keyboard.

Upper Geyser area — Upper Geyser basin, Yellowstone National Park

We just made most of the reservations for our next road trip. Planning a trip is so fun. Instead of driving 8 hours the first day to Gold Beach Oregon, the grueling segment we had planned, we’re going to drive 4 hours to Trinidad California, then 6 hours to Bandon Oregon. We found really cute places to stay. We spent a lot of time booking Portland, which is super expensive. We finally found a reasonable place and also learned a lot about Portland sights and activities. I really wanted to experience being able to walk around, go to cafes and restaurants, and soak up the atmosphere. Plus we learned they have an amazing and huge Japanese garden right in the middle of the city! I can’t wait to photograph the gardens, parks, and river.

Planning really is half the fun of a trip. Now that I’ve seen where we’ll be staying and have perused the areas and maps in the process of making reservations, I’ve already begun having the next experience.

Hope you’re having a peaceful, happy, and/or exciting (in a good way) weekend.