San Francisco → Portland

It feels like I was very recently writing about how I hadn’t been to California in 20 years. That post is from 2023. Allison and I had been talking for a while about doing a week long roadtrip, with little kids, for years. Weaving in and out of some of the biggest trees on earth. Yes we even drove our rental Prius through one. I’m going to write a bit more, then get to the images. The map here illustrates the major stops we made. It was about 900 miles of driving over 8 days, which is completely sane since I once remember logging 900 miles in one day driving, you guessed it, to California. Why this route? And would a 5 and 7 year old be able to handle it? Well, as you’re about to see, the stops were packed with nature unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I grew up in Maine, and the coast that I know and love now is now giving “we have our own coast at home” vibes. Not to say the rocky and rugged Atlantic Ocean isn’t wonderful. But the combination of hills, trees, and Pacific…