Well that wasn't quite what we planned....

Finally got my arse in gear and we headed on out for breakfast in Bend. Dan had found a place called 'The Breakfast Club' that looked good so we headed there.
It was tremendous!
Lovely little diner type place (just like in the movies/series and right down to the type of menu material!) with a really friendly lady serving us. Endless supplies of coffee and really scrumptious food!
We were well set for the day so off we set.
Stopped on the way for some water and a break and was greeted by a man in his pyjamas getting coffee. Its bloody catching..!
As we left there I said to Dan that I seriously hope i don't regret not filling up there...  But we had over half a tank so it was OK.. My view is that if I am getting to around 100miles of fuel left then we need to start looking. There should always be somewhere with in a 100mile radius...
We followed the route to Crater Lake on the Sat Nav but as we were turning off I did see an actual sign on the road saying we should take a different highway.. But like the wise old things we are we said the Sat Nav was fine and would be taking us the quickest route..
It took us a very weird route which made us follow a road then turn around and come back the way we had come. We were a tad confused but then realised that we obviously couldn't have got in the entrance from the side of the road we were on.. it was one of those situations.

NO.. it was one of those situations where the entrance is closed because there is still about 4 foot of bloody snow blocking the route!  Ahhhh shit, bollocks and crap.
Ahh well, it was a chance we took to be fair and I had always known that we may struggle with the odd place that was up high as it is still early season.
After sitting there for 5 minutes staring at the snow block we agree that we might as well just head straight on to Ashland now. So we turned and set off.. on a very long, forest surrounded route with approx 120 miles of fuel left. And according to the Sat Nav, the next main junction/area was 79 miles away. So, hmm, do-able but taking me to the edge of my stress levels for sure. Now at home I drive around on fresh air all the time something that freaks Dan out as he won't let it drop below about 3/4 full! But  at home, I don't drive in areas of VAST forest land with no signs of life let along 'gas'..!
I had seen that the Sat Nav will tell you if there are gas stations if you programme it. Could we find that bloody setting..? of course not.
Then Dan found he needed a 'restbreak' pretty urgently so he was getting stressed now but there was absolutely zero in sight. Find the rest area probably find the gas stations too...
Pulled over in the end and whilst he was 'resting' I managed to sort out how to get the Sat Nav to tell us where fuel stations were. Felt a bit better then..
Dan then proceeded to look up about Crater Lake and found that the South Entrance was always open. We had gone to the North.. duhhhhhhhh!  Bad research there Sarah.....
Anyway, we happened to pass that route to the South Entrance on what was now our route to Ashland but it said it was a further 23 miles away and we now had only 80miles of fuel left (so I should have filled up at that other petrol station.. idiot!)  no bloody way was I taking that risk. I knew there would be no fuel stations up there so we had to drive past. Thankfully we saw a sign for a little place called Prospect that had fuel stations and was 11miles away. WooHoooooo we're saved. We won't run out of fuel on the side of the road in the middle of this human-less mahooosive forest!

Prospect was a interesting little town to say the least. It was like an enclosed community really in the way it was set up but I don't think it actually is. Found the one pump stations and I so wanted someone with a white beard, dungarees, red check shirt and straw hat to come out to serve us!  Think I have got Toy Story 3 stuck in my head there....(get it???).
The guy that came out was lovely, filled us up and then came back to tell me that my credit card wouldn't work.   He did say that his machine could be flaky but did we have another. I gave him my debit card and followed him in.. Didn't work again..(Gas was $40 btw and we had about $28 cash between us <gulp>).. shiiiittt..  Thankfully he tried again and it worked. Phew.. I didn't have to leave all my belongings behind whilst I went to find cash...
Anyway I had a good chat with him about Crater Lake and told him what had happened. He said that the entrance we had passed 11 miles back would be fine but it would mean a 35mile drive back to have to come back those same 35miles to carry on to Ashland. I asked him if it was worth it as I had really wanted to see this place... long story short, the way the weather was he said we wouldn't really get the benefit of the place and might not even be able to see much but had it been a brighter day then absolutely you go back there as it is stunning...

Got back in the car still unsure what to do as at the end of the day this is a road trip so driving has to happen.. until Dan told me that I had a text from my credit card company  - they had declined the card at the petrol station as they thought it was being used fraudulently -  there were 2 payments on there that even I didn't recognise - and had now frozen it until I told them it was OK!!  Yeah, that is what I bloody need right now.
Right that's it, we're heading to Ashland now so I can get the card sorted and just give up this driving malarkey for the day. Clearly this was not meant to be. I could not have settled whilst I thought my card had been cloned AGAIN and just needed to get somewhere on data to look into it.
FUCK!  Well at least we had a full tank again ;-).
Partway back it all clicked with me what the other payments were and I was able to respond and un-freeze my card. PHEWWEEEEEEEEE! But that was too late for Crater lake.. I reassured myself with what Prospect Pete had said about the weather plus it was even cloudier and actually raining now and just looked forward to seeing another new town.....

Driving me round the Bend.....

Ahhh I had to say it!!

Anyway, last night we wandered downtown and headed for Deschutes bar.  We had a leisurely couple in there and planned the next couple of days stays.
We're off to Crater Lake next and then will stay in 'Ashland' which is about 1.5 hours further on and heading south like we now need to.

We have actually travelled 874 miles so far.
Seattle to San Francisco is 808 miles.
We are currently still 491 miles from San Francisco!!

So Bend is a cute little place. Reminds me of a big town but done in a much smaller way!  There are some lovely little shops and restaurants here and of course bars. Lots of bars.. it is well known for it as well as the number of breweries here.
Deschutes Bar we went to Bend Brewing company where we also grabbed some food. Which was delicious. I wanted a plate of wonderfully cooked vegetables (yes I have reached that stage) but as it wasn't on the menu, I opted for a mahoosive smoked turkey sandwich with a cup of Spinach Bisque on the side!  It was lovely..

From there we went to McMenamins.. these have places all over and they buy up disused Theatres, schools, cinemas etc etc and turn them into unique and funky bars still maintaining some of the original building features/original use.
This one had previously been a school..
It had more than one bar area too.. we were happy in the first one we chose.. it was nice and chilled (and Dan found his beer of the holiday so far) but that closed at 11pm and we still had full drinks so we moved over into the other one.

That felt like we were at a Frat party!  There was a big games room at the side of the bar area (for shuffle board and pool I think) and it was also attached to a spa or something.. But that is no fooking excuse for a woman being in there in her bathrobe.  I  mean it.. IN HER BATHROBE.....WTF. What the actual Fuck!!!
Its one thing that some areas of England go out in their pyjamas to the shops but being in a bar in your bathrobe??  One had to assume she had come from the spa but it was only her still wearing one. No-one else.. and yes of course I got surreptious photos ;-). Hahaha....
Made our way back to the hotel from there, had a midnight feast of cheese and bisuits and then crashed out.

I am now currently persuading myself to go and get ready so we can get brekkers and then head on to Crater Lake,, which I am very much looking forward to...

Snow?? But its 85 freakin degrees mate...

I really should have got a picture of the breakfast table at the Lighthouse. It was so elegantly set with fine china, chargers, fresh sunflowers and about 67 sets of cutlery each!  My friend H would have had a pink fit about it.. .it was right up her street!

Ellen served us and it had been her that had welcomed us in the day before. And she really did welcome us too. It was so genuine and warm. Then she disappears until the next day leaving everyone to their own devices in the cottage and lighthouse. There's a full kitchen you just use as you want, musical instruments, a stereo, 2 sitting rooms, real fires and on and on..

After breakfast and pack up she opened up the gift shop just for us. The lighthouse is still open to the public during the day but obvs when guests are there it is all closed to them.. 

We said our goodbyes to Janice/Jill & her husband who were heading off to Eugene - big hugs and kisses all round and then the same with Diane and Larry but she got quite tearful god bless her. Her holiday had started badly as her Aunt passed away as she had just set off but she said this had been the best possible ending to it for her and she knew being here with all of us was just meant to be...

Ellen had also told us all over breakfast how much she had enjoyed being around us and with us. She said many groups are very quiet but listening to us all chatting and laughing and seeing us fully enjoying the experience really made her day.....  See us Brits just make all the bloody difference!

So now we are pushing back inland to go to Bend which is perfectly located to get to Crater Lake. Its about 205 miles away but almost horizontal on the map so we're not really moving further south. But its how we want to do it and we have plenty of time still to push on down towards San Francisco. We don't have to be there until Tuesday. 

On the way we briefly stopped at Sea Lion Caves. I had read a couple of things on a forum about this place which said it was a massive tourist trap and you could just go in the gift shop and watch the sea lions on the monitor there for free rather than pay to be taken down there to see the exact same thing!!  So that is what we did!!  Hahahaha... we wandered around outside to see the very foggy view as well though.

Today the journey is all about the end destination so there won't be much stopping off as not much to see.. or so we thought.  The all year round Xmas store just there, roadside in the middle of nowhere, with no other shops for miles was one thing!

Haha.. but yeah as we're now going inland again its forests, lakes, rivers and snow capped mountains. Just cannot describe the contrasts from beach to this. Its so lush and green and imposing and WOW!  Driving along in 85 degree heat with snow on the side of the road is bloody weird I have to say..

And the mountains.. oh...they just rise up out of 'nowhere' in front of you peeping over the top of the huge pine trees looking so crisp and white but bloody treacherous too! 

We had quite a lot of food left from the lighthouse feast we'd taken so we'd packed it up and brought it with us to hopefully find somewhere to have a picnic along the way. The decision over whether it should be lake or river side, or in the forest or by a mountain was painful ;-) oh what a fooking tough life we have hey.. Where oh where in the beautiful scenery should we eat our french cheeses, smoked turkey and drink beer and red wine... its just SOOOOO difficult!!  Hahaha...

Just found a spot really - saw a sign that showed picnic tables, saw there was a lake and just went for it. It was delightful.

I did find I was getting very tired though on the journey so needed to pull over for a little break. I am more than happy to be doing all the driving but it does get tiring when doing so much....we had originally said it would be shared but Dan isn't that arsed and is a little less confident than I am about it as he hasn't done much driving on 'the other side' of the road!  Plus, he just does drive by's all the time instead of pulling into loads of places so it's not worth the heated discussions!  (Also, I just fall asleep if left in the passenger seat with nothing to do!!!)

Anyway I pulled over and Dan was like ' yep, have 10mins Sarah and just rest your eyes..I'll turn the radio off so its nice and peaceful...' lovely... and then he loudly fiffed and faffed his way around the front seat. I mean I know this car is bloody huge but seriously what the F do you find to do in that passenger space that makes that much noise!  Apparently there were insects getting in...??!! He then proceeded to get in and out of the car about 3 times.. I gave up and moved on.

Arrived in Bend easily enough and checked into our traditional local Motel!  Yay..  Quick freshen up and then headed off downtown for a well earned beer.... (me that is. Not Dan.. his faffing doesn't equate to well earned!!! Heehehe)

Lets go find a punchbowl...

(Wednesday 3rd)
After breakfast we packed up & checked out. Before we properly headed off we took a walk up on the cliffs (or the bluff as they call it here) just by the B&B as we decided to be intrepid explorers today!!! Stunning views up high over the shoreline. It was still very misty and the sea looked quite rough so the waves were crashing on the rocks below us.. so beautiful.

We went into Depoe Bay itself still hoping for a whale watching boat ride but, despite the fact it was definitely getting brigher and warmer, you couldn't see a bloody thing when you looked out over the sea.  There were boats going out but we weren't convinced you'd get to see much so Dan suggested
we just leave it for another day "....and after all, we have been on one of the best whale watching boat trips we could go on so why worry".  And he is right, it will take a lot to top the one in Santa Barbara the other year.

So we mooched around a little and had a snack/beer in a lovely little cafe there, bought some tat and some saltwater taffy and pushed on.

Route was all down HWay 101 so again there are some breathtaking views. However we peeled off onto 'Otters Crest Loop' as this ran alongside the hway & closer to the coast. Definitely a good move as we found some beautiful places.  Cape Foulweather was amazing. You could look along the coastline so clearly and see Otters Rock, The Devil's Punchbowl (area) and the huge golden stretch of Beverly Beach. The fog was still around but it was much warmer with sun and blue skies too so it made it look particularly dramatic!
From there we moved on to the actual Punchbowl which was something I have been looking forward to. And it didn't disappoint.

OK so it was completely dry of water at the time we arrived so I am sure it looks even better when it is filling up but dry was good for us as we were going to find a way down there and into it!  Which we did yippeeeeee.. It took a couple of false starts but we finally find a little path & a steep drop that got us onto a beach over to the right of the bowl.  We took a good old walk on the beach first, past beach waterfalls and numerous rock pools.

 I spent AGES investigating the rock pools, clambering around on and off the rock formations, whilst Dan had pushed on, up and over some other rocks and was sitting proudly high up watching some seals sunbathing!

I finally met back up with him and we climbed over closer to the seals to watch them properly. Of course we were really conscious about getting too close and once we spotted more than one of them waking up and looking over at us we retreated. But I tell you, I was close enough to have been able to throw a fish to them.. if I had had one!

Made our way back the way we had come as we had noticed that the tide was slowly moving in so we wanted to get into the bowl still.... made it over there with a fair bit of climbing and scrambling and that was it, we were in!  It is just full of rocks really but the two openings to the sea had the water crashing in and around so it looked awesome.. as did looking up out of the bowl to clear blue skies. Very difficult to explain how fantastic it was really. I spotted a crab too hiding in the rocks.. managed to get a decent pic of him.

The water was getting more and more crashy now so we made a hasty retreat and found our way back to the 'path' we had taken and back to our car feeling excited and proud of our little adventure.  Ha. I bet people do it every day but there was hardly anyone else there so.........

We stopped in Lincoln City for lunch at Rogue bar.  Couldn't manage it all so we boxed it up to take to the Lighthouse with us!
Along the way we stopped at Cape Perpetua to see the Spouting Horn and Thors Well. Basically not a lot to see as our timing wasn't the best. It was too close to high tide to be able to clamber over to it but as it wasn't actually high tide we didn't get to see it the horn spouting or the well 'draining' the sea... ah well.....

And on to the lighthouse we went..  It was just bloody wonderful. So pretty, so quaint so private and excluded.. ahhhh yeah. Everything I wanted. The other people staying in the cottage were brill - we had a lot of fun with them and some very interesting conversations about Roundabouts (they love them!), Marmite - they had never heard of it. Dippy eggs and how you get into them and toast soldiers!!

 Hahahaha. Sadly I cannot remember everyone's name but Janice/Jill was Funny.. She thought I was so cute with my little english accent and proper way of doing things and we had some great banter about Americanisms and the correct English way!  Her and her husband were from just outside Sacramento.

Another couple - Diane and Larry - were around 70 and from Louisiana- they were awesome. We chatted into the night with those two. I could have spent more time with them to hear their stories and experiences. There was one couple I wasn't massively sure about but mainly because the husband trod the fine line between banter and being offensive once too often for my liking. Especially the next day during our 7 course breakfast that everyone gathers in the cottage for. Which was fantastic.

 

I have to say despite having to deal with 8 other people first thing in the morning and someone who doesn't know he's just crossed a line with me....!  (Oh yes there was another young couple staying there who now live in Zurich but she was from Minnesota and he was from South Africa. We didn't see much of them the evening before but the others had all met them a the cheese and wine reception - which we missed as we got there later than intended due to our intrepid explorations of Punchbowl!!!)

And I DID get my time on the porch, sat with Dan overlooking the ocean, eating food from the local deli, sipping wine whilst wrapped in blanket and watching the sun set...............It had been a most wonderful day and this was the perfect, dreamed of ending to it. I was so happy I could have cried....

Its Lighthouse Day..........!! Woop Woop

What a fabulous nights sleep. The ocean breeze and the sound of it crashing on the rocks just below your window is definitely the way forward. Not sure how I will manage that back home in Sale but we'll see....

Today's promised glorious weather is yet to materialise as its been grey and misty all morning. I was so excited at 6am to look out of the window and see blue skies over the ocean but it didn't happen!  It was still an amazing view though I have to say. Went back to sleep for an hour extra instead!

Have just been and grabbed breakfast which is fresh fruit, pastries, juices etc all there for you to fill your boots and plates with and they are more than happy for you to take it all to your room too... (Trays are even provided).  I love it here!

Today's plan is to go for a little walk, hopefully get on a whale watching boat trip here in Depoe Bay then move on along the coast to a couple of places I really want to see, before arriving at the Lighthouse for our stay tonight. So excited but I do think I might have over romanticised it in my head!  I'm thinking rocking chairs and blankets on the porch whilst munching on a delightful selection from the local deli, sipping lovely local wines and watching the sunset!
Ha.. it'll probably be me peering out of a window with a mug of warm wine, some crisps and a crushed up old snack bar we snaffled from the hotel in Seattle!!

We shall see...........

There's always time for Cheese and Wine

Thankfully once again there was zero trouble in picking up our car (though I must once again refer to a pair of fuckwits in front of me. By god people take a long time to get their heads around the concept that they are to pay if they want to take extra, pushed by the company, insurance packages).
The guy though upgraded us and we now have a brand new, only 4000 on the clock Ford Explorer. Heated seats, heated steering wheel, spare driver if you need it (not really!) you know.. the works!

Once I had got back to the hotel to pick Dan and our luggage off we were off. Nice easy journey out of Portland and as we really wanted to do as much of this trip to the coast, on the coast, we needed to go via Tillamook I declared! (A place I already knew didn't have much to offer other than Cheese and
Wine Place heeheehee).
Dan agreed it was a fine idea given the coastal path we could pick up - as well as some particularly
lovely scenic spots.  En route he noticed in the book we have that Tillamook has a big Cheese and Wine place.... hee hee my clever little plan has worked!

Pulled into Blue Heron French Cheese Company and not only does it do what it says on the tin, they have a petting zoo there?!  And 3 beautiful peacocks and a couple of peahens.  I did not know though that you could actually get white peacocks until the moment I walked in there and saw it in all its glory.  Stunning.
The shop itself was fab (though, aside from the people working there, we were the youngest there by a county mile!). Once we finally worked out what we were doing we got our wine taster set sorted  - the wine waiters girlfriend lives in Ormskirk.. - we tootled to get our cheese tasters and I was a very happy girl :-)

We bought some cheeses, wines, beer and mustard and set back off.  And no, we are not thinking we will bring them home. Our stay at the Lighthouse provides a full, shared kitchen and you are encouraged to bring your own as there is nothing walkable around... so we are!
Pushed on from there back onto our chosen scenic route - again ignoring the Sat Nav and going where we thought best. I know that's hardly wild to most people but we feel like we're being a little more unplanned at least.

We had a little stop at Cape Lookout - it was really grey and misty here but the beach and the sea still looked stunning. Yeah, we all love to see it in the sun but its still glorious in all weather to me.. it has a more powerful impact I think when it's looking like a storm could arrive any minute.
We then came to Cape Kiwanda which is a really pretty little beach town with a lovely beach and another of the Haystacks proudly jutting up through the sea and rain mist.

This looks to be a bit of a popular place for surfing and there were people in and/or on the beach with a fire. Looked ace. But cold. Food and beers for us inside thank you (Pelican Brewing Company conveniently had a lovely large pub right there on the beach)

After a late lunch we meandered on again and finally reached Depoe Bay and our fabulous hotel Inn at Arch Rock. This is set on the cliff overlooking the sea. Every room bar one has an ocean view.

It's really lovely and the owners are awesome!  They are totally easy going - you just get on and enjoy and use whatever they have to offer to do so. Films, BBQ, Firewood, kitchen....
Our room is really nice and I can LITERALLY see & hear the ocean from our bed.

We chilled in the room for a while and then headed around the corner to a well recommended restaurant called Tidal Raves. It was a pretty rainy evening so not one for going wandering around to see the bay really.
Restaurant/bar was lovely and we had a really delicious meal. Fresh seafood all the way on this menu and cooked beautifully. We had a table overlooking the ocean too.  Chatting to the barman, he recommended a couple of towns to stay when we go to Crater Lake.. he mentioned one of the places we had been considering so that was great. At some point we'll actually look at booking it (that will be for Friday night. We still have nothing lined up for Sat, Sun or Mon as yet....)
It closes fairly early (by our standards) so we headed back and cracked open one of the bottles of wine we had bought on our trip that day...

Underground, Overground Portlanding free.......

Got that song stuck in my head now!

So we were as good as we said and did just go out for dinner and a couple of drinks on Sunday night. We went to a place 1 block down (Rockbottom) and stuffed our faces!
Back in the room by 9pm and we did try to get Line of Duty but not allowed outside of the UK (GUTTED!) so watched whatever was on TV and crashed out.

Up and at it for a good time feeling fresh and healthy again yesterday!  We set off for breakfast and found Jack Rabbit's.  Bit 'posher' than we were looking for - we like our cafe's and diners as it feels more authentic!!
We had a giggle at another language mix up as Dan asked for Rye toast which they didn't have. So he asked for 'Brown'.  The waitress's face was a picture. 'BROWN???' She said.. BROWN??  I stepped in and said 'sorry, Wheat' we mean Wheat'..  She laughed then and said that she had though Dan was asking for her to burn his toast so that it was Brown!!  Hahaha.

After brekkers, we headed to the river and walked along there. The boat tours weren't running at that time - no surprise as it was still pre 11am on a Monday.
We just wandered then really to get a good feel of the place and see what there is. I really like it here. I did say that I prefer it to Seattle tbh but we're holding reservations on that thought as I was a bit dazed & jet lagged when in Seattle!

We went up to the ChinaTown gates and along to Powell's City of Books. It is amazing in there. It is just so huge with pretty much every book you can think of. I found the cooking book aisle and stayed there! Dan found the beer and then the music books so everyone was happy!  Despite the size of it, I felt it still had a feel of a local bookstore. Probably because it isn't a corporation (well I don't think it is!) so it can keep that feel. Time for Beer now (which is the whole reason Dan wanted to come to Portland becuase of the breweries here). We headed to Rogue and had a couple in there and then decided to go on this underground tour I had heard about. Booked it and off we headed.

The tour wasn't quite what I expected as it was 'Underground' literally and figuratively. So in other words it was about the darker underbelly of Portland over the years as well as actually going underground to the tunnels.

I can't even begin to start repeating everything we were told but I was fascinated and absorbed from the off. It's a really interesting history and very surprising too..

 I have made notes for myself so that I can always remember as I cannot trust my actual memory!  Well that's why I do this blog so I know where we went, what we did and who we met!!

After the tour we went to 'Old Town' pizza and brewing. Shared a small pizza and of course had beers!! It was OK in there...pizzas were fantastic though!
So we are right 'uptown' now and head properly back to the Brewery blocks. Straight to Deschutes Brewery for a couple - where we discovered that there had been riots in downtown Portland that day!  We knew nothing about it but it turns out it was a planned protest that had got a bit troublesome. As we UK folks know it, it wasn't really a riot but I guess it had the potential to get out of hand.

 Anyway after reassuring my mum who had heard it on the news, that we were actually fine, we moved on to Fat Head's.
I got some wings in here as I do have a thing about making sure there are certain foods I have whilst in the USA becuase its believed they do them better.. and they invariably do! Wings are one of those things.  And they were some of the best I have ever had and were also huge!!  We had a couple more beers in here and were then starting to flag again - and were a bit tipsy :-).

So, we slightly sadly brought our final night in Portland to a close and headed back to our lovely hotel (staying at the Hotel Rose).

We have, whilst here, decided on our next place to head to and that is going to be Depoe Bay - so back on the coast.  It looks to be a lovely drive there too and I should be able to 'tick off' a few of the places I really want to see along the coast. They also do Whale Watching from there and have their own pod of Grey Whales that return every year!  I have found what looks to be a lovely little hotel too so we are all set!
Also means we're only about an hour away from the lighthouse which we are staying in on Wednesday :-) :-)...

So, once I have finished this, its pack up time again and I will wander off to get our next car and then we're hitting the road again... Weather is a bit grey and drizzly today sadly but hey, what's a bit of rain to a Mancunian?!!!