October--2004
A few months ago Nancy decided that we should take a two week driving vacation, something we had not done for 25 years. She had a taste of the wanderlust about a year ago when two of her friends had invited her to go along on a driving trip through Arizona and New Mexico, with a destination of Denver to visit their relatives. She went! She enjoyed seeing Santa Fe, the Navajo Nation lands, the sweeping vistas of the Southwest deserts, and the crispness of the Rockies. She enjoyed the trip alot, but since she was a "guest" she felt that she might have enjoyed it more with the freedom to pick the iternerary and activities. It did get her enthused for another driving trip, however.
Being on the road together for two weeks on an old fashioned sightseeing tour had a certain nostalgic appeal to both of us. After all, we both grew up in families where a vacation usually involved packing up the car and heading down the road to see the sights, camp out, or stay at a cabin at a lake or river.
Where to go? We had been looking for potential future retirement locations on the west coast, and most of the best suited locations were to the north. I was really interested in checking out Bend, Oregon, and Nancy thought she would like to check out Northern California and the Oregon coast. Since our daughter, Sara, was living in Santa Cruz, it seemed like we could start and end with a visit with her. When to go? Early October seemed to fit. The summer crowds would be gone, there might be some good fall color in the northern forests, and the weather, while cooler, could still be agreeable. So Nancy started planning! New maps and guidebooks for California and the Pacific Northwest were acquired. I got on the internet and searched for all the good sites for information on Oregon. I signed in on the state websites for visiters, and started getting lots of great publications in the mail covering everything from Golf in Oregon, to all the scenic routes and and their sights. Nancy worked the internet sites for all the interesting towns, B&Bs and campsites which she might include as destinations. She asked her quilting contacts where all the good quilt stores were along the northern California Coast and up into Oregon. I checked out the potential golf course stops! Nancy started making a list of what to pack! Since we planned to camp some of the time we were going to have a full load in the olde Mercedes! When we hopped in the car we were going to be prepared!!
As October approached Nancy was busy working on our itinerary, working out our day to day driving milieage, our overnight stops, sights not to be missed, and B&B and camping options. We would leave on Friday, October 8 and return on Monday, October 25, a total of 18 days. That was slightly more than two weeks, but was rationalized by including a couple of extra weekend days, and a Friday drive day to Santa Cruz with a Monday drive back.
Thursday October 7 it was done! Instructions had been written for Matt. (He was excited to have the house to himself for a couple weeks!) The trunk of the car was packed. By bedtime the bags were packed and ready for an early start. The alarm was set for 4:15. At 5 am we would be launched!
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