Jim Dick
Moderator Emeritus
We left Tom & Chris in Discovery Bay on 2 April for Junction City, OR. It was a gorgeous day and we had planned to drive north on the 101 having gotten a lot of good reports about the route here on the forum.
It was an easy trip along Rt. 4 to I680 near Vallejo. We crossed the river on the 680 and picked up Rt. 12 towards the coast. This is a good road though it is not wide. I had no problem driving it but some of the turns are very tight and the driver does have to pay attention. The route traverses the Napa wine country and the scenery is fabulous. We really enjoyed the ride through the countryside.
We got on the 101 in Petaluma. This is a major divided highway with quite a bit of traffic. A big change from the peaceful Rt. 12 we had just traveled. Finally we got out of the "city" just past Santa Rosa. The remaining drive varied from divided to undivided highway. There are not a lot of places to pull over. We had stopped at an exit just before getting on Rt. 12. I'm glad we did.
Our lunch stop was in Cloverdale at a pull off. Just north of there in Hopland there is a very large pull of which could accommodate 5 or 6 rigs. Once the road reaches the ocean there are many pull offs but they are mostly on the ocean side and on curves. It makes it difficult and dangerous to try to stop at any of these. It's too bad because there is some very pretty scenery to view.
We decided to stay at Richardson Grove RV park for a couple of nights so we could tour the Redwoods. This park is small but they do have about 8 sites in the open for those with dishes. The rest are in the trees. I was even able to wash the car and coach which brought on the rain.
Because it was raining by then so we didn't get to hike any of the trails but we still enjoyed being among these ancient giants. Some of these trees are 950-1000 years old! There is an Avenue of the Giants that starts just north of Richardson Grove and parallels the 101. It's a beautiful drive and worth the time it takes. There are also hikes in the area to groves of Redwoods that we wish we could have taken. I only took a few pictures since it wasn't the best day for photography. Richardson Grove State Park is also in the area and might be a good day tour. I only wish we had more time to spend in the area.
From there we continued on north and stopped at Bandon RV Park. The park is in town and basically a gravel parking lot. The hosts are very friendly and helpful. We were able to walk to the "old town" for a latte and then dinner. We ordered fish and chips from a stand on the dock and then sat in a glass enclosed shelter right on the water. Bandon is very small and it only takes an hour to see it all including several shops. It was not a good night for sunset pictures.
The next day we left for Junction City. Having been to the coast from JC on other occasions I tried to pick a route that would not take me over any mountainous winding roads. I decided on Rt. 126 out of Florence. It was fine but still pretty hilly and winding. Do not use Rt. 36 which starts east of Florence on Rt. 126. This one is very narrow and very curvy. The best route is actually is the Umpqua highway which follows the Umpqua river for quite a few miles. This route comes out in Eugene and you can then take I-5 or Rt. 99 north.
After settling in at Davis Cabinets and getting things started, we took a day trip to Florence and Winchester Bay. We had missed many pull offs with vistas of the ocean on our trip north and wanted to stop with the car. All of these are way too small for any large RV. We had lunch in Florence at Mo's, remembering Russ's comments on their chowder. He was right! It's a fabulous chowder and a bowl was all I needed to fill me up. I was disappointed that they had clams on the menu but only strips, no whole bellies. Oregon does have some pretty beaches and lots of area for recreation. It's too bad more ocean states don't provide this type of environment.
Attached are a few pictures I took on the way north. You can see Pat is dwarfed by the Redwoods.
It was an easy trip along Rt. 4 to I680 near Vallejo. We crossed the river on the 680 and picked up Rt. 12 towards the coast. This is a good road though it is not wide. I had no problem driving it but some of the turns are very tight and the driver does have to pay attention. The route traverses the Napa wine country and the scenery is fabulous. We really enjoyed the ride through the countryside.
We got on the 101 in Petaluma. This is a major divided highway with quite a bit of traffic. A big change from the peaceful Rt. 12 we had just traveled. Finally we got out of the "city" just past Santa Rosa. The remaining drive varied from divided to undivided highway. There are not a lot of places to pull over. We had stopped at an exit just before getting on Rt. 12. I'm glad we did.
Our lunch stop was in Cloverdale at a pull off. Just north of there in Hopland there is a very large pull of which could accommodate 5 or 6 rigs. Once the road reaches the ocean there are many pull offs but they are mostly on the ocean side and on curves. It makes it difficult and dangerous to try to stop at any of these. It's too bad because there is some very pretty scenery to view.We decided to stay at Richardson Grove RV park for a couple of nights so we could tour the Redwoods. This park is small but they do have about 8 sites in the open for those with dishes. The rest are in the trees. I was even able to wash the car and coach which brought on the rain.
Because it was raining by then so we didn't get to hike any of the trails but we still enjoyed being among these ancient giants. Some of these trees are 950-1000 years old! There is an Avenue of the Giants that starts just north of Richardson Grove and parallels the 101. It's a beautiful drive and worth the time it takes. There are also hikes in the area to groves of Redwoods that we wish we could have taken. I only took a few pictures since it wasn't the best day for photography. Richardson Grove State Park is also in the area and might be a good day tour. I only wish we had more time to spend in the area.
From there we continued on north and stopped at Bandon RV Park. The park is in town and basically a gravel parking lot. The hosts are very friendly and helpful. We were able to walk to the "old town" for a latte and then dinner. We ordered fish and chips from a stand on the dock and then sat in a glass enclosed shelter right on the water. Bandon is very small and it only takes an hour to see it all including several shops. It was not a good night for sunset pictures.
The next day we left for Junction City. Having been to the coast from JC on other occasions I tried to pick a route that would not take me over any mountainous winding roads. I decided on Rt. 126 out of Florence. It was fine but still pretty hilly and winding. Do not use Rt. 36 which starts east of Florence on Rt. 126. This one is very narrow and very curvy. The best route is actually is the Umpqua highway which follows the Umpqua river for quite a few miles. This route comes out in Eugene and you can then take I-5 or Rt. 99 north.
After settling in at Davis Cabinets and getting things started, we took a day trip to Florence and Winchester Bay. We had missed many pull offs with vistas of the ocean on our trip north and wanted to stop with the car. All of these are way too small for any large RV. We had lunch in Florence at Mo's, remembering Russ's comments on their chowder. He was right! It's a fabulous chowder and a bowl was all I needed to fill me up.
I was disappointed that they had clams on the menu but only strips, no whole bellies. Oregon does have some pretty beaches and lots of area for recreation. It's too bad more ocean states don't provide this type of environment. Attached are a few pictures I took on the way north. You can see Pat is dwarfed by the Redwoods.
