My drive from Tucson, AZ To Bend, OR and back

[bp-plickner]

My Route



here is a google maps link of my route

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=...=m&z=5&vpsrc=1

After spending a couple or three days in Bend I hit the road at around 5am for my trek to Eureka,CA by way of Crater Lake, Or and Crescent City, CA.


I headed south down US 95 heading to SR 138 or East Diamond Lake highway. US 95 was the last 4 laner that I would be on for a while. From SR 138 I turned south down Crater Lake Highway and arrived at the north end of Crater lake about 20 minutes before dawn.









Crater Lake Highway turns into Rim Drive and then back into Crater Lake Highway which is also SR 62. The rim Drive part of this ride required most of my attention. It is a very narrow 2 laner with hairpin switchbacks that also had some surprise icy patches and no shoulder to the right. The white fog line was painted on the edge of the pavement and from there it was a drop of a couple of feet to more than 10 feet. No room what ever for a right wheel to stray off the pavement unless you wanted to role down a hill.

Route 62 headed west was a normal width 2 laner that had some nice curves that required an occasional down shift to 4th gear, but was largely manageable in 5th and 6th.I did not come upon another car for the next 16 miles, which made this a fun ride.

SR 62 turns south at SR230



and at this point I was into some light traffic to my turn off onto SR 234 which runs into Gold Hill. This little stretch reminded me of a New Hampshire fall day. Real scenic, and I started to see deciduous trees mixed in with the conifers. I think that's what gave it a New England Flavor.

In Gold Hill i turned right onto SR 99 or Second Ave for a short distance that took me to I-5 that I followed for about 14 miles into Grants Pass, OR where I picked up US 199 that took me southeast into California and US 101 north of Crescent City. This was a pleasant ride without a lot of slow pokes and some nice curves. as I got into California I started to see some redwoods and the road was in the forest.

Once I followed the long grade down into Crescent City I was in light fog and low overcast sky, gray and wet. I stopped for a quick bite in Crescent City and then headed out for Eureka where I crashed for the night. The good news was, I could see the ocean off to my right and stopped for a couple of photos.







On Tuesday morning Oct 22 I was back on the road in the early morning hours driving down US 101 headed for Monterey CA in the early morning fog. I missed the splendor of the Giant Redwoods. I liked how the 101 would have occasional stretches of 4 lane highway. I hadn't been up this way since my cross country hitch hiking journey back in the summer of 69 (dude). I remember when I started that trip coming out of New Hampshire and getting into the New York Metro Area the radio was broadcasting about the traffic tie ups down to Bear Mountain from Saugerties, NY because of some music festival.

I digress

The sun started to peak through somewhere around Ukiah. When I got to Hopland I stopped for some breakfast at The Bluebird Cafe.



This is where I saw the traffic guy on some San Francisco TV broadcast show the map of the traffic snarl ups that had the bay area at a standstill.
By the time I got down towards the Richmond San Rafael Bridge around 9:30 things were starting to clear up. Could have been worse than the 20 minutes of stop and go that I experienced.

I made it around the Bay area and into Monterey by just after lunch at around 1 PM.



I had a real nice dinner at a place in Monterey on Fremont Street called the Monterey Cook House. Their fresh fruit sorbet made the trip worthwhile.

By this time I was set to get back home so the following morning I left Monterey headed back north and east to I-5 and made the 12+ hour trip home to Tucson. The only real excitement here was when some lady in a little car tried to run me off the road on I-210 in Pasadena and a kid in his new Pick Up tried to squish me into another car in a traffic jam south of Tempe.

After negotiating rush hour traffic out Grant from I-10 to get home I was glad to be back and able to sleep in my own bed.

[CAVU]

Originally Posted by bp-plickner

My Route



here is a google maps link of my route

Beautiful photos BP! I LOVE the low light photos… especially of Crater Lake with your car in the foreground. What an epic trip. I wish I could work out the logistics of such a trip… perhaps I could pick up Route 66 in Illinois and until NM or AZ and then go from there. Sounds like 2 weeks off from work!

[bp-plickner]

Could be fun

[Bama335]

BP - another great set of pics, thanks for sharing - what a great route, minus the Bay area snafu.

I enjoyed the reference to that "little music and art festival" in White Lake, NY - makes it pretty clear when it was that you were heading West.......

[Deutsche-Broke]

That looks like an awesome trip... Thanks for the great pictures.

It also reminds me that I can't wait to take a trip next Spring from the Washington / Canada border to the Napa valley, via my favorite road, Highway 101 which rides the coast.

It's a *cough, cough* work trip you know...

[TMR013]

Looks like a great trip! I did almost the same trip in reverse back in July. Went up the coast to Portland, them back down through central Oregon, stopped in Bend for the night, but then I stayed on the CA side of the border through Tahoe and by Yosemite. Unfortunately the fires and smoke were really bad at the time so the trip back was kind of a bust.

[Marc08EX]

Very nice trip back. Amazing pictures as well. Thanks again for sharing. I wish I can drive up to Monterey with my 135i one day...

[Kouper]

OK, I know I'm reviving a two year old thread here....but somehow I missed this the first time. Great trip and photos, bp! Reminded me of past camping trips in Oregon, where I biked through Bend and Sisters, and also camped at Crater Lake. In fact, I'm planning to do the Crater Lake Century bike ride in 2016.

I want to know more about your bother's Dinan MINI. Any pics? I had an '06 Supercharged Dinan MINI S2/S3 that was one of the most reliable and fun cars I've ever owned (despite their horrible reputation for reliability).

Great trip, thanks for sharing - and sorry I'm two years late to the party. Maybe you need to plan a trip for your new M235i?

[bp-plickner]

My bro's mini is a salt and pepper one. I don't have any photos of his car. When I was up in bend at the end of May 2015 with my Grandson my brother had to have his Mini serviced because of a super charger pulley problem. Besides that he has had many trouble free miles with his Dinan Mini. He loves to drift around those long curves on the way up to the South Sister trail parking area by Devil's Lake and tell me he is taking it easy because I'm in the car.

If things go well I will be taking my Grandson on a road trip up to Bend this coming spring of 2016.

Some pics from May 2015

From Drake Park Bend


Broken Top from South Sister Trail


My brother's panoramic photo from Broken Hand Jul 4, 2015


I am liking my M235i. I took it for a ride up Mt Lemon Rd here in Tucson.
That was an awesome ride.

[mackeroni]

Thanks Plickner. I like these kind of trip reports. Maybe we need a special folder or area for them.