Whew, we made it again to Portland! That was a protracted street journey to California. We determined to drive from Portland as an alternative of flying as a result of the worth of flight tickets for the three of us was so excessive. Gasoline was costly too, however it was nonetheless rather a lot cheaper than flying. Driving was an incredible resolution as a result of we have been capable of go to extra individuals than if we flew. We had a extremely nice time.
At this time, I’ll share a couple of photos from our CA street journey and tally up how a lot it price.
Portland to Redding
The primary leg of our street journey was fairly straightforward. We took the I-5 down from Portland to Redding. On the best way, we stopped on the Oregon Vortex. It’s an old-timey roadside attraction. This spot has a gravitational abnormality. You possibly can see and do all types of unusual issues there. Even Mrs. RB40 loved it and she or he’s laborious to impress. We extremely suggest this roadside attraction in the event you want a break from driving on the I-5. The Oregon Vortex is close to Grants Go, OR.
In Redding, we stayed at a Motel 6. It was satisfactory… We’re simply not used to paying $100 for a roadside motel. Motels and motels are costlier than ever. That’s why we tried to stick with households extra on this journey.
Humorous facet story – After we have been ready to check-in, the younger man in entrance of us requested the resort if that they had the “costly bar of cleaning soap” he left on the motel a couple of days in the past. After all, they don’t! That’s a part of the perimeter advantages for the maids. Sheesh, zoomers and their pampered selves. All of us rolled our eyes. Costly cleaning soap…
Redding to San Jose
We mentioned goodbye to Redding the subsequent morning and headed off for a half-day facet journey to go to Lassen Volcanic Nationwide Park. It’s like a mini Yellowstone. We noticed snowy peaks, idyllic meadows, peaceable lakes, and a few volcanic actions. It was a cool facet journey.
In San Jose, we stayed with my brother for a few nights. It’s good for RB40Jr to spend extra time along with his little cousins. They solely see one another a couple of days per 12 months, sadly. We additionally went for a brief hike and met up with my previous faculty roommate. He’s transferring to Monterey Bay! Subsequent time, we’ll crash at his place. Heh heh.
San Jose to Palm Springs
San Jose to Palm Springs was uneventful. We stopped for lunch in Pasadena. It’s such a pleasant metropolis. The solar was shining and the temperature was good. That is what Southern California is all about. Mrs. RB40 exclaimed – “Why couldn’t my dad and mom stay right here!”
We had lunch at Previous Sasook Bakery, an Armenian place. The meals was low-cost and scrumptious.
Mrs. RB40 loves this type of meals – plenty of carbs. Yummm!
Lastly, we arrived at Mrs. RB40’s dad’s within the California desert. It’s close to Palm Springs. We stayed along with her dad for 4 nights and didn’t do an excessive amount of. There have been plenty of errands to do with him. We ate a variety of Mexican meals.
Palm Springs to Santa Barbara
Alright, now to the enjoyable a part of our street journey. We drove to Lengthy Seashore to satisfy up with households and frolicked on the seaside for a bit.
It was lovely. The climate wasn’t too scorching and there have been only a few individuals round. We undoubtedly would spend extra time outside and train extra if we lived right here. Lengthy Seashore has a pleasant vibe. Let’s head up north a bit to get away from the LA space.
Woohoo! We made it to Santa Barbara. Mrs. RB40 and I attended UCSB, however we didn’t go to downtown Santa Barbara usually. The campus was a bit out of city and we had no cash. Now, we are able to benefit from the metropolis every time we go to. Santa Barbara is even nicer than Lengthy Seashore. We like it there.
Our first cease was La Tremendous-Rica Taqueria. This place is legendary for reasonable, massive servings, and scrumptious Mexican meals. Even faculty college students can afford it. The meals was superior as traditional. My tip is to go there throughout off-peak hours. There may be at all times a protracted line throughout lunch hours.
In Santa Barbara, we stayed on the Oasis Inn. This little motel has a traditional vibe. That is what I think about life will need to have been like within the 70s and 80s. Common Californians bringing their youngsters to Santa Barbara to calm down and go to the seaside. This place felt good. Not fancy, not a series, not run down. I loved it tremendously. Sadly, the web was horrible. Very spotty within the afternoon and night when everybody tried to get related. However I like that too. You don’t want web if you’re on trip, proper? The rooms have been good and the worth was fairly affordable for Santa Barbara, $150/night time.
For dinner, we went to our favourite sushi restaurant – Arigato Sushi! We ate there after they have been on a facet road and served a standard Japanese menu once we have been college students. Now, they’re on State Road they usually’re booked strong each night time. I bought us a spot at 8:45 pm. The meals was superior. We splurged and spent practically $200…
The subsequent day, we went to the seaside and tried some meals from the Santa Barbara Fish Market. The boat got here in at midday and we bought uni and oysters at 12:30. There have been so contemporary and scrumptious. Apparently, uni is all the trend in Santa Barbara. Again once we have been college students, I by no means noticed them on the menu. (Not that I’d have been capable of afford it.) Now, they’re on menus all over the place. The uni price $16 every. Within the image under, I ordered 2.
We actually loved Santa Barbara. It’s a really totally different expertise if you have some cash to spend. Again once we have been college students, we by no means splurged like this. Anyway, Mrs. RB40 and I might be trying to transfer again to Santa Barbara quickly. The town is so good and we’ll be rather a lot nearer to her household. Housing is kind of costly, however we most likely might afford it if we promote our duplex and our rental apartment.
Santa Barbara to San Jose
On the best way to San Jose, we took a facet journey to go to some faculty mates in Lompoc. It felt so far-off from Santa Barbara, however it actually wasn’t. I suppose it’s simply the drive. There have been so few automobiles on the street to Lompoc. Our mates have 5 youngsters! The oldest one goes to UCSB. Good! That’s a variety of obligations. After lunch, we drove as much as San Jose to stick with my brother for yet one more night time.
San Jose to Coos Bay
From San Jose, we took a facet journey to Santa Rosa to go to the Snoopy Museum present store. Mrs. RB40 bought a couple of issues from there years in the past they usually disappeared from our home. She thinks considered one of Junior’s mates borrowed after which misplaced them. Anyway, we needed to go to the present store so she will be able to get a couple of issues. She is a large Snoopy fan.
Ugh, it was a protracted drive from Santa Rosa to Coos Bay. The Snoopy present store opens at 11 am so we didn’t depart Santa Rosa till 12:30 pm or so. The street was small and windy many of the method to Eureka, CA. By the point we get there, we have been hungry and drained so we stopped for dinner After that, we took Freeway 1 as much as Coos Bay. This complete drive was good, however it took a very long time as a result of you’ll be able to’t drive that quick.
Okay, that is the place I went low-cost. I booked us a yurt at Sundown Bay Seashore Park. We’ve been there earlier than and we knew it was form of tough to seek out. Nevertheless, it was actually tough to seek out in full darkness. There was no road mild and no cellphone sign. Google Maps bought us many of the means there and we drove round a bit. The signal to the park was not lighted and we needed to backtrack very slowly earlier than we discovered it. We lastly bought to the yurt round 11:30 pm.
There, we bumped into extra issues. The yurt has a lockbox on it. We enter the combo and it wouldn’t open. I went to knock on the yurt host’s door and he wasn’t useful in any respect. I do know it’s off obligation, however give me some suggestions man. I went again to fiddle with the lockbox and despatched Mrs. RB40 to search for a ranger. After all, there was no person there at midnight. Anyway, I lastly bought the lockbox open after about half-hour. I used the important thing to lever it open. The latch was caught and also you couldn’t open it with simply your fingers. Contained in the yurt was good, although. Mrs. RB40 thought we’d must sleep within the automotive, however I bought us in. Whew!
The yurt price $56/night time. It’s larger on the within than it seems to be.
Coos Bay to Portland
The final leg of the journey! We stopped in Newport to eat at our favourite restaurant on the Oregon Coast – Native Ocean. We had the ling cod BLT, crab po’ boy, and fried oysters. The whole lot was scrumptious. Newport is a good city to get some seafood. We tried a number of eating places on our earlier journeys they usually have been all good.
After lunch, we drove house to Portland.
Street journey price: $1,889
Okay, we spent $1,814 on this street journey. Truly, this wasn’t unhealthy in any respect. The flight for 3 individuals would have price practically this a lot. There have been tons of flight cancellations that weekend too. It was loopy. I’m glad we drove.
Lodging – $504
We stayed 1 night time in Redding, 2 nights in Santa Barbara, and 1 night time in Coos Bay. Fortunately, we might stick with households for many of this street journey.
Gasoline – $558
Sadly, we have been on the street throughout the peak of the gasoline value spike. The worth bought a bit cheaper on the finish of our journey. We drove practically 2,500 miles on this journey.
Meals – $721
Meals was a giant expense on this journey. The worth of consuming out is simply excessive typically and we splurged on a couple of good meals. That’s alright. We’ll prepare dinner once we’re house.
Sights – $105
We spent $30 to go to Lassen. Oh, Mrs. RB40 and Junior spent $35 to go to the Oregon Vortex. That’s about it for sights on this journey. The seaside was free. 😉 Oh, Mrs. RB40 spent $40 on the Snoopy present store.
Wrap
Alright, that was a unbelievable street journey. We reconnected with households and mates, loved scrumptious meals, and relaxed on the seaside. This street journey was costlier than our earlier street journey, however it was effectively price it. We had a good time. We additionally recommitted to transferring again to Santa Barbara. It’s an incredible city and we’d like to retire there. Now, we simply have to determine easy methods to do it…
Are you taking a street journey this summer time? It’s a good way to see the nation.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel to comply with together with our journey. This summer time ought to be a variety of enjoyable. We’ll be in Thailand!
Passive earnings is the important thing to early retirement. This 12 months, Joe is investing in industrial actual property with CrowdStreet. They’ve many tasks throughout the USA so test them out!
Joe additionally extremely recommends Private Capital for DIY buyers. They’ve many helpful instruments that can aid you attain monetary independence.
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