California to Washington and back!

This is going to be a very long pictorial post. There are 45 pictures here with some explanations. Keep in mind I whittled it down from over 1000 pictures. These were, in my mind, the best of the best. If you are not interested in my mad photo skillz or my vacation...I understand...and you may exit stage left now. Otherwise, grab your popcorn and Diet Pepsi and pull up a chair...

This vacation took us from San Diego up to Tacoma, Washington. We spent most of the time on the coast line with a few treks inland. I have made this trip before with the most beautiful weather imaginable. Sadly, this trip was spent mostly under the cover of thick fog. I did not mind the fog except I was looking forward to awesome pics with my newish camera Zoey. Speaking of the weather...sorry most of you are dying of the sweltering heat. It's gorgeous here on the Left Coast.

Our first day was long(12ish hours) but we took the 1/101 all the way up the coast to San Jose. Gorgeous scenic road...but long and curvy. Oh, and guess what I forgot at home??? My camera battery and charger. I just wanted a last minute good charge. Thankfully there were plenty of Fry's along the way.(Fry's is an electronic store)

Just a note...we took this route both coming and going and the pics of the coast cover both trips.

This is the famous Bixby bridge. It is seen in a lot of movies and commercials.

Next stop, the Winchester Mansion in San Jose. The wife of the Head of the Winchester company went nutso in her later years and built a huge house to appease the ghosts of all the people killed by a winchester rifle. No pics allowed inside the mansion!

Same day, we drove a few miles to Felton, CA to ride the Roaring Camp Railroad train. (My mom is a train buff and all trips must include 1 or more trains) We have done this train a few times before already but it was Rose's first time. This pic was taken at the end of the ride and was doing a blow down. Neat shot to get...I was lucky.

We drove through San Francisco but did not stop to sight see. Of course, we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge. It too was fogged in. The fog did lift a little while we were there.

One of my favorite parts of California are the Redwoods. These trees are amazing. (hubs and I even honeymooned at the Sequoia National Park...that's inland but still the same family of glorious trees.) This tree is a tourist trap. Trees are not allowed to be cut out like this anymore. Our car did not fit through the opening due to the luggage rack on the top...all of Rose's junk!

This is at one of the tourist stops along the way in the Redwood forest. I have pics of me in front of these starting as a toddler all the way to adult.

We finally made it into Oregon. We had to drive inland a bit to get to Crater Lake. Worth the drive...don't you think? These pics are by far my favs and took my breath away when I saw them on my screen. It is hard to tell what you are getting from the small 3" screen on the camera.

After leaving Crater Lake we continued to drive north. Near Portland we veered off to follow the Columbia River. Talk about impressive. Plus, there are tons of gorgeous waterfalls along the way. This is Latourell Falls.

These falls are much more famous. The Multnomah Falls.

Rose being a teenager inside an old bridge we found.

We finally made it to Washington and to my sisters house. Rose was so glad to be home. Of course, we had a big family day out to ride the Mount Rainier Railroad train. We also stopped at a lake on the way and I took family shots for my sister. I have not gone through those yet but will soon and they will be on my photography blog.

On the way home we drove past Mount Shasta. That is in Northern California.

Just past Mt. Shasta is the Castle Crags. They are interesting to see. We just stopped by the side of the road for some quick photo ops.

Near Sacramento there is the Jelly Belly factory. We managed to get there an hour before they closed the tours. We just had time to do a tour and quickly shop in their gift shop before closing. We came home with tons of Belly Flops(the imperfect jelly bellies that do not deserve to carry the name jelly belly).

White Jelly Belly one(consider your arm punched)!!! hehe...and I don't even have cable tv and I know the current commercials.

We made our way back to the coast(still heavily fogged in). Our last stop before coming home was the Hearst Castle. It's in San Simeon, California. It sits high on a hill, just a speck from the road. Note, when we drove past it going north it was clear over the Castle. Coming back and during our tour you could not even see it up close. So I got no pictures of the castle. This is the Castles front door.

This is the castles front entry from the inside. No flash photography allowed inside so all my pics are without flash.

This is an example of one of the many gorgeous ceilings. They were all equally impressive.

The grounds had a gorgeous outdoor pool(fogged in) and this huge indoor pool. All that gold trim you see is just that...GOLD!!! I wish I had that kind of money laying around!

We saw tons of wildlife on this trip. This was at a view point on the CA coast. People were feeding the squirrels and trying to pet them...idiots! Squirrels are still wild and can carry diseases.

This was also in CA near San Simeon. We found tons of these elephant seals lounging on the beach(it stunk too).

This was in Northern CA near the Redwoods. Tons of Elk!

This little guy was also found in the Redwoods. He was like a sentinel, pacing back and forth on the railing.

Also in the Redwoods. He landed on a railing just below where I was standing.

And...of course I must include some flowers.

Well, that concludes our trip. We made it home safely and all my laundry is washed. Woohoo! Please leave a comment on your favorite picture! I can't wait to get caught up on everyone's blog.

(Please note, this was a long post to write...I did not proof read and edit any major mistakes...I'm tired...my fingers hurt...I can live with it if you can!)