No hotels were booked, we stopped when we felt it was enough. We checked for hotels near the vicinity on booking.com and checked the reviews and drove in if we were satisfied by the cleanliness, safety scores in the reviews and the price of the hotel
It became dark early, but the cold had not yet turned to icy snowy weather. Very grateful for that.
In fact we had been very worried about snow and inclement weather for the whole vacation and routed avoiding the northern routes. It had been pretty cold in Vegas, Redwoods etc but no rain/storms and our drives were also without snow
Neighbor kid set a pit bull puppy on us when we were bringing our bags to the room
· There was a family next door with a dog. The little girl ran out of her room and stared at us when we opened our room and put our daypack inside.
We walked back to our car and wheeled out our bags. She sat inside her room with the door open just enough to let the dog (a pit bull)on a leash to block the passage and prevent us from entering our room with our bags. The dog was barking, lunging at us aggressively
She did not pull in the dog despite our shouts, and was laughing and setting the dog on us. We said we are calling the cops, then a young guy inside pulled the dog in
What a weird family!! We complained to the lady at the front desk, who said she'll talk to them. They had already gone out for a meal may be.
We had parked our car on the other side, the weird kid may even do some hanky panky otherwise.
Next day we checked out early, so no more incidents.
Day 15 Dec 1 Drive
STAY Motel 6, Tuscan downtown
Motel 6, Tuscan downtown
Liked · Spacious room, comfy bed and right off the I-10 freeway.
Disliked · The hotel sign was not lit up. Made it difficult to find it.
The door had a gap between the edge and the wall. It let in sounds from outside and light as well.
There was a guy lurking around while we were unpacking bags from our car (our room was located on the back-side of the building - Room 113)
Day 16 Dec 2 Drive
STAY Hillcrest Inn and Suites, Ozona
Hillcrest Inn and Suites, Ozona
Day 17 Dec 3 Saturday
Back home in Houston [with time to rest on Sunday before staring the office routine]
DRIVING SUCH HUGE DISTANCES, WAS IT CRAZY/ WORTH IT?
It was crazy and yes, it was worth it
Avoiding airports, flights, baggage restrictions was great. We took our own electric stove, 3 utensils, water filter, rice, veggies, spices, fruits etc right from home
Return trip miles:
483+756+793+387 almost 2450 miles
WOW!!\
Even Vegas and back is a LOOONG drive. But it was amazing to enjoy all the special Christmas decor there , We got out on Thanksgiving day when crowds started pouring in
All the hotels were cancellable, Strat at Vegas, LA, Petaluma and Crescent city right on the morning of check in, we could have decided to not go and turn back.
LA was a relatively short drive from Vegas and it was enjoyable.
More time on Highway 1 and Big Sur would have been better.
We found Napa valley Sonoma underwhelming for non drinkers.
Redwoods was pretty, though not comparable to Kings Canyon, Sequoia .
all in all the trip was good, extra satisfaction of doing in our own car on our own terms!!
Happy travels to every one!
We were in Mexico city [with a weekend trip to Silver city Taxco ] for 10 days in Jan, Feb 2023, Report starts here
Day 12 Nov 28 Drive from Petaluma to Crescent City
STAY Lighthouse Inn 2 nights
It was almost a 7 hour drive from Petaluma to Crescent city.. Quite scenic with glimpses of the ocean and forests... we drove through the Redwood national park.
We had booked only 1 night here but extended it to one more.
It was winter, cold and darkness settling in and we retired for the day
Lighthouse Inn, Crescent city
Day 13 Nov 29 Redwood National Park
Highway 101 runs north & south through the middle of the Parks. We had driven through on our way to Crescent city 5 miles north.
Today we drove in same way.
Enjoyed the coastal drive
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
American folk hero Paul Bunyan (49 foot) and Babe the Blue Ox (35 foot) statues at Trees of Mystery near Klamath, California.
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. Across North America, giant statues of Paul Bunyan were erected to promote local businesses and tourism.
This is a Gift shop. We just enjoyed the statues outside
Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway
Then drove the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway to experience the heart of the Parks
WE tried to do the coastal loop but yhe road was bad. We returned to Crescent city, went tpward the lighthouse
Then we were back at our hotel.
LIGHTHOUSE INN
They had lovely decor in the common areas
Next day we checked out and started off on our drive back home.
