see.roadtrip.day.1

8.30: Move out day.

Last day in San Francisco. We left San Francisco to stay with Mike's sister one last time in Fairfield, California. Needless to say we were loaded down. The car was full, the 4 x 8 uhaul trailer was packed to the brim, and I was fully moved out from my sweet little apartment on 39th ave. It was a sad trip to Amanda's house... many tears. The next day we officially started our road trip.
8.31: day 1 486 Miles- San Francisco, CA to Coos Bay, OR
Driving the 101 up the California and Oregon Coast was one of the many highlights of our trip. It is beautiful and really doesn't stop being beautiful the entire drive. Something about the cold ocean air and the lush green trees... sigh. That can make anyone feel better.

We will miss you...

We got a late start. So our plan to wander up the coast line and enjoy all the beautiful scenery was interrupted by darkness. We did make it to Humboldt County in the last remaining rays of sunlight to see the huge redwood trees!

Avenue of the Giants

Up!

The boys.

Taking measurements... just so we can tell people how big these things are!

We felt pretty good! But remember this was only hour 6 of day 1! haa haa

Story time: We were admittedly pretty bummed when we realized we weren't going to see any of the coast but we were making decent time other than that. The GPS said we would make it to our hotel in Coos Bay around 12:00 midnight. That was correct, until around 10:40pm...
Mike looks down and realizes we are getting low on fuel. So we start looking for places to stop. This is the 101... the towns are tiny and the hills are steep. The fuel light pops so I find a few gas stations via GPS that says only 7 miles. We both sigh and are confident we can make that. As we approach our destination... we find the darkest, sleepy little town. It was now 11pm and everyone had gone home... nothing was open. Nervously we look for the next gas station... 20 miles North. To make a long stressful 20 mile drive (story) short we finally putter into our destination or 'gas station' as noted on GPS... It is a circle K with no gas pumps! Just a store. At this point the gas needle is bending over the last ticker and we are puttering on fumes. The store, however, is at least open! Mike looks at me and says 'I have to go talk to these people... if I don't try, then we are sleeping on the road tonight'. Mike explains our situation and the guy looks at us and says 'you may be in luck tonight.. you two have cash?'
'yes'
The guy at the counter happens to have a friend visiting him at the store. He makes a few phone calls, talks to her for a minute, and she motions for us to follow her. We only follow her in the car for 1/4 mile to this boat dock. The ONLY reason there was someone at the boat dock was because this was the first year they opened Coho Salmon fishing since 1986! And they needed someone at the docks to gas up the boats, load and unload the boats etc. So this guy at the docks takes a look at us and explains how lucky we really are and then loads our hungry gas tank full of delicious boat gasoline! A full tank and a very nice tip later we are back on the road. Completely wired and counting every last lucky star we eventually complete the night by getting to the hotel and sighing a HUGE sigh of relief!
End Day 1