West Coast jaunt begins with a rush

(Nikon D90 video shows landing in San Francisco. Click arrow to start)

Wifey and I are into our hectic nine-day vacation to the West Coast and tonight, Tuesday, we experienced  a beautiful sunset from the third floor of the Tides Inn in Shelter Cove, CA.

Of course, there was a cool, if not cold, wind blowing off the Pacific Ocean that was almost as chilling as the drive to the Cove from Highway 101. 

I have done a lot of mountain driving in the Smoky's in the east, and this was just as much fun. For about 23 miles, it was up and down and  around and round, hills and curves and more hills and curves.

We arrived in San Francisco early Saturday via United Airlines. The wait for a rental car seemed rather horrendous as the line was extremely long. 

Heading out of Houston,TX on way to West Coast

Finally we were out the door, picked up a "transporter" in Burlingame and headed across the bridge and up Interstate 80 headed for Yreka for the first night. (Note: a transporter is similar to a wheelchair but not as bulky. It is easy to maneuver. My wife suffered a stroke last year and although ambulatory, we felt that in some instances, it would be more feasibly for me to push her than let her walk long distances at a slower pace.)

It was a long day. We got up at 3 a.m. Mississippi time and got into Yreka sometime around 9 p.m. California time.That was about an 18-hour day. We were bushed. 

The traffic through Oakland was pretty heavy but started thinning out once we got north of the town. We took the I-505 route and then hit I-5.  We kept the pedal to the metal and made good time.

Through the first four days we stopped in Yreka, made a scenic byways drive in Oregon, spent the night in a bed and breakfast in Coos Bay and overnighted in Eureka.

We'll pass on additional information over the next few weeks of what we did and also include some pictures.

Tuesday in the first night we got in early to our accommodations and we really are enjoying the downtime, other than having to make a post on the blog.

Next post: Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012