West Linn, Oregon: Terry, Mary and Bryce Cumpston. Our first time to Chipotle. A night time venture into Portland one evening involved queuing for half an hour for the (in)famous Voodoo Donuts. Well worth the wait, even amidst a feisty community of homeless people.
Picnic lunch in the park.Then south to the organic hazelnut farm outside Eugene, Oregon: Lisa and Martin Corricello-McDowell, with Liam and Giavanni. Gorged ourselves on lush organic fruits and waded in the dam...
Continuing South, through the Makenzie-Santiam Passes, where we came across unexpected volcanic-covered terrain, as well as a chain of surrounding volcanoes, including Mount Washington...
Arriving in Bend, Oregon where we stayed in Cathy and Mark Lee's 'cabin'...
and enjoyed a wonderful lunch with old Zim friends Lee and Lynn Poole...
Our last stop in Oregon saw us camping at the stunning Crater Lake, a crystal blue 6-mile-across lake situated in an open-topped volcano, said to have last blown 7,700 years ago. And due for another blow… (how soon unspecified!)
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| Phantom Ship Island Leaving Oregon, we hit the famous I5 Highway into California… |
Instantly, the feel of the place was different! It sounds like such a cliche, but it did. Helped along, I guess by coming across funky towns such as this one…genuinely named Weed. Naturally, it markets itself to its best advantage…
We drove through the luxurious vineyards of Napa Valley, until we reached the much-anticipated San Francisco. The flamboyant shops, streets and people did not disappoint. We wandered around, jaws agape, down hippy Haite Street, gay Castro district, and touristy Fisherman's Wharf…
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| Always foggy in San Fran! We never once saw Golden Gate Bridge in its entirety! |
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| Darn, I forgot my flares |
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| Pot is available 'medicinally' - yah, right! |
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| loads of gor-geous guys round here Leaving SF and the coast behind us, we headed into the famed Redwood trees…  to meet up with Adam, Dom and baby Ty…  …in the amazing Yosemite National Park…  |
Driving ever further South, through the Mojave desert, we camped out under the stars, just like we'd done in Africa all those years ago!
Our final camping in North America was in the eerie, but stunning, Joshua Tree National Park, where we were visited by a single coyote as we once again slept out on the desert sands…
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| The Joshua tree is otherwise known as the YUKA tree, of which there are many throughout the Californian desert |
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| Skull Rock |
Our final two days saw us in Claremont, a suburb of Los Angeles, with Adam's darling parents Eileen and Mark, where we were treated like royalty. What a fabulous way to end our three busy months…
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| Eileen Goor, with Ingram the service-dog-in-training (under the table) And so… to LAX airport, having sold the faithful jeep for $1,000, now having to struggle with all twelve bags' worth of our worldly possessions! |
FAREWELL and THANK YOU North America, for showing us so many of your beautiful Parks, animals, coastlines, mountains and people - all true treasures for us to keep in our many happy memories.
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