Hello, This one time, we decided to take a low powered 4 door sedan for great gas mileage and because it was a new sedan with a 4 speed stick shift. The winding Coast Highway through So Cal, the Central Coast and past San Francisco gave us a fun time shifting up and down as we rounded various curves/slopes. Even my wife loved driving the 4 speed stick shift. As we were close to leaving California near the Oregon border, we encountered these mysterious, giant, logging trucks that seem to blast out of forested roads that ended up on the Coastal Highway. Once on the highway, it certainly seemed like they wanted everyone to know that they owned the road. Perhaps, they were on a cost per load basis and were always in a hurry to go from the deep coastal forests to wherever to off load. They also liked to tailgate and being in a small 4 door sedan, we obviously pulled over to let the giant go past. But, since this was our first encounter, the big guy ruled the road and we let him/them go by with ease. Jnaki Driving through this section of the California coastline was really fun. It was completely different than our So Cal coastal drives. As we crossed the border into Oregon, the coastline remained relatively the same, tall cliffs, short narrow openings to a nice rocky + sandy beach if there was a creek or river emptying into the ocean. The forest was thick and gave some nice shade during the coastal version of a nice road trip. Our goal was Orcas Island in the San Juan Island chain with their ferry system and nice resorts. YRMV The amenities of the green forested areas coming right down to the water was not lost on our understanding of nature/water and locations. Despite being the same ocean, the coastal drives were different and certainly surprising with the big trucks in your rear view mirror. On our way home, we took the Oregon coast highway down to the crossing over to the I-5 and ended up in Ashland for a different place to rest. It certainly is a green area in all respects. From there, it was all inland highways, down the eastern side of California mountain divider range, back to the good old So Cal beach areas.
The Jalopy Journal
