The number of amazing scenic locations along the Pacific coast between Seattle and San Francisco is too many to count. How do you even start planning a road trip?
For our week-long vacation, my wife, Michelle, and I decided to make stops in Newport, Ore., and McKinleyville, Calif., before arriving to our destination, a hotel facing the ocean in Pacifica, south of San Francisco. We had stayed there 12 years ago, before we got married, and loved it. Why not repeat?
Except Pacifica and San Francisco, the rest of the trip was a new experience for us and for our two kids. We visited the aquarium in Newport, got our feet wet in desolate beaches along the coast, admired the majestic redwoods in Humboldt County and saw a colony of sea lions from a bluff in Moss Beach, Calif.
Though I don’t feel like drawing as much as I used to on my time off — I already sketch for my job! — I could not keep my hands away from the sketchbook to record some of those precious moments. If you have recommendations for a future coastal trip, perhaps closer to home, I’m all ears!
Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Newport, Oregon.
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Newport, Oregon.
Trinidad State Beach.
Avenue of the Giants at Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
