Eugene: Winging It With Samples

Sampling Oakshire Brewing's finest

Eugene was one of the places where we well and truly just winged it. You hear people say they have winged it around entire continents but we just don’t buy it. Winging it may very well give you the freedom to go wherever you please, but if it’s summer and you are heading to some pretty popular places, chances are leaving it to the last minute will only result in overpriced accommodation and more chance of missing out on something, than actually scoring something out of the blue.

Having said that, it wasn’t exactly the middle of summer and Eugene isn’t high on many people’s wish lists when they are road tripping through the States, so our chances were a little better than normal. Still the only reason we decided on Eugene was we needed some work done to the car and heard that Eugene was a hell of a lot cheaper than Cali.

And Rodge was in dire need of some new tires.

Risking the drive into Eugene on tires balder than I will be in a few years wasn’t the best of ideas, but we didn’t have much choice after we noticed the wire showing through on the two front tires in Crater Lake.

So upon arriving in town we pulled up to the first McDonalds we found and, like the homeless bums we are, took advantage of the free wifi. Thinking I would waste the best part of the afternoon getting quotes and booking Rodge in for his makeover, I was pleasantly surprised that most places we called were dirt cheap and could fit me in whenever I rolled in the door.

Whilst all this was happening Nic booked our accom which turned out to be far better than even she could have planned. Usually we book accom based namely on price – cos we are cheap – and then factor in the other elements. As we said, somehow we scored. The Econo Lodge came up trumps – the door locked, the toilet flushed, the wifi mostly worked and the location could not have been better.

Oregon is the state for craft breweries and Eugene did not disappoint. Owing to the fact that the next day was my birthday, we found a local place that had about 30 beers on tap and over a thousand in the cool room, and settled in for a session and a feed.

The next day was when we hit the jackpot, and I learnt the invaluable lesson of free samples. Realising how good a location our hotel was in, we decided to pick up a cake for me to eat entirely by myself and spend the afternoon walking from brewery to brewery.

Birthday lunch all to myself

Now, for those like me who enjoy the free things in life, samples are the way to go. Most breweries offer sample trays and in the US these are where the money is at. They are usually the same price as a pint, you get a fair bit more, and you don’t get stuck with a full pint you’d rather throw out than finish...but that would be sacrilege and is frowned upon in my world.

But the trick to the ‘sampling’ is to actually sample a few of the beers before you even decide on the sample tray. It’s all above board when the brewery has over a dozen beers on offer, sometimes up to 30 odd on tap. So even if you know which pint you want, or which 5 beers you actually want to sample, hit up old mate behind the bar to try a few before you actually buy a few. Given America is the land of the free pour, they aren’t too worried about handing out samples to any homeless looking bum.

You usually get to chatting to the barman this way as well. It’s hard not to when you’re a few pints deep, its 2pm on a Thursday and you’re the only drunk in the place. We even managed to score a few free samples off one of the local lads we ambushed in the third brewery, who joined us for the rest of our merry jaunt.

15 Samples at Hop Valley may have been our undoing - Cheers Cody

We had planned to stop somewhere for dinner along our staggering, and there was talk of hitting up a local nightclub, but by the fourth brewery there wasn’t too much clear thinking going on and it’s safe to say the walk home would be memorable if we could remember it.

If you ever find yourself in Oregon, which you really should try to, make a trip out to Eugene and get amongst the froths. And if you’re into college football get along to a Ducks game and make it a weekend you won’t forget.

Falling Sky - Brewery 2 of 4 on 

Crater Lake National Park: Resume Building

Crater Lake & Wizard Island

Crater Lake isn’t much like the other national parks we have visited so far on our trip. Most other parks have a number of must see attractions, whereas, as the name suggests, Crater Lake N.P. is just that. A lake.

Although not quite...

Rather than a lake that has developed in a crater, it actually formed when Mount Mazama erupted nearly 8000 years ago, and the resultant collapse of the caldera was sealed. (For the year 12 geography star pupil in you Mike, a crater is caused by impacts from meteorites, and calderas are large circular depressions formed at the top of a volcano when the magma chamber collapses – cheers Wiki). Over the following years rain water and snow melt have filled the caldera and given the lake its mesmerising blue colour.

Crater Lake has a very much relaxed feel to it as a park. In most other parks, given the number of attractions that are listed as must see, and the FOMO (fear of missing out for all you oldies) in all of us, you feel guilty if you aren’t spending every waking hour of the day walking your sorry arse to one of the said attractions. Given Crater Lake is just the lake we were able to relax, and actually take the time to enjoy the park.

Crater Lake viewed from Mount Scott

None of the hikes are too strenuous and if you are pushed for time you could actually tick this one off in half a day. But if you have the time, spend a night or two. Take your time completing the circuit drive around the lake, hike up Mount Scott for the best all-encompassing view of the lake and the surrounding Cascade Mountain Range, walk to the water’s edge and get lost in its blue depths, and finally take in the differing colours of the lake from Watchman Overlook as the sun sets over the Cascades.

I don’t know how unique it is, but Crater Lake is not fed by any river system, and as such the water is of a colour I have never experienced. In fact, over the years the lake has had a number of different names, with 3 of the 4 all using the word blue in the title – they were a creative bunch back in the day.

Not that I set out to do this when we first left on this trip, but I can now say that I have climbed an active volcano, which happened to erupt about 9 months later (have a loo at this if you don't believe me), and swum in a dormant one. Shit, I might even add that to my resume if we ever stop and try to find a job. But who am I kidding....

 

The changing colours of Crater Lake at sunset

Yosemite National Park: Second Chance Draw

Glacier Point Panorama

Yosemite is arguably the most famous national park on the planet, and with such a reputation come high expectations...and crowds!

If you are looking to stay in the valley, and are thinking of checking out Yosemite in summer, book early. And I mean really early!

As you may have guessed it, we didn't! But we did score a decent camp at Bridalveil Creek which enabled us to watch the sunset over the valley from up at Glacier Point. I would say that Glacier Point would have the best view in the park. For starters it's the only pace you can take in Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Vernal & Nevada Falls from the same place. And if hiking for miles on end isn't your thing, this highlight reel is just a short stroll from the carpark.

Glacier Point at sunset

Often at dusk, the setting sun lights up Half Dome and the surrounding granite monoliths in a deep red crimson, or different shades of pinks and oranges. We got a slight pinkish overtone but nothing as spectacular as some of the photos I have seen.

One of the other major highlights of Yosemite is hiking Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls. I would highly suggest checking out Lower as early as possible, as once the tour buses roll in, there is a fair chance every photo you have will contain a 'peace sign' in it somewhere.

One of the best things about the lower falls is that you can climb over the rocks and pools to the base of the falls, where 6 years ago in the midst of winter a few of thought it would be a great idea to have a quick dip! Unfortunately for me, my jeans feel in the water as well, along with my passport, and given we jumped in in our jocks, I had to free ball it in Nicko's footy shorts which was pretty risky for all involved.

Lower Yosemite Falls

I restrained from jumping in this time round, but one upped myself by getting in at the top of Upper Falls. The hike to Upper Falls is pretty strenuous and surprising given the variety of hikers attempting it. But the views you get of the valley are pretty special from this vantage point which may be why so many cadets are on the trail.

Yosemite Valley

Getting to the top and being able to swim about in the deep pool reminds me a little of Devils Pool at Victoria Falls (not that we did it) in that you are swimming near the edge of a waterfall, but in complete safety.

Upper Yosemite Falls

If you have it in you, hike a little further around to Yosemite Point which grants you better views of Half Dome than anywhere else on the trail, but as I mentioned earlier, Glacier Point gives the best view of it anyway.

Panoramic view from Yosemite Point

The other major hike everyone wants in on is Half Dome itself. Unfortunately given half of America and the rest of the world want to do this, you need a little luck on you side to get a permit. There are something like 200 granted per day – 125 per-reserved which go quicker than the cake at a fat kids birthday, 25 for over night campers and 50 for day hikers.

To get the 25 overnight permits you need to line up the day before and at 11.00am they hand out what they have left. Not for us.

To get the 50 day hike permits you apply two days prior and rather like lotto, count your lucky stars if you win. During summer there are as many as 1000 clowns trying to get these 50 permits, and given you pay a non refundable $5, Yosemite must be raking it in!

If you hadn't guessed it, we missed out on the permits. You can hike up to the start of the dome (you need the permit to complete the last 700ft which you use cables to scale the back of the giant granite monolith) and either risk it and head up there without a permit, or try and piggy back onto another group. Given we are as straight as you can get when it comes to National Parks, and its a pet peeve seeing some many other knobs breaking these simple rules we didn't go any further than Nevada Fall.

Again, if you are planning on hiking any part of the Mist Trail to take in both Vernal and Nevada Falls, do it early and avoid the masses. But it's definitely a must do when you're in the park.

Vernal & Nevada Falls

Seeing as though we missed out on the Half Dome hike we chatted to a few of the rangers and got a few recommendations. The one they they all recommended was Clouds Rest – just a casual 16 mile round trip, which unlike many other hikes in the park, actually brings you up behind Half Dome and a 1000 feet above it.

The incredible view from Clouds Rest

If you miss out on Half Dome definitely stretch the legs on Clouds Rest, as like so many of the rangers commented, hiking Half Dome, although amazing in its own right, you don't actually get the view of Half Dome itself – probably the biggest attraction of the park.

Yet another draw card of this magnificent park are the Giant Sequoia Trees – apparently only found in three of America's parks. The best of them are found down in Mariposa Grove with the Grizzly Giant standing at over 65m high and a diameter of 7.8, making it the 25th largest giant sequoia living today.

As luck would have it, Mariposa Grove was closed for rehabilitation but we were told Tuolemne Grove was a decent runner up. But like I have previously written about the Redwoods, yes these big trees are incredible but after you've seen one you feel like you've seen them all. And given this was at the end of a 27km day, we weren't as enthusiastic as some of the others around us.

Tuolemne Grove

I truly believe Yosemite does live up to its reputation. Its a park, where with a bit of luck you can do things that you will not be able to do anywhere else in the world, and even without luck, the second prize draw is a pretty decent consolation.

You can spend your days in the park hiking till your legs fall off, scaling the granite cliffs like some sort of crazy mountain goat (a little experience might be necessary for this one), or simply lazying around in the valley taking in the sheer magnificence of this place.

If you didn't enjoy Yosemite, then you did it wrong!

San Francisco: On Second Thoughts

Golden Gate Bridge & Bay

I think the more I look back on San Fran the more I actually like it. San Fran came with a heavy billing – everyone who has done a west coast road trip raves about it, and although I did like it whilst we were there, it didn't quite live up to those lofty expectations.

For us it was just another city, sure there are some cool things to see and do, but so do all cities and at half the price. However, looking back I do realise the appeal it has over most other west coast destinations.

Now although it doesn’t have as good a beaches as the rest of the west coast, there actually is a pretty decent one down near Golden Gate Park. But where it lacks in beaches, and given our upbringing, Californian beaches aren't as amazing to us as to other travellers, it makes up for in other attractions, and free ones at that!

Firstly, it is one of the only cities of late that I have actually enjoyed just wondering around the streets of. Usually after say 10 minutes of this I ask Nic if there is a purpose to our seemingly aimless wandering and put an end to it. But for once I was quite happy just walking through Chinatown and the waterfront and getting a feel for the city. Plus I cocked up the bike hire so I had to be happy with walking!

Coit Tower provides a beautiful outlook of the city's famous bridges, along with the bay area itself and downtown. Then there are the numerous free samples at the markets along the waterfront and a few select places in Chinatown. Half the time I don't even know what I am eating, but free is free!

Coit Tower, San Fran-Oakland Bay Bridge & China Town

And of course no trip to San Fran would be complete without crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. I actually think the Oakland Bridge is better, but still walking or cycling across Golden Gate is worth the effort. We splurged and hired bikes (I got it right the second time round) and I think I took over 50 photos of the same thing, you know just at a slightly different angle each time, or closer up, or with someone in it, etc.

Two very similar, yet entirely different 'views' of Golden Gate

If you have it in you, ride around to Sausalito or the Marin Headlands, but if you are happy with the first 50 photos you have taken of the bridge, ride back across and continue around to the ocean side and make your way to Lincoln and Golden Gate Parks. And don't worry, from this side you can take another 50 photos of the bridge from an entirely new angle!

Golden Gate Park would be an ideal place to spend time with a crew, a few cold beers, a selection of fine cheeses and snacks, and the all important activities bag. As we had none of these necessities, we just rode through it. But again, if you have forked out for a bike, you might as well get the most out of it and get that arse of yours nice and sore. So the more k's you rack up on it, the more chance you have of reaching that 'sore arse' goal.

One more for good measure - Golden Gate viewed from the Lincoln Park

You can also peddle yourself over to the Castro District, or through the Panhandle and the Wiggle, or Alamo and Union Squares but then again you can altogether miss these places if looking at buildings and shopping isn't your thing.

San Fran's 'Painted Ladies'

There ends the 'Free Shite to do in San Fran Tour' brought to you by yours truly, but there are still some decent things to do if you can find that wallet of yours.

Like every man and his dog, you can tag along and check out Alcatraz Island. I would almost say it's worth getting the boat out there just for the views you get, but to be honest that would be lying. That's not to say the views aren't amazing, but not $30 amazing. The tour through the prison cells is interesting enough, but given how popular it is, you'd think they could do a little more with it. But maybe that's why, you don't have to try too hard if you already have 2 million people visiting per year regardless of the quality of your tour.

Maybe these views are worth $30?

And for those wondering, the audio tour hasn't changed in the last 7 years, so if you've been before, it's a safe bet you've seen it all and you can save yourself the coin. It's a detriment to the place where one of it's most interesting features is it's bookstore! That may be a little over the top, but if they shared just a fraction of the stories contained within the books on sale on the actual tour (stories of the actual prisoners and their time on the Rock), I think Alcatraz would be a hell of a lot more captivating.

I should point out that Nic doesn't share any of these opinions, and I probably didn't the first time round, but they do say you get more cynical as you get older!

The Rock

The final stop of the tour with cash would be getting to a Giants game at AT&T Park. Not that I have been to any other baseball fields but I did hear some of the locals saying it is one of the best ball parks in the world. And I would have to agree.

Apparently it's one of the first ball parks in the states not to have full stands of seating encircling the entire field, rather they have left the seating surrounding the outfield (from right field across to left) at not much taller than ground level. What this means is you can actually 'hit it out of the park'. And we were lucky enough to see a Grand Slam do just this (for those of you not in the know a Grand Slam is a home run belted out when the bases are loaded. And according to old mate sitting behind us doesn't actually happen too often – it was the first one he had ever seen live). And given AT&T Park is situated right on the water's edge, hitting it out of this park meant the ball found its way into the bay where it was quickly snapped up by a semi-homeless lad waiting for precisely this moment.

Giants vs. Phillies @ AT&T Park

At first we thought someone from the crowd had actually jumped from the stadium walls into the water, but after walking around the stadium we realised there is a public pier just underneath the walls where old mate was awaiting his opportunity.

So even though we got a belter of a game, I reckon any game at AT&T Park would be worth grabbing the cheapest seats available and checking it out. Plus you can always move around and upgrade those bleacher seats after a few innings.

And if baseball isn't in season there is a fair chance football is, or basketball, or NHL, and I reckon heading to any one of these would be a worthwhile experience whilst in the Bay Area.

San Fran-Oakland Bay Bridge - I actually like this one better than Golden Gate

San Fran originally didn't do much for me, but the more I look back on it the more I see it's charm. Yeah it's pretty overpriced and everyone has the same ideas of how best to spend their time in San Fran as you do, but it's too good a place to not have a good time in.

Downtown San Francisco

Highway One: The Ultimate Road Trip

Big Sur - one of the many popular destinations along Highway One

Highway One rolls along the Californian coast all the way from San Diego through to the northern border with Oregon. It is regarded as one of the 'All American' roads, and covers some of the most stunningly beautiful coastlines of the world.

From white sandy beaches, to rugged cliff tops, almost every man and his dog coming to Cali hits this road at some point in time. Some sections are more well known than others, and some are more overrated than others, but I would say it is worth setting foot, or should I say tire, on if you have the time.

The route from San Diego to LA is one of the more worthwhile sections. Leaving San Diego we stopped off at no less than 6 beaches, and swum at 3. With the pick of the lot being Blacks Beach just north of San Diego, albeit a nudist beach, the steep goat path down the cliff ensures the beach remains relatively quiet and for us, nudist free. There is usually a decent swell rolling through Blacks which makes the walk down worthwhile.

Blacks Beach

The next best would be San Clemente. Again with some swell on offer, it would be a shame not to dip your feet. The seaside town of San Clemente also seems like a pretty sweet place to spend a week or so with a bunch of mates.

San Clemente - good spot for a picnic

A little further north of here is San Juan Capistrano – not on many peoples wish lists but is home to some good friends of ours who took us in for 4^th of July weekend. We met Jason and Sabra back in Chile early last year and to be able to spend the best American holiday with them was awesome.

It actually made me think of home for once. The weekend was just like Aussie Day back home – spent amongst good friends, plenty of good food and cold beverages, just minus the tunes of Triple J – but we made up for that. It was one of the most chilled weekends we have had in a while, just relaxing at their place, riding around town, soaking in some rays down the beach, a hit down at the driving range with a few cold ones (fair to say I still don't have it and probably never will), and a well needed pedicure (don't knock it 'til you've tried it… no we let the girls indulge in this one) and a backyard kubb tournament to end all backyard kubb tournaments. And of course what 4^th of July wouldn't be complete without an 'All American' hot dog, a ferris wheel ride and some fireworks!

4th of July San Juan Fair

Thanks for having us for the weekend guys, we couldn't have asked for a better time!

The trip through to LA wouldn't be complete with out the obligatory stops at Laguna, Newport, Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach – if you are looking for a spot of swimming I would recommend Manhattan over the others.

Heading north of LA, the drive through the Malibu coast is one of the 'Hollywood' sections of LA that really does live up to it's reputation. The houses are insane, the water's turquoise blue, and the cars on the road made Rodge look like the poor cousin he is!

Newport, Hermosa & Laguna Beach

Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz are all major tourist stops, and I would recommend a quick stop at each, but look for a place a little off the beaten path and save yourself some coin. We chose Ventura for this and filled one of the days with a trip out to Magic Mountain – touted as one of the best theme parks in America.

Santa Barbara & Ventura - home of Spencer McKenzie's

And it didn't disappoint. Luckily for Nic we had roped Bec into joining us for part of the road trip and she was with us for Magic Mountain. For once Nic had someone who could keep up with her on the roller coasters. Apparently I am only good for two rides in a row, then someone needs a little rest.

Magic Mountain is like no other theme park I have been too. It's definitely not for the faint-hearted; pretty much every roller coaster there would be the top dog at any other theme park. The pick of the bunch would have been Twisted Colossus – at nearly 4 minutes long you feel like you get two rides in the one, plus unlike most rides these days that strap your shoulders, the Twisted Colossus only straps you in from the waist down, giving you far more room to move around – just what you want right? Yours truly needed a sit down after this.

Magic Mountain is also home to a lot of innovative and unique roller coasters. The Tatsu is billed as the longest and fastest 'flying' coaster in the world. And given I have never been on a 'flying' coaster before I wold have to agree. You are placed in a position much like you would be if you were flying a broom which makes the ride like no other I have been on.

The Riddler's Revenge has you in the standing position for the length of the ride – just make sure you adjust the padding in the crutch area prior to take off as it can become a little uncomfortable if your family jewels are under immense pressure for the majority of the ride.

Six Flags - Magic Mountain

And finally there is X2 – yet another one like no other. Picture your standard 'top thrill' roller coaster, except the structure you are strapped to somersaults independently of the rest of the ride. Fair chance you'll end up a little dizzy after this one.

But still I would say the 'drop tower' rides give you the biggest adrenaline rush – there is just something about free falling that no other ride can replicate. And Bec if you are reading this, the Lex Luther: Drop of Doom is actually taller than the Giant Drop at Dreamworld, so I guess that means someone owes me a photo of a certain someone eating something extremely chili! Haha.

Next up along the coast is Big Sur – a place everyone recommends but no one really tells you much about it. And although it's spectacular, I would say it's a little overrated. Some of the scenery is breath taking but apart from driving along the coast there really isn't much else to it. Having said that it is still definitely worth driving through, I just wouldn't dedicate too much time to it.

McWay Falls

We stayed one night and I would say any longer and you'd find yourself getting rather bored. However that doesn't stop what seems like half the population of Cali doing that exact thing. Every campsite was booked out for the foreseeable future and the road jam packed with rented RVs, convertibles and bikes that you don't get far in a rush.

Given all the actual campsites were full we were wondering where we would be able to pull up for the night. Given there are signs every hundred meters informing you you can't just camp on the side of the road we were lucky enough to have a friendly ranger give us some handy directions to some 'free' spots just off the main highway.

The breath-taking scenery of Big Sur

The Bixby Creek Bridge and McWay Falls are incredible sights and are without a doubt the highlights of the drive, but the entire coastline is postcard worthy. I said earlier that it's a little overrated, and I stress the word 'little' in that sentence. Big Sur is a must for anyone heading along the Cali coast, just don't get carried away with all the hype. For us, after looking at the same thing for hours on end, albeit some incredible scenery, it all just seems to blend in after a number of hours.

Bixby Creek Bridge

San Francisco is next up along the coast but I will go into more detail on that one at a later date, likewise for Yosemite as that's the usual spot everyone ends up after San Fran.

San Fran would also often be the furtherest north most people head on their Californian road trip, and I reckon most people have the right of it.

We were continuing north to Oregon so thought we would check out the Lost Coast – I wish we hadn't bothered. Much like the rest of the Cali coast it has its moments but turning a 4 hour drive into an 8 hour ordeal wasn't quite what we had in mind. If you have the time to take a few days heading north, then by all means go for it. But if looking at tarmac for hours on end isn't your thing, I would recommend taking the shortest route possible up to the Redwoods.

Duncans Landing on the Lost Coast

The Redwoods are much like any other 'big tree' forest. But again if you're in the area stop in for a the morning and check out some of the biggest trees you'll ever see. But then again, when you've seen one they all look alike after that.

Highway One is one of the best drives we have been on. It doesn't take you on the most efficient of routes, but if you have nowhere to be in a hurry, and you really shouldn't when on holiday in Cali, take in part or all of it. You'll be treated to some of the best coastal scenery you'll get world wide, plus some half decent breaks along the way. Much of it is the same, so whether you take in a little or a lot, you'll enjoy yourself nonetheless.

Big Sur sunset and Santa Cruz