Way Out West: Northern CA & Oregon

Welcome to long days and warmer nights, Summer is here! It's also time to stretch your wandering limbs and explore: in this blog series we will be highlighting the great things to see and do Way Out West. You don't need to step far from our coast to discover great adventures-make it a day or a weekend, grab your sunhat and go...

Ever since the days of road trippin' with the fam in the Vista Cruiser, the Redwood highways have always been a favorite. Team Hendry was looking for a getaway with tree lined highways and rivers and streams to play in, and out-of-the-way campsites to sleep in.  We found exactly what we needed.

We drove through wine country--Healdsburg and Boonville being some favorites. They had lots of good food and shops, like Jimtown Store, to explore. Then we took Hwy 128 from wine country to Mendocino and this was one of the most beautiful drives of old barns, farmhouses, gardens, vineyards, and giant trees!

Avenue of the Giants skirts the 101 and is filled with roadside stops, little towns, and of course, giant giants. Along the Avenue is the town of Redcrest, where we stopped in to visit Reclaimed Relics.

Arcata had the second best farmers' market we've seen every Saturday morning. So much wonderful food and homemade goods, alongside music, coffee, and beautiful produce.

CAMPGROUNDS IN NORTHERN CA

Albion River campground

Burlington campground

Mill Creek Resort 

Panther Flat Campground

We always like to make our destination Grants Pass, Oregon--where there is a campground on the Rogue River called Schroeder Park. The jet boat tours on the Rogue are great fun, especially on a warm day.

One last favorite: Jacksonville, Oregon--about a half hour from Grants Pass. It is a very cool old gold mining town with wonderful old buildings, homes, and new shops. It feels like a town that time forgot.

Not Your Typical White Elephant Sale

We've been hearing about this "White Elephant Sale" for a few years. Our friend shirley, who resides in Oakland, volunteers for the organization that puts on the sale, The Oakland Museum.

What we've heard was that this was a once-a-year event, at a huge warehouse with many departments, pre-sale tickets are involved, yada yada. Our friend Shirley is actually Stacy's mom (and our hotel accomadation when we go to The Alameda Flea), and as we talked more and more about it, it was apparent that if we were going to claim to be 'junkers', we better check this out. Jenny of Glitterfarm, came to The Rose to do some motivating and next thing we know, we were on for a road trip the next day!

It was definately epic! The warehouse spanned a full city block, filled with donations that had come in for an entire year. The space was broken down into departments and there were deals! Organization, yes! Deals, yes!

We were there on their "friends and family" days so it wasn't as packed as the pre-sale day. Word on the street is that on those days there are upwards of two to three thousand people--yes, you read right, thousands! To get in on those days, you have to pre-pay $15, or $20 at the door just to get in. Do the math, that's a lot of money without even opening the doors!

There is a rules and regulation handout and also a map of the warehouse departments that you pick up when you first get in line. OK, we were all getting excited now.

Jenny thought that she would head for home and garden department, I was searching for art and Stacy was...hmm I forget now. I think it was a full 2-3 hours before I even ran into Jenny again! Every so often I would have to call Stacy to come and rescue me from overwhelming desicions.

What I loved as much as all the amazing merchandise, was the organization that had gone into this event. The volunteers were all assigned a department and they only worked that given department. They knew their stuff and were so helpful. I seriously can't believe we have to wait a whole 'nother year for our next visit!

Now it's your turn...the sale is open to the public this weekend--March 3rd and 4th. Don't miss out! Check their website here for more details.

Day 2: 4th St. Retro Row, Long Beach

Before moving to San Luis Obispo, I lived in Belmont Shore, Long Beach. I loved it. I wanted to share some of my favorite places with Stacy, so this is where we went next.

When I lived there, there were only a handful of stores on 4th street. Now there are blocks of them, most specializing in mid century furniture and accessories, and also vintage clothing stores.

After all the junking we did on Saturday, were we done? Not by a long shot! Before we left, we were armed with a lot of places to check out. Kathy is pretty savvy with L.A. shopping and good food, and she told us about a great breakfast place, Urth Caffé--I believe there are 4 locations. We are already looking forward to a return visit, healthy and delicious food and coffee! Thanks Kathy!!

Steve (from the Inn Paradiso post seen here) thought we would all enjoy the Melrose Trading Post which is held every Sunday at Fairfax high school. Thanks Steve!! This flea costs $2 to get in and is a great mix of vintage and art.

This art stopped me in my tracks--it's no mystery which piece i am now coveting, the winnebego of course.

When we asked for a business card, without missing a beat, he sat down, tore the paper and took out his sharpie and drew his card simply and perfectly!

There are so many resources to get info on good places from. We now have Google, Yelp, blogs, magazines and listening to friends and locals of course. On this trip, we used them all. We got lucky on this one!

Day 1: Road Trippin' to the O.C. and L.A.

My girl turned 'sweet 16' and she wanted to spend it at Disneyland with two close girlfriends that she grew up with. Good enough reason to get some shopping and inspiration in while the girls did their thing, right? Stacy and I dropped them off in the morning and headed to two shopping areas (aka The Antimalls) in the O.C. that we had read about. Antimalls, meaning there no chain stores--the only exception being urban outfitters, as this was one of the original stores.

One is called 'The Lab' and the other right across the street is 'The Camp'. We were hungry and in need of nourishment so we started at The Camp, and put our names in at The Old Vine Café (thanks to my friend Margaret for the recommendation--she always knows the cool new eateries). We were charmed as we walked up and saw the waiting area--long tables, hammocks, and tractor seats all amongst succulents and tall grasses. The menus were attached to beautiful oil paintings. Stacy is a great travel partner because she loves to share food, which allows us to try different things on the menu! We had the most amazing pumpkin/pecan french toast, and a poached egg dish with parmesean crusted green tomatoes, yummy.

The main store at The Camp is an indie department store called Seed People's Market. I think I walked in through the wide opened glass doors with my jaw dropped. The displays, the art, the layout, and the merchandise choices, dang!

This collage was newspaper cutouts on black and simple white frames. I didnt get pictures of the clothing area, but I was in Patagonia heaven! It was very sporty/outdoorsy oriented, and all very stylish at that.

The one theme that was continued through both Antimalls was the "store within a vintage trailer" theme. Love! We own vintage trailers and are suckers for all things "campy". There was one airstream with a succulent shop, one with all things bicycle, a vintage trailer with a record store, and another with vintage clothes and finds.

One of my favorite things to do is hang out at magazine stands, shops, newstands, book stores...this one was tucked in a lovely sitting area.

I loved that each of the parking spaces had little messages, what a way to start or end the day--with a little ditty!

We can't wait to go back. Stay tuned for day two!

Charley

When we start out on a road trip, we occasionally get a book on cd that we will all enjoy. One particular trip, we listened to John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley. We loved the book and all of the wisdom and clarity it gave us.



We have just brought home our newest member of our family, Charley, appropriately named for all of the travels and adventures we will have. One of my favorite quotes from the book is: "A journey is a person itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us."

Day Trippin'

The sun was out and we had a day off , so we headed for our beach house--the view was great!

Did I mention that our house has wheels on it?

The interior was in need of an update, so we threw on some fresh summer linens and all was well.

Everyone has their necessities when traveling...ours is the kitchen, especially the espresso maker.

We were blessed with such a beautiful day, and the best part was that it only took 20 minutes from our door to the ocean!