As a child, sitting in the car for eight hours on a road trip up Highway 101 was a pretty normal thing. My family made this pilgrimage annually to visit my grandparents that live in the last town before the Oregon state line, so I got pretty familiar with all the different cities and rest stops along our route North.
In Pacific-Northwest fashion, the small town of Smith River is generally overcast and receives an average of six feet of rainfall per year… aka not my favorite weather. But it also has some of the most breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, amazing fishing and elk sightings on the daily!
My perspective on this repeated and tired trip was renewed recently when I saw a documentary on Huell Howser, host of the travel documentary California’s Gold. The show followed Howser while he searched every corner of this state I call home for new and exciting things to see. With my interest piqued and the call to adventure ever tugging at me, AAA provided me with a special edition California state map that highlights all the locations he visited in his 443 episodes, so I took to planning when we visited Grandma this year.
So, here we go! Over the next few weeks I will be taking you along with me on a shortened version of Huell Howser’s California Gold!
World Watching 