NorCal and Oregon Family Road Trip

Last week (August 7 - August 13), I went on a road trip with my family (mom, dad, brother, and grandma to be specific), where we went to various places in Northern California and Oregon, including Napa, Fairfield, Redding, Crater Lake, Prospect, and Crescent City. Overall, I thought that the family trip was a good experience since I got to visit places that I've never been to before. Also, it was the first time that I ever visited Oregon. I thought that the trip could've been better if I didn't get a sore throat that was accompanied with a runny nose and lots of spit in my mouth. I made a TikTok video, an Instagram post (shown below), and a Youtube video highlighting the family trip.

August 7

Downtown Napa

Bale Grist Mill State Historic
Park (Napa County)

My family and I visited the Napa area. One memorable moment that day included talking to the people at the Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park – we talked about our personal lives, including where we're from and where I go for college. My family also bought pastry flour from Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park. Another memorable moment was seeing the Napa Valley sign and going to downtown Napa. I have seen pictures of Napa online before, so being able to see Napa's sights in real life was a fun experience.

During the evening, we drove to a Fairfield hotel, which was pretty spacious since it had 2 rooms for sleeping.

August 8

We started the day by going to Fairfield's Jelly Belly Factory. We were able to see how the Jelly Belly jelly beans were made, which was a cool experience since the factory involved both the use of machines and people. Moreover, the factory had plenty of artworks made out of jelly beans (including the Statue of Liberty and various U.S. presidents) and videos relating to Jelly Belly.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Another picture of Lassen
Volcanic National Park

After going to Jelly Belly, we I drove northward to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park. The national park was pretty mountainous with plenty of trees, although there were some trees there that were likely affected by fires that occurred during the last few years, such as the 2021 Dixie Fire. We also saw some hot springs in the Bumpass Hell area of the national park. We also saw some lakes, including Lake Helen and Manzanita Lake. At Manzanita Lake, the walk around the lake took quite a long time, and at one point my dad was not with the rest of my family, so we walked back to find him. However, the sky was also getting darker, and I remember my mom getting annoyed at my younger brother for walking too quickly in the dark because he could get lost too. It also rained a little bit later on, but we were eventually able to reunite with my dad and drive to a Redding hotel to stay there for the evening.

Bumpass Hell

Manzanita Lake

Lake Helen

August 9

During the morning, we went to Redding's Sundial Bridge. The design of the bridge looked cool, and the bridge functions like a sundial. Although the weather was quite hot (it was probably around 80ºF, which is pretty warm for the morning), I had a good time visiting the Sundial Bridge.

Sundial Bridge

Standing in the
Sundial Bridge
shadow

After visiting Sundial Bridge, we went to see various waterfalls: Burney Falls, McCloud River's Upper and Middle Falls, and Hedge Creek Falls. For Hedge Creek Falls, you can even go under the waterfall, which was a cool experience for me. Moreover, the Hedge Creek Falls area had some blueberries that could be picked and eaten (although they were sour compared to normal blueberries).

Burney Falls

blueberries at
the Hedge
Creek Falls Area

After visiting those waterfalls, we drove to Oregon, and it was our first time ever going to Oregon. On our way to Oregon, we saw some views of Mt. Shasta, which is one of the highest peaks in the Cascade Range and in California. Since it was summer, the Mt. Shasta did not have much snow on it, but more snow can be seen during the winter. For our first night at Oregon, we stayed in a Klamath Falls hotel.

Wizard Island can be seen
in this Crater Lake photo

August 10

Phantom Ship at
Crater Lake

We went to Crater Lake National Park. At Crater Lake, we saw the vastness of the lake and the islands on the lake (Wizard Island and Phantom Ship). We drove around different areas of the lake to have a better look at those islands.

Striking a pose at
Vidae Falls

In addition to Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park also had waterfalls, and we went to Vidae Falls. We took some photos with the waterfall, and my dad, brother, and I struck some poses in some of those photos.

Pearsony Falls

During the evening, we went to Prospect Historic Hotel in Prospect, a place in Oregon with a very small population (only 455 people as of the 2010 census). Near the hotel, we went to a waterfall called Pearsony Falls.

August 11

A panorama of Diamond Lake

My dad, brother, and I played horseshoes around the Prospect Hotel area. There were also some other things around the hotel area, including a bear statue and a farm (where we saw a horse). After that, we went to Mill Creek Falls and Barr Creek Falls, two other waterfalls in Prospect.

Barr Creek Falls

Mill Creek Falls

After going to those waterfalls, we went to Diamond Lake and ordered lunch there. While we were waiting for our lunch, we walked around the Diamond Lake area and noticed some blue dragonflies on the lake's water. There were also views of mountains and trees around the lake.

Watson Falls

We then went to see some more waterfalls: Toketee Falls, Watson Falls, Whitehorse Falls, and Clearwater Falls. Although we had to do some hiking to get good views of Toketee Falls and Watson Falls, we didn't have to do much walking to see Whitehorse Falls and Clearwater Falls. Out of all of the waterfalls, Watson Falls was the highest. Meanwhile, we noticed a rainbow on Whitehorse Falls.

Close-up view of
the rainbow at
Whitehorse Falls

During the evening, we stayed at a hotel in Medford. In that hotel, my dad, brother, and I went swimming in the hotel pool. The pool itself wasn't very big, but there was also a spa area. After swimming, although I did use a towel to dry myself up so that I wasn't too wet, I made the mistake of not bringing the towel with me when going back to the hotel room, which was a likely reason why I ended up with a sore throat, runny nose, and lots of spit in my mouth on the day we went back home.

Lone Ranch Beach panorama

August 12

We explored Oregon's coast, although we had to cross the California border first and then cross the Oregon border during one point of the drive because the highway that we drove on involved crossing the California border before going back to Oregon. We visited Lone Ranch Beach, Arch Rock, Thunder Rock Cove, and Natural Bridges. When visiting the Oregon Coast, my brother decided to use filters to take photos. 

Thunder Rock Cove

During the evening, we stayed at a Crescent City hotel that was on Highway 101. We also ordered food for dinner from a Chinese restaurant and visited Battery Point Lighthouse while we were waiting for the food. 

August 13

I woke up with a sore throat that was accompanied by a runny nose and lots of spit in my mouth. We were heading back home though, so I made sure to take a covid test once I got back home.

The drive back home took about 7 to 7.5 hours. We drove by many different places along the way, including Trinidad, Garberville, Willits, Hopland (which has a wine shop called The Golden Pig), Cloverdale, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael, Sausalito, and San Francisco. While the drive home did take a long time and that we could have gone home earlier if San Francisco did not have so much traffic, it was nice to drive by some Bay Area cities since I'm from the Bay Area. When I got back home, I did a covid self-test, which fortunately came back negative. However, my body temperature was quite high, although I'm feeling better now.