quinn's place

i plum forgot i had a bunch of fun photos from our road trip over memorial day weekend!

this is our 5th annual road trip that we've taken over memorial day weekend, and the 4th one in our volkswagen bus! we've been really trying to make it out to glacier national park in montana, but the end of may still has some funky weather and snow there.

so this time we just went down the coast like we've done once before. we didn't have any stops or camp spots planned out ahead of time, which always ends up being the best experience, in my opinion. just pull over when you see somethin' you like.

that's myyy motto.

and iiiiii like ice cream.

this tillamook mudslide extravaganza really set the tone for me on this trip haha.

i. was. so. happy.

& i daydream of this very ice cream cone often.

pelican brewing in pacific city.

we loved it! you can stick your toes in the sand and have a brew while you wait for your table. and its right on the beach.

we were reeeeeally digging the oregon coast this time. glad we spent most of this day pit stopping all along the coast.

it's sooo freaking expansive. just beach for miles. so cool.

we turned off onto a random campground we noticed on the ocean side of the highway, and they had 2 sites left. yahoooo. sold! to us.

it was tillicum beach campground and it was perfecto. right above the beach.

lovely morning coffee beach walk and then we pressed on south.

never pass up an opportunity to take a photo of the chedd in front of anything cute.

almost entering caaaaaaalifornia. this looks very hawaii to me!

perdy beach flowers and almost to our final destination of arcata, california to visit brother phil.

^ the bread section at the food co-op made me chuckle. baker sick. no bread for you.

after spending some time with phil in arcata and eureka, we camped near boonville so that we could hit up anderson valley brewing the next day before our journey home.

doesn't the cheddar bus look so cutes in the morning forest light? :) this photo was featured on real simple magazine's instagram, too.

northern california is preeeeeeetttyyyyyyyyyyy. such beautiful landscapes.

we made it to anderson valley brewing for our last stop before our long journey back to seattle. we love it there so much and wish we could have sat out on their back patio all day!

it was hotttttttttttttt on our drive north on I-5. we were losin it. the bus had no problems, but it was getting hot hot hot with a hot breeze on top. we eventually stopped in ashland, oregon late that night for food. i liked ashland a lot from what i saw! seemed real charming to me even in the dark lol. they love their shakespeare, that's for sure.

i really loved these five free days with no agenda, tootin' down the highway in the chedd, our cassette tapes blasting, exploring that west coast best coast!

previous memorial day weekend roadtrips:

(apparently the first one that we took in my car was labor day weekend, but i haven't seen these pics in soo long and they're cute...way back from my photo dump blogging days with no writing whatsoever, lol. & crater lake is incredible!)

2012 // 2014: Part 1, Part 2 // 2015 // 2016 // 2017

this is lake tahoe.

ain't she a beaut!!?!?!?

^^^ one night during our road trip we stayed at this cute airbnb on the north end of lake tahoe! it was like a treehouse/lakehouse wonderland. not really a treehouse, but felt like one. it had SO much character and the big porch and view were just amaHzing.

our trip started out cruising through oregon where we stopped at caldera brewing in ashland.

^^^this photo is the lay of the land around the brewery. loved it.

and their food & beer is delicious!! i definitely recommend stopping there if you're passing through southern oregon.

^ waitress gal said my salad might fly away because it gets really windy out there. lol.

helloooooo mt. shasta!

driving by shasta is so cool...its just RIGHT there.

^ random photos from a place we had breakfast burritos & beermosas, and then sierra nevada brewing company for our second visit. we also stopped here headed home during our road trip down highway 101 a couple years ago.

camping at oroville lake, california. those are "floating campsites" for rent, aka little house boats.

cheddar bus was having a great time on her first big trip of the year.

we thought this was lake tahoe at first.. we were both like hmmmm it must just look reeally far away from up here.....

^ it was actually donner lake. it was pretty!

then we found tahoe for suuuuuure. iss huuuuge!

we got suuuper lucky with a first-come first-served campsite at fallen leaf lake right near tahoe. super lucky. we thought for sure we'd just be sleeping on the side of the road.

i'd tried to book campsites at tahoe like 3 months prior to this trip, and they were ALLLL booked. i reckon people are booking these spots a year in advance.

but fallen leaf lake was gorgeous and the campground was great and we were happy.

see? happy camper pete totally in his element.

tahoe! so blue you are!

seriously gorgeous everywhere you look. it all feels mediterranean.

but the water did not feel mediterranean. it was collllllllld cold cold.

our airbnb at crystal bay! hellooooooooo i could have sat out on that porch for the rest of my life.

lake life perfection.

we went on a really fun kayaking journey that ended up in a not so fun full submersion into the ice cold lake (twice) with all our belongings and cell phones. i won't name the name of the two-time kayak flipper, but lets just say i was veryverymad.

^ is it totally weirdo to take pics of a stranger's shower? i liked her southwest vibes + plant motif.

and suddenly, snow! on the way out of tahoe.

^ weirdass middle of nowhere spooky shoe tree.

^ most of northern california & southern oregon looks something like this. this is the part of the drive where you go straight looney toon and lose yer mind.

so then you stop to let the bus cool down, drink a brewski, and take a whiz on the side of a highway.

^^ this photo is so forrest gump to me and i love it. because pete & forrest are my faves.

the last night we stumbled upon odell lake in oregon, which was a stellar random find and perfect timing as the sun was setting! this was princess creek campground.

as usual, these trips are so so fun but go by so so fast. the cheddar bus did great with no issues this time. busdriver pete did great, too! love ya bof!

previous memorial day weekend volkswagen road trips:

here, to utah!

and here, down the west coast to san francisco!

all photos taken on my iphone 6.