This trip begins and ends in Portland, Oregon. It focuses on three great areas: Crater Lake National Park, Yosemite National Park, and the Pacific Coast of northern California and southern Oregon.

In order to spend all of Day 2 at Crater Lake, a long drive south was required. I made the best of the drive on Day 1 with a scenic detour to Silver Falls State Park.

Day 2 was devoted entirely to Crater Lake, and included a boat ride out to Wizard Island, and a scenic drive around the entire Rim Road.

This day offered some scenic driving, but not a lot of stopping. I took a break in Reno, where I walked around to see the grittier side of the biggest little city in the world.

Half of this day was spent in the ghost town of Bodie, California. The rest was spent along Tioga Pass Road, in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park. The sunset was awe-inspiring.

Once again, I drove into Yosemite via Tioga Pass, but this time I kept going, to the valley, and to Glacier Point.

On this day, I drove into San Francisco to see some sights that I had seen before. Once I hit a few of the city's highlights, I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and up Highway 1, all the way to Fort Bragg, stopping at several coastal spots along the way.

This day focused on the hard-to-access "Lost Coast" of California, north of Fort Bragg and south of Eureka. It's an area so rugged, only a few miles is accessed by a paved road.

With the trip winding down, I made several leisurely spots along the southern Oregon coast, for relaxing walks along the beaches.

Before heading to the airport for the trip home, I drove the Mount Hood Scenic Byway, rode the Magic Mile chair lift, and did some hiking above treeline on the rocky slopes of Mount Hood.