02 May, 2006 (Tuesday) Oregon Coast

Neither of us slept well in the car, tossing and turning, waking every hour. The cold set in earnest, chilling the interior of the car.


Oregon Coast
We were up and cooking breakfast on the beach by 7am - a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs with hot soup. The drive ahead of us was going to be long. (Picture: Oregon coastline)

The Oregon coast was more than we expected, with some of the loveliest scenery so far - open ocean views, steep cliffs and sleepy seaside towns. It took us another 5.5 hours before we found our way into California.


San Francisco
It was approaching 14 hours driving before we found ourselves on the outskirts of San Francisco, a satellite town called Santa Rosa. While we were filling up at a gas station, a latino man approached Sean asking whether we would help him. He claimed that his car had run out of gas and he had left his wallet at home. Sean looked him over and, being the nice guy that he is, took the guy's can off him. The guy thanked us profusely and said that he'd look after us anytime we were in Santa Rosa. As we were finishing up he asked if we smoked weed as he had a stash for medical purposes. We politely said that we didn't have time. (Picture: Sean's sandune - he hiked up the top and ran all the way down)

I'd contacted Scott (Atlassian) earlier in the afternoon to let him know I was going to be in town. He said to give him a call when I was closer, and offered the use of the Atlassian apartment (hence referred to as the 'Embassy') if we were staying. We met up with Scott and three of his Atlassian staff in a tidy little pub called the Magnolia. Scott was looking well, relaxed and obviously enjoying a laid back evening. He said that I looked like crap. Thanks. We hung out for a few hours and the guys gave us tips on where to stay and where to go in North America. We finished up close to midnight. Needless to say we slept well that night. (Picture: Trinidad bay in Oregon)