Temecula Drive 2023 – Day by Day

There are 5 sections to this page:

Driving South
Temecula Physio Reunion
Irvine and Los Angeles with Alison and Ken
Driving North to San Francisco with Sandy
Driving North to Seattle with Ben

We drove down to Temecula for Sandy’s physio class reunion. Once again, Sandy planned the trip south and then flew back after the event. In San Francisco, I joined up with Ben and we explored caves and waterfalls and ocean waves as we worked our way north.

This trip took 25 days. And was 10, 335 km of driving. And 1,102 $us for gas.

Driving South

Friday, November 3 (Google Photos)
- Drove 10+ hours from Saskatoon to Billings, MT
- Met up with Mina and Prakash in Regina for a brunch at Brown’s Social House
- Drove into an amazing sunset, and then several hours in pitch black night
Saturday, November 4 (Google Photos)
- Drive 6 hours from Billings to Boseman, MT
- Yellowstone was mostly closed, but still worth the visit. Only a single exit is open we pulled a U-turn at Roosevelt Corral.
- Mammoth Hot Springs awesome after the recent snowfall. (Google Photos)
- Got some good photos of a lonely bison on the road. (Google Photos)
Sunday, November 5 (Google Photos)
- Drive 8 1/2 hours from Boseman to Salt Lake City
- Visit Craters of the Moon, ID (Google Photos)
- Drove in to downtown, ending up at Settebello Pizza, just sneaking in before it closed. Excellent, authentic. (Google Photos)
Monday, November 6 (Google Photos)
- Drive 5 hours from Salt Lake City to Kanab
- Belly of the Dragon was great, a fun little walk through a tunnel which is actually man made, but now appears to be natural (Google Photos)
- Moqui Sand Caves are a really cool scramble up a cliff face. And even cooler inside. (Google Photos)
- I foolishly attempted to drive in to Peekaboo Canyon. First km was do-able. Second km was well outside the capabilities of my Murano. Couldn’t stop because we would never get started again. I managed to pull a U-turn on a cattle guard, while an ATV tour guide helped me get it turned around. Then advised us to head out as hard and fast as possible. We did just that. No cell phone coverage made it more exciting. And the news that another vehicle was also stuck a little farther on, and awaiting a rescue tow truck. Lots of adrenaline, but we survived. (Google Photos)
- Onward to our hotel in Kanab, which turned out to be a great little town.
- Rocking V Cafe was great
Tuesday, November 7 (Google Photos)
- Drive 3 1/2 hours from Kanab to Las Vegas
- Woke up early and hiked in to Peekaboo Canyon. Three miles of slogging in soft sand. Then another km along Peekaboo Canyon. Awesome, amazing and a must do. We were lucky to have started so early in the morning, starting the hike just after 7 am, when it was still 4C. The trail quickly became dunes and soft sand. We even found a quad stuck in the sand
  - Hiking in and out (Google Photos)
  - Peekaboo Canyon (Google Photos)
- Quickly return to our hotel, shower and checkout, and start the 3 1/2 hour drive to Las Vegas.
- Checked in to the Luxor and self parked.
Wednesday, November 8 (Google Photos)
- Drive 4 1/2 hours from Las Vegas to Palm Springs
- Walked the Strip for a few hours before leaving
- Pulled off the highway to investigate Ivanpah Solar Electric power station (Google Photos)
- Saw Kelso Dunes from the highway, and decided to visit them. And then spend an hour attempting to get to the top. Failed. 42 minutes to go 2 km up, 11 minutes to run back to the car (Google Photos)
- Arrived at Skylark Hotel after dark, which looked pretty scary behind all the construction. Inside it was funky and wonderful
- Great dinner at 1501 Uptown Gastropub
Thursday, November 9 (Google Photos)
- Drive 2 hours from Palm Springs to Temecula
- Met up with JoAnn and Scott, and Sharon and Rod in Palm Springs,
- Took the scenic route through the scrub mountains to Temecula
- Coffee in downtown Temecula with Scott and JoAnn, Sharon and Rod, and then Kees and LouAnne
- Moved in to Camila

Temecula Physio Reunion

Thursday, November 9
- Moved in to Camila late afternoon
- Craig and Barry do dinner (quesadillas)
Friday, November 10
- Sandy does BF (Mexican Casserole)
- Barry, Rod, Scott and Warren do disc golfing at Mountain Pride (Google Photos)
- LouAnne and Kees do dinner (pork tenderloin+)
- Scott BDay
Saturday, November 11
- Kees, Troy, Scott and Warren do disc golfing at Mountain Pride (Google Photos)
- LouAnne and Kees do dinner (prawn bisque and chicken+)
Sunday, November 12
- Winery tour for some
- Barry, Kees, Scott, Warren and host Mark do disc golfing at Gates of Hell (Google Photos)
- Hot tub lounging
- Dinner by James and Erin (Mexican from leftovers and lots of other stuff)
Monday, November 13
- Reunion group photos
- Shopping and oil change
- Hot tub lounging
- Sandy does dinner (pasta)
- Games night in the garage
Tuesday, November 14 (Google Photos)
- Pack up car, extra tight because Barry and Craig driving with us to LAX
- Many goodbyes

Irvine and Los Angeles with Alison and Ken

Tuesday, November 14 (Google Photos)
- Drive 2 hours from Temecula to LAX with Craig and Barry
- Drive 1 1/2 hour from LAX to Irvine, CA
- Lunch at In-n-Out Burger
- Bike ride in Shady Canyon with Alison
- Dinner at California Fish Grill
Wednesday, November 15 (Google Photos)
- Rainy day
- Drove LA highways in heavy traffic and heavy rain
- California Pizza Kitchen
- Walk Hollywood Walk of Fame in heavy rain
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Drove LA highways in the dark in heavy traffic and heavy rain
- Stay up late to watch Jimmy Kimmel and maybe see ourselves in the audience
Thursday, November 16 (Google Photos)
- Paramount Studios tour
- Biggest LA traffic jam so far
- Dinner with Alison and Ken
Friday, November 17 (Google Photos)
- leave for San Louis Obispo

Driving North to San Francisco with Sandy

Friday, November 17 (Google Photos)
- Drive 4 1/2 hours from Irvine to San Louis Obispo
- Stay at Hotel Calle Joaquin
Saturday, November 18 (Google Photos)
- Drive 3 1/2 hours from San Louis Obispo to San Francisco
- Stay at Chancellor Hotel
- Walk to Fisherman’s Wharf
- Dinner at Boudin
Sunday, November 19 (Google Photos)
- Walking Tour (Union Square, China Town, Financial)
- Walk through China Town, then dinner at Little Italy
- Continue staying at Chancellor Hotel
Monday, November 20 (Google Photos)
- Self Guided Audio Walking Tour of Castro District (Google Photos)
- Drive 1 1/2 hours from San Francisco to Fairfield
- Settle in to Comfort Inn Cordellia
- Dinner with Ben at Slanted Tree in Fairfield

Driving North to Seattle with Ben

Tuesday, November 21 (Google Photos)
- Drive 6 hours Fairfield to Redding
  - Drive 1 hour from Fairfield to SFO, Sandy flies to YYC at 13:50
  - Drive 1 hour from SFO to Vallejo, meet up with Ben and Ron
  - Drive 2 hours to Sacramento, meet up with Mas Watanabe (Google Photos)
  - Drive 2 1/2 hours to Redding Super 8, which was kinda run-down
- Stay at Super 8
Wednesday, November 22 (Google Photos)
- Drive 5 hours from Redding to Klamath
- Excellent roadside espresso in Burney (Google Photos)
- View Burney Falls enroute (Google Photos)
- Awesome Lava Beds NP Caves (Mushpot, Goldem Dome, Catacombs, Blue Grotto, Ovis and Alleys) (Google Photos)
- Maverick Motel in Klamath was very nice
Thursday, November 23 (Google Photos)
- Drive 5 1/2 hours from Klamath to Bend Oregon
- Visit Crater Lake (Google Photos)
- Visit Toketee Falls (Google Photos)
- Explore Boyd Cave (Google Photos)
- Stay at La Quinta in Bend Oregon
Friday, November 24 (Google Photos)
- Drive 4 hours from Bend to Salem, OR
- Hoover Falls, exposed cuz lake is low (Google Photos)
- Detroit Dam (Google Photos)
- 10 Falls in Silver Falls SP (Google Photos)
- Stay Motel6 in Salem, OR
Saturday, November 25 (Google Photos)
- Drive 6 1/2 hours from Salem to Portland
- Visit Devil’s Churn (Google Photos)
- Visit Sea Lion Caves (was a bust, no sea lions, didn’t go down)
- Visit a Thor’s Well (Google Photos)
- visit Tillamook Creamery (Google Photos)
- Stay Aladdin Motel in Portland
Sunday, November 26 (Google Photos)
- Drive 5 hours to Portland to Bellingham
- Hike Multnomah Falls (tickets aren’t required in November). Cold and windy and awesome (Google Photos)
- Aviation Museum of Flight Seattle (Google Photos)
- Stay Bay City Motor Inn in Bellingham (Google Photos)
- Late night discovery of Ben’s missing passport
- Replanning and booking of flight for Ben back to San Francisco
- Late night dinner at Horseshoe Cafe, open until 2 am!
Monday, November 27 (Google Photos)
- Drive 9 hours from Bellingham to Superior MT
- Last minute planning, lots of driving:
  - 2 hours back south from Bellingham to SeaTac airport to drop Ben off
  - After dropping Ben off at SeaTac airport start driving east. Don’t know how far to go yet.
  - Had a couple of coffees at Starbucks and a quick sandwich at Subway
  - Decided to stop in Superior, MT, a couple of hours after dark
  - Lost an hour due to time zone change
  - Big Sky Motel in Superior was perfect
Tuesday, November 28 (Google Photos)
- Drive 13 hours from Superior to Saskatoon
- Leave early in the dark
- Very cold through Montana, but nice drive
- Arrive Saskatoon at 10