Family RV Trip with Cruise America: Seattle to San Francisco

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Where we traveled : Seattle to Silver Falls State Park (5+ hours in Friday afternoon traffic)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: We capped off our wonderful time in Seattle (check out the Spacious Industrial Loft we stayed in) with a morning at the Woodland Park Zoo.

The zoo was big enough to roam around and small enough to get close to a variety of animals. Paired with the purposeful layout and landscaping, the well-organized signage facilitated seamless visits with each of our keiki’s favorite creatures. The boys took turns using the maps and signs to make plans for which animal to check out next. We had such a lovely experience at this zoo that we would definitely become members if we were in the Seattle area more often!

Next, we hit the road in our home for the week from Cruise America. We arrived in the park just after sunset and it was so convenient to just pull in, fix a quick dinner, and prepare all the keiki for bed in the RV. We booked a personal kit for each family member and the boys loved taking charge of their own generous bedding sets to create cozy sleeping nooks.

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Where we traveled : Silver Falls State Park & surrounding area (we stayed within a 30-minute radius).

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: We woke up to begin exploring Oregon’s largest state park and home to the insanely beautiful Trail of Ten Falls. The scenery along the North Falls trails quite literally took my breath away (and immediately filled me with the regret of not knowing this place existed until now). It’s not very often that you can roll out of bed, take a quick stroll (15 minutes or less with kids), and find yourself behind a thundering waterfall for a front-row seat to watch the sun rising into a canyon.

We also spent our afternoon with the alpacas and friendly folks at Marquam Hill Ranch. Bill was nice enough to spend some time with our family, teaching us about alpacas and allowing the keiki to interact with many of them. They especially loved petting and feeding them, while it was fun for us to walk through the many interesting facts about alpaca fleece.

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Where we traveled : Silver Falls State Park to Eugene (2 hours)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: We surely couldn’t leave Silver Falls State Park without exploring the South Falls as well. We woke up for another early morning adventure cruising around, behind, and below waterfalls. The boys loved climbing into the little caves within the large cave behind Lower South Falls. While wet, this was another set of well-maintained trails that our four and six year olds walked along with ease.

Next, we hopped in the RV to make our way towards Eugene. As with all of our longer drives, we timed this with Melibea’s nap and the boys’ quiet time. This way the baby would sleep contently in her carseat while the boys buckled up at the table to draw, read, or do puzzles. The beauty of RV life was the freedom it afforded each of us to comfortably do our own thing at any given time in our own space.

Not pictured but also not to be missed–we arrived in Eugene in time to have a delicious Mother’s Day Dinner at our favorite restaurant in our old college neighborhood. If you are ever in Eugene, I highly recommend a meal at Beppe & Gianni’s. It was such a treat to bring our keiki to the very restaurant we used to go to on dates, not to mention that it’s still one of our top ten restaurants we’ve ever been to in the world!

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Where we traveled : Eugene to McKenzie Bridge & surrounding area (90 minutes or so)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: In college my husband spent his summers as a whitewater rafting guide on the McKenzie for High Country Expeditions, an amazing family-owned outfitter. Naturally, he wanted to share this experience with our keiki–our adventure-loving boys in particular. Our first stops included Koosah and Sahalie Falls, both were easily accessible via five minute walks from the parking lot.

Next, we borrowed a boat and some gear from his former employer so Daniel could row all of us down the wild and scenic McKenzie. Meli napped most of the way, while I soaked up the sunshine and the boys giggled through the small rapids. After our journey down the river we enjoyed a late but extremely tasty lunch from Obsidian Grill. By the time we finished the boys could barely keep their eyes open so we loaded up for nap time on the road back to Eugene.

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Where we traveled : Eugene to Cave Junction (3.5 hours)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: The original plan was to stay in the Cave Junction area to be relatively close to the Oregon Caves National Monument. Well, upon further last minute research into the park I noted that sadly the boys didn’t meet the 42″ height requirement for entering the caves (and that babies most definitely are not allowed). I also read that the road leading up to the park is narrow, steep and winding making it quite unsafe to travel on in an RV.

With that said, I just discovered how setbacks like this are no problem when you’re traveling in an RV. After all, your bed is wherever you choose to park it and that leaves the entire road open to endless possibilities. In the end, it was all for the best because we fell in love with our camp in Cave Junction. Stay tuned because I’ll be writing up a well-deserved separate post on the magical Cedar Bloom Farm–the land, the people, the dreamy spaces–we may have just stayed forever if we could have.

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Where we traveled : Cave Junction to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (90 minutes)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: After a leisurely morning spent playing at Cedar Bloom Farm, we packed up and headed for the redwoods. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park was the idyllic way to experience these majestic giants. I loved how the road wound through the park, facilitating countless opportunities to pull over and explore at your own pace.

We spent a good couple of hours making our way through the park, we particularly loved the loop trails at the center of the park. The boys were excited to experience the redwood trees from below and above, inside and out. When they were ready for a break it was nice to be able to hop in the RV and fix up a charcuterie board for lunch. Then they could just crawl into bed for rest time under the giants.

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Where we traveled : Crescent City to San Francisco (7+ hours in the rain)

What we did & why you shouldn’t miss it: Well on the last day of our drive we got hit with rain, lots of it. There’s nothing quite like meandering down the rugged Northern California coastline in wet weather! We were thankful to be in an RV stocked with comfort food, quiet activities, and cozy blankets. If the weather was more cooperative we surely would have stopped for one last adventure, but honestly it was quite nice to rest and recharge while making miles.

Of the few quick stops we did make we wouldn’t have missed Franny’s Cup & Saucer in Point Arena. We got married at nearby Oz Farm and Franny’s was a daily mission for us. If you like top notch baked goods like I do, then you’ll surely fall in love with this local gem. 

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Many mahalos to Cruise America for this incredible opportunity–we are already discussing ideas for our next RV trip with you!