Driving Journey: Day 3: Gold Beach

34 miles north of the Oregon-California border is the lovely community of Gold Beach. I had last stayed here in December 2004 when I drove down to San Francisco. The night before I had actually checked Hotwire to see if there were any deals on the southern Oregon Coast but there were not. So I drove past a few hotels and decided upon the Pacific Reef. The lady at the check-in desk was super nice and really made me feel welcome.


The room I got wasn't as fancy as the other ones on my trip but was more than adequate.
The Pacific Reef lady also made a reservation for me at Spinner's Restaurant, which I had immensely enjoyed 4½ years before.
The beer was good and . . .
the dinner was even better! A great end to a verrrrry long day!

Driving Journey: Day 2: Klamath Falls

By the time I reached Klamath Falls, it wasn't really that late but I was absolutely beat. Perhaps it had just been awhile since I had done such a driving trip or perhaps I'm just getting old!

I checked into the Shilo Inn, which I had booked on Hotwire.com while still in Bend.

The people working there were super friendly and I got a nice room with much more space than I needed.
The lake was a bit far away but still a nice vista (minus the highway in between).
I was hankering for some good Mexican food and a quick check on VirtualTourist.com was a recommendation for Sergio's.


It turned out to be an excellent choice as the food was delicious!Klamath Falls is a small town of just 20,000, about 18 miles north of California. The downtown core revealed that it had clearly seen better times.
But I try to find beauty in all things and there were indeed some nice vistas abound.

A Visit to the Hilton Hawaiian Village

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is the largest hotel property in Waikiki. Situated on 22 acres, it's comprised of several towers containing almost 3,000 rooms. I had not visited it recently so decided to do so while I was waiting for a friend to arrive at a nearby restaurant

My Mom's Last Full Day in Hawaii

After a month here in Honolulu my mom was heading home. So we made sure to do a lot!

The day started off with my observation of this pretty young lady walking these 3 dogs. How come such "friendly" women don't exist in Vancouver?!

I took my mom out for breakfast at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.


Afterwards we went for a brief walk along Waikiki Beach, where we saw this guy.
With sunshine the beach is absolutely beautiful!
These 5 police cars seemed to be lined up to give a traffic ticket to one guy! Perhaps it was Dog the Bounty Hunter?

This scene is along the south side of Diamond Head. It's a popular spot for windsurfers.

I don't know the name of these amazing flowers but they are gorgeous!

These little 2-seater cars are all over Honolulu. If you want to rent one in advance of your visit here just add 1-808 to the phone number.

The names of the streets are an adventure all on their own.

We drove over to the Kahala Hotel where they have several dolphins in various pools.
This scene looking out from the Kahala would be a picture-perfect postcard of Hawaii!
The interior of the Kahala is exquisitely elegant.
They have a wall of orchids. Here's a trio.
We then went on to Hanauma Bay.

On the way back we stopped in at Zippy's and discovered this unique blue Stop sign.
These are 2 locals I wouldn't want to mess with!
We then went up Round Top Drive and captured these birds eye photos.


Back in Waikiki we walked over to the Waikiki Beach Marriott.


There we partook in our favourite sushi restaurant (anywhere), Sansei Sushi.