Vancouver is pretty far away from California. Just in case you didn’t know. We had a long day of driving ahead of us so we got up pretty early, skipped the big breakfast and found the local Starbucks.

That means we drove from 7 am until about 12:30 am as we decided to try and get two days of driving into just one. Silly overachievers.

You don’t need to hear all about these days - we drove, we ate, we peed, and we listened to my ipod.

What you do need to know about:

1. Richardson Grove State Park is a gorgeous place to stop on sweltering hot day to take a quick dip in a cool river. Very pretty, nice and shallow, not too many people. You’ll find it off route 1 before Garberville.

2. It is not always smart to be spontaneous when travelling in tourist season. There are good reasons to book ahead and to know what city you are staying in. These reasons include the reality that entire towns can sell out of accommodation by 11 pm in the summer.

And that you can end up on pretty dark and scary roads when the main highway is shut down due to a detour and the flag woman gives you directions you don’t completely understand. These places can be full of hillbillies meaning that if you need to pee, you can’t stop the car or you could be carried off into the bushes where you are either eaten or turned into wax. So, you really can’t stop on such routes. Very dodgey indeed.

3. Red Lobster has these really nummy little chive and garlic biscuits. Just so you know.

4. Home is a good place to be after driving for a very long time, but once you unpack, you’re going to want to head out again on the next road trip.