Running Out the Clock on our Long-Term Audi Allroad

When I was 16 my dad and I took a road trip along the coast from Washington state, where I grew up, through Oregon to San Francisco. At that point, it was the longest distance I had ever driven and the first time I had driven a road purely for pleasure. My parents' 1992 Audi 100S wasn't particularly quick, but shooting from corner to corner, windows down, sunlight streaming through the thick coastal forest, man, I was hooked! The tight winding section of Highway 1 from Leggett, California, out to the coast was the beginning of my love for driving and road trips.

Jump ahead 13 years. I have had the opportunity to drive countless cars, countless miles, on some of the best and most scenic roads. I have driven everything from subcompacts to supercars and always put as many miles on them as I can.

So, when time was running out on our long-term 2013 Audi Allroad and we had only racked up 15,000 miles, I knew I could do something about it.

With just under a month left on the loan I snagged the key from the Audi's yearlong chaperone, "Epic Drive" host and former MT staffer and current contributor Arthur St. Antoine, and hit the road. My goal was 5000 miles by the time the car would be returned.

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Established in 1994, Death Valley National Park is home to some of the most extreme landscape in California. From Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet all the way to Badwater Basin 282 feet below sea level, the park is spectacular. It's got mountains, sand dunes, dry lakes, and California State Route 190, which is straight as an arrow for miles but also throws twisty mountain passes at you. It's an awesome piece of road.

The first section of the 190 climbs up from Owens Lake and crosses over to Panamint Springs and is truly awe-inspiring. That said, I wouldn't recommend taking your eyes off the crooked road to look at the views, because the drop wouldn't be fun! My wife and pulled off at Father Crowley point to snap a few quick photos and stand there with our jaws dropped at the view of the mountains and the valley below. Panamint Springs was our first opportunity to refuel, and although prices there are inflated, I happily forked over the cash for the peace of mind of not running on empty.

Mesquite Flat Dunes, our next stop, is up another mountain pass and down into the valley to Stovepipe Wells. The dunes are one of the most iconic places in the park and a must-stop for any photographer. Be prepared to hike for a while to find some footprint-less dunes, and make sure you bring water.

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From Mesquite Flat Dunes we continued down the 190, eventually turning onto Badwater Road, which leads to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the park at almost 300 feet below sea level. The vast valley floor is pretty spectacular and beautifully barren. With nothing and no one around, it's hard not to keep your speed from creeping up, but the overzealous coyotes do a good job of keeping you in check.

The Allroad is a great vehicle for this rugged land. The added ground clearance makes soft-roading more possible and the good road manners and interior luxuries kept us comfortable while cruising. It isn't a sports sedan by any measure, but it isn't a slouch when the roads aren't straight.

After pausing momentarily at the low point we continued down Badwater Road to Jubilee Pass Road, which twists up over the mountains and out of the park. Including a night in Lone Pine, California, and a few side trips, our first excursion netted about 1500 miles. And some pretty cool photos, if I do say so myself.

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My trip up to Washington and Oregon had been planned long before my quest for Audi miles had begun. My sister and brother in-law had recently purchased a restaurant and inn on the Oregon coast (Seaside Oceanfront Inn -- cough -- shoutout) and had just done a major overhaul of the rooms. They needed new photography of the rooms, my wife and fellow photographer, Jessica Walker, came along on the journey to help.

The section of Highway 1/101 that heads north from San Francisco all the way to Washington skirts along the coast through redwood forests, small coastal towns, and farmland. Although I had been to certain areas since that original trip with my dad, I hadn't driven the whole thing again, and it was about time.

Getting out of San Francisco can be a journey in itself, but once we hit the Golden Gate Bridge it was smooth sailing through Sausalito to the Shoreline Highway, which cuts a jagged path towards the coast. The Allroad was fun to toss around the corners until we caught up with the normal day-trippers headed for Stinson Beach or Point Reyes National Seashore. We stopped at Point Reyes Station, visiting Osteria Stellina for an amazing lunch, and took a break to walk around the small shops and galleries. Point Reyes National Seashore is worth a visit. The creepy lighthouse famously featured in John Carpenter's 1980 horror movie "The Fog" can be toured part of the year, and it's a very cool place to take landscape photographs. Fed and rested, we continued north towards our overnight stay and first brewery visit in Fort Bragg.

During my senior year of high school I worked as a brewer's assistant, helping to make and bottle beer. Even though I couldn't drink the beer I was making, my love for craft beer developed early. Visiting breweries and enjoying high-quality beer is one of my favorite things in the world. The North Coast Brewery was started in 1988 and makes some excellent brews. Its Old Stock Ale and Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout are two of my favorites. Make sure you have a designated driver before you visit, as you'll want to sample quite a few.

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The next day saw my return to that same stretch of road I fell in love with 13 years ago. Cutting inland, this twisted section of Highway 1 leads to Leggett, California, and turns into Highway 101, the Redwood Highway. We had to stop in Leggett at the famous Chandelier Tree Drive-Thru Tree Park for a quick photo op. It's five bucks to drive thru, but come on, how often do you get to snap a picture of your car in a tree!

Once you enter Humboldt Redwoods State Park, do yourself a favor and follow the signs for Avenue of the Giants, which parallels the main highway and meanders through the giant Redwood forest. Although I could spend a week hiking through the massive trees, we had to push on. If you are headed through, or to, Eureka, stop at the Black Lightning Motorcycle Café to grab coffee or food and geek out on some cool two-wheeled machines. The owners have a small collection of vintage bikes on hand, and it's a popular place for riders to stop.

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Once we hit the border, we kept on going. After a very long afternoon and evening of driving we finally stopped for the night in Bandon, Oregon. (Once you cross into Oregon, hotel prices fall dramatically.) We stayed at the Bandon Beach Motel, a small owner-operated motel with an unobstructed view of the ocean and rocky cove at Coquille Point. It isn't fancy, but is charming. The owners are incredibly friendly and you can't beat waking up with the sound of waves outside your room.

Lunch at the Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, Oregon was our next stop and a worthwhile one. The brewery sits down by the harbor and is a pleasant place to sip a cold brew and have a meal. Onwards and upwards -- north that is -- we got distracted by a few dirt logging roads and the most epic sunrays shooting through the fog I have ever seen! With not much farther to go we pushed on toward our final destination of Seaside.

Seaside sits right on the coast just south of the Washington border and is a nice little touristy beach town with small shops and a promenade next to an awesome, enjoyable beach. My sister's inn is just off the promenade and our room had an amazing view of the ocean. Seaside also is home to the newly opened Seaside Brewing Company, our third brewery visit.

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The ocean is beautiful, but the mountains were calling, so after a few days of visiting and shooting the hotel we packed up and again headed north toward Astoria. We made a stop at Fort George Brewery, where the Cavatica Stout and Vortex IPA were so tasty that I took a few cans with me to enjoy later. After some delicious food, we headed off toward Mt. Hood.

Mt. Hood is a pretty amazing place and well worth getting up at dawn to take sunrise photos, but do you know what is more awesome? The breakfast buffet at the Timberline Lodge! The famous setting of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic "The Shining," the Timberline lodge sits at the base of Mt. Hood and has one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. It's a buffet of fresh fruit, omelets, waffles, and more. It might take you a while to get seated during the weekend, but try to grab a seat with a view out of the massive windows and enjoy the feast.

Keep heading southeast from Mt. Hood and you reach one of my favorite cities in the world: Bend. A quick Google search tells me that Bend is home to 18 craft breweries, including one of my long-time favorites, Deschutes Brewery. Awesome beers such as the Reserve Series the Abyss and the Stoic have made Deschutes a guaranteed stop whenever I am in Bend or Portland.

We began our journey back by heading south from Bend through Klamath Falls to Interstate 5 and down to Redding, California for the night. It would have been a great trip if we had just headed home from Redding, but we didn't. Why not end a great trip on a great note? Napa Valley has some of the best restaurants in America and some of the best wine in the world. And if you think the good folks of Napa only know how to make wine, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Napa Smith Brewery makes some seriously tasty beer. The smoky, chocolate-and-coffee flavored Bonfire Imperil Porter and smooth Ginger Wheat are both excellent, but the star of the show was the intensely flowery and flavorful Hopageddon Imperial IPA. Napa Smith's taproom sits south of the town center near the county airport in a small industrial complex. It's worth a stop if you tire of wine.

We left Napa Smith Brewery happy and ready to be home. We had visited eight breweries, spent three days photographing my sister's hotel, and as we curved our way through Santa Barbara, the odometer finally rolled past the 20,000 mark. The Allroad had performed splendidly throughout the trip. Quick enough to have fun and comfortable enough to really pack on the miles, it proved to be an excellent road tip vehicle. And with our epic push for miles completed I said goodbye to our cool blue wagon.

More on our long-term 2013Audi Allroad2.0T:

• Arrival
• Update 1: A Wagon Queen Family Truckster It Isn't
• Update 2: It's Not Just Cool -- It's Really Cold
• Update 3: How Savvy Buyers Say 'SUV'

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