Nov 26/27 - CA

December 9th, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 117/118 - Today we visited Kristin, a friend of mine from high school. Kristin and her family live in Vista, California. This was our last stop before Mexico. It was really nice to visit someone I haven’t seen in a long time. We got up the next morning, after a relaxing night, and went to a park and the beach with Kristin and her son, Brandon. He is very bright kid with an adorable smile!

Dave, Kristin, and Brandon

It was time to take off and head to Imperial Beach, where we picked up some wax for a surf shop in Todos Santos. Imperial Beach is about as far south as you can go in California (usa) without being in Baja California. It has a very nice pier that you can walk on or fish off of. We saw some people with compacted bows and spears on the pier that were fishing also. Our lodging that night was parking on the side of a residential neighborhood near the pier – can’t beat a free place to sleep.

Nov 25 - CA

November 27th, 2005 | By April | 1 Comment »

Day 116 – LA - we hit the streets of Los Angeles in full swing early in the morning. First stop – Walt Disney Hall and the Music Center. Only pictures can describe Frank Gehry’s work, it was inspiring to see.

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Then, we viewed the plaza area of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels – very nice also.

A sculpture garden at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

After that we visited El Pueblo de Los Angeles, which was okay. The market was a bunch of tourist shops with Mexican type items. Little Tokyo was next, though it took us a while to find it, and we roamed through a few not-so-tourist type streets.

Thom Mayne’s Caltrans Building in Los Angeles

Just a street scene in the Toy District.

We ate a great lunch of yakisoba in Little Tokyo. We have been excited and planning this since Wednesday. It was a fun area to walk around and I got to see parts I didn’t go to last time I was in LA.

While driving in LA, I received my official “welcome to the city” as we drove down highway 101 towards downtown. A not so happy man yelled at me quite loudly (my window was up and I still heard him) from his little sporty convertible, going about 75 mph, as I ever so speedily (as fast as a 1981 air cooled vw van can go) merged onto the highway. Hey mister, so sorry to slow your day down – it’s not like there aren’t four other lanes on the highway you could use also. Did I say four lanes, I mean five or six. I can’t believe how wide these highways are in this city. I have to say at one point the highway had more lanes than I could count safely (I would have gotten into an accident trying to figure it all out). Jason counted 8 lanes at one point and it never got smaller than 5 lanes – about 6 to 7 lanes was average for Los Angeles. This research was mostly done cruising down highway 405 south from Manhattan Beach and southbound on highway 101 into LA.

another sunset ends the day

Nov 24 - CA

November 27th, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 115 - Our Thanksgiving was spent as we never would have predicted ~ sitting in the van with the doors wide open, staring at the beautiful beach and Pacific Ocean. We started the morning by going to Santa Barbara and walking down the pier. It was a pleasant holiday morning with a few fisherman on the pier and a couple of cute little kids learning how to skate at the skate park.

fog rolling in off the ocean

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fisherman on the peir_____________Santa Barbara from the peir

Then we continued south on highway 101 (which highway 1 merges with in that area) and tried to hunt for a single parking space in any campground. After seeing the sign “Full”, over and over again, we gave up and found a great day parking spot right on the shoulder of the highway. We were allowed to park there until 7.00pm – yay! We parked, popped the top up on the van and ate and relaxed, as most Americans do on this day. We were quite humored by the amount of RV’ers this weekend; just south of where we were parked was about two or three miles of spots that were on the shoulder of the highway. You could pay $20 a night to park and ‘camp’ there and it was booked solid! It was impressive to see. I think this weekend is the most RV’s I have seen within 48 hours, I wish I would have kept a count.

all of those white dots are rv’s lining the coastal highway

Thanksgiving eating

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I want a thankgiving dinner toooooo

So, after sunset we figured we better find a place to sleep – and there were no more rest stops until after Los Angeles. Full, full, full or “no parking at night” was all we ran into until we hit Malibu. We finally found a resting spot at Malibu Creek State Park. It is in the middle of a valley and at the end of about 10 miles of curvy road on N1 north of Malibu and past Pepperdine University. It was a great state park and it was almost full, and would be by tomorrow night, we were told. It was expensive though, $25 for a spot – but it won us over because there were showers… and let’s just say we were a bit stinky ~ not all parks have showers

Nov 23 - CA

November 27th, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 114 - Butterflies, butterflies everywhere… or at least in Pacific Grove. There are a few places in California where millions of butterflies spend their winter months and this is one of them. They all rest on the ‘butterfly trees’ and look like grapes hanging from a vine. When it is warm enough they float around in the sky like leaves. It was a site worth seeing, located on Ridge Road off of Lighthouse Avenue - you’ll see signs for them.

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Butterflies in the sky _________________Those are butterflies hanging there

This was a full day of sights. We drove down Big Sur, which was really nice, though after going down all of the Oregon coast and northern California coast it wasn’t shockingly beautiful to me (maybe I am just lame). I think the most impressive part of the coast was in northern California after coming over the mountains, when highway 1 splits off of highway 101 south of the redwoods and out to the coast. Anyway, we stopped by the big tourist spot, Hearst Castle, after driving down Big Sur. You can’t miss the signs for it. From the postcards and picture books in the gift shop it looks like a really great, fancy place. I couldn’t even imagine living in a ‘castle’ like that! He was an interesting man of great wealth, who left a major magnet for the eyes. We passed on the tour since it cost $20, as it wasn’t that important to us to visit, though I could understand why people would like to view all of the splendor.

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just a little further _______________ uuff, that is hard work!

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and, let’s try again…

having a friendly chat

Do you like seals? I love seals… when I was in Alaska, during a summer job in college, I would go kayaking and they would come up near the kayak to say hi. They made me feel protected for some reason, and they are such curious and playful creatures. But the seals here might scare me some if I saw them next to me in the water. They are elephant seals, meaning very huge seals! They have a sanctuary down on the coast, north of San Simeon. There is a nice pull off area you can park and read the display signs about them and than watch them sleep and bath in the sunlight on the beach.

San Luis Obispo was our next stop. It is a great town to stop in, whether you need a coffee, lunch, or just want to mosey around a bunch of shops. This town has a great atmosphere, and how can you turn it down when there is an alley dedicated to bubble gum; yes ~ Bubble Gum Alley. Located off of Higuera St, between Garden and Broad Streets, there are two brick walls where kids have been using gum to graffiti their names or artwork (if you can say that since 1950. I think every downtown needs a wall like that!

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both walls are covered inch by inch

We left San Luis Obispo around 4.00pm, and boy was it the wrong time to get on the freeway. That sucker got jammed up! I assume it was all the holiday traffic for Thanksgiving the next day. We went a whole 12 miles in about 45 minutes. It was pretty ridiculous. We finally pulled off at Pismo Beach to camp at their state beach, only to find out that it was packed and sold out already from all the RV’ers… So, we drove down further and tried another state park; but “Full” also read their sign. We decided that we’d try the county beach, they can’t be packed…. Ah, at last they are not full, but it is highly recommended to have four wheel drive. The camping was located a mile down the beach; we decided not to put Henry to the test yet. The place had to be filling up quickly because as we sat there talking with a very helpful gentleman there was not a moment that went by where SUVs or trucks were not lined up with their trailers in tow waiting to get in. It was amazing; apparently Californians go ‘camping’, or RV’ing, for Thanksgiving. It is too cold to spend this holiday outside in Washington State or New York City… so it was a new cultural thing for us to experience. I have to say it made finding camping spots for the next few days very hard! So don’t go camping in California during Thanksgiving unless you have reservations well in advance. Who would have thought??!

car traffic at Ocean Dunes S.V.R.A.

We ended up finding a rest stop to finally sleep at – it was free and not Full, yet

Nov 22 - CA

November 27th, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 113 – We took off from Oakland via highway 92 which led us west back to highway 1. We stopped at Santa Cruz and walked around their downtown and did some people watching. There are a lot of interesting people that warm weather, beaches, and money bring together.

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A hamster cage on wheels. Yes, there is even a waterbottle and some play tubes for it.

That night we headed off of highway 1 to find some camping and ended up outside of San Juan Bautista, at Fremont Peak State Park. It was a nice campground with great views, but we didn’t know that until the morning because by the time we got up there it was pitch black; until the moon rose. Our steep ascent was a surprise, since the surrounding area seemed pretty flat. The drive up was a long and twisty one, atop a ridge in the countryside in the middle of no-where. The lights below were very gorgeous and coming back down the next day was also delightful, seeing the land covered in sunlight. We drove through San Juan Bautista the next day; it is a very cute mission style town off of highway 156.

Seacliffs

Fisherman at sunset

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Sunset Pictures can’t take enough of them

Nov.20/21 - CA

November 21st, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 111/112 -

Jason and Ryan went driving in Ryan’s sporty car and visited Ryan’s grandma again.

I took a nice walk around Lake Merritt. It has these fantastic trees all over.

And really cool ducks

Last night we went to Ryan’s friend’s apartment to celebrate two birthdays. They had really great food and an ice cream cake from Mitchell’s Ice Cream, yummy!

Lf to Rt & starting in the Back: Penley, Tuan, Jason, Mi, Shuang, and Ryan

Nov. 18/19 - CA

November 21st, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 109/110 - We spent the 18th walking around San Francisco and then meeting up with some Burners for dinner. Martin & De, it was really great see you two again!

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a fountain near Civic Center_____Rogue Public Ale House, such great microbrews

The next day, after going to the local farmer’s market in the morning, we made some fresh salsa. Then we watched the Apple Cup game – go Cougs!

Nov. 17 - CA

November 21st, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 108 - We transferred to highway 1 and continued south along the California coast. This is one of the most winding roads we have been on, and be forewarned, it is not just a nice, curvy road, but a twisting road along a very steep mountain. Constantly turning with 180 degree curves going up hill and down hill, with grades at least 8% (I think). It was a great work out for Henry, though I don’t know if he appreciated it. The coast was stunning, with foaming waves crashing into blue water that was tinted with dark green in areas.

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Wild Turkeys___________ love all the trees that lined the road, like a classic movie

country fields

lots of seagulls and seals

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Henry by the ocean___________________Cows on an ocean cliff, man what a life.

We drove into Berkeley, Ca to pick up our friend Ryan Call from work. We then headed out for a superb dinner at his grandma’s house in Danville. You can never get a better dinner than from a grandma! Dinner was an excellent risotto made by a true Italian. Thank you so much for dinner Grandma Call! Then we headed back to Oakland, where Ryan lives.

Gotta love wireless internet! It’s like a real home.

Ryan, Grandma Call, and Jason

Nov. 16 - OR/CA

November 21st, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 107 - We cruised down the rest of the Oregon Coast and headed into northern California, where the redwood forest lives.

Oregon Coast

The redwoods are the most interesting forest created, though I am sure it will be a tie with the rainforest once we explore them. Like the rainforest, the redwoods are smaller then they used to be, due mostly to logging. There used to be close to 2,000,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest canopy along the coastline of California, now there is less than four percent of that canopy. Redwoods can grow more than 360 feet and up to two thousand years old! Past the 150 foot mark the branches grow thick enough to hold tree-sized trunks. With branches that massive they collect all the debris from the upper branches and it then breaks down and creates a rich soil. This soil up in the branches provides a place for thirteen diffent species of plants, shrubs, and trees. This mini-forest provides homes to many different types of small animals, mammals, and invertebrates ~ to name a few: worms, voles, salamanders, birds, owls, and flying squirrels. I am just amazed that a whole new forest can grow up on top of the redwood forest. They are just giants and they can really shut out the sunlight when you are in the forest, it gets pretty dark and very damp from all the moisture in the air. They think that is one of the elements that help the redwoods grow so enormous.

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The ‘Big Tree’ ____________________ It’s thissss Big!

A broken tree limb — looks about foot in diameter or a bit more

Our hike on the Trillian Falls Trail - a 2.5 mile trail through the forest and redwoods. It was a very beautiful hike, but I think next time I would choose a different one. Below is a Roosevelt Elk, there are many of them along the roadway just grazing away.

Nov. 15 - OR

November 21st, 2005 | By April | No Comments »

Day 106 - Tillamook Cheese Factory! Man, was I ever excited to finally see where the cheese I grew up on in Washington was created; and get this ~ it is considered imported cheese in New York City. That just tells you how good it is Being a former cheese maker myself made it even more interesting. I worked at the WSU Creamery making Cougar Gold and other fabulous cheeses and ice cream, yum yum.

Advanced technology has changed the cheese making process into an interesting system that they call the Cheddarmaster. The Cheddarmaster is a series of conveyer belts that separate the whey and curd, and then seasons the curds. After that the mushy curds get pushed into a pressing tower where they form blocks of cheese that get vacuum-sealed and stored for aging. The old fashion way of making cheese is raking the cheese curds by hand, using a huge metal rake in a big tub, separating the whey and curd. Then we’d use oversized plastic shovels to mix the curds and seasoning, and press the cheese against the sides of the tub to form blocks that were then moved into a press and formed into long cylinders. Enough about cheese making, but what a great way to start off the trip again – or at least I think so; cheese and ice cream are my favorites!

We stayed our first night at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park south of Reedsport, Oregon. It was a really nice campground, quite manicured. This was our first night sleeping in our van and we discovered that Henry has a very comfy bottom bunk.

Oregon Coast