After a 380 mile drive in tempuratures as high as 109 degrees, we're finally home. It was a great trip and we really miss the cool weather. The only picture from today was taken as we cruised down the freeway in Corona. The kids were losin' it from being in the car for too long. I had to stop talking because anything I said caused Jimbo to break into a jingle, movie line, TV commercial or something related to what I said.
Here's what Jimbo unglued looks like.
Whew! Today we made our epic journey down the Pacific Coast Highway - it's actually called Shoreline Highway north of San Francisco. We drove 182 miles of winding, curvy, foggy, sunny, tree-covered, diving, swooping road. I actually had sore spots on my hands from steering and using the manual shifter, but what a blast to drive!
As usual, we just made it out before check-out time at 11 under gray skies. We had an ocean view from our room and enjoyed breakfast to the surf and highway sounds just under our window. We eventually hit some sun and lucked out by stopping at a beautiful beach with chocolate-brown sand - Manchester State Beach. It was one of the few totally sunny spots we had along the coast.
After a few hours, the switchbacks, hairpins and various other-size corners start to blend together. We'll need to go through our pictures and video to remember everything we saw. We came off the coast highway just before the Golden Gate bridge which was really fogged in this time. We stopped at Mel's Drive-In in downtown San Francisco for meatloaf, burgers, floats and malts. We're currently camped in San Jose directly under the airport flight path getting ready to run home.
This was the view from our hotel window. Probably a great place when at sunset when it's clear.
Here's Mary modeling her recently-knitted hat. She almost had blisters from furious back-seat knitting a few days ago.
This is the chocolate-colored beach. Because of the color, the sand was toasty warm by the water and burning hot farther back. Jimbo said the wet sand looked like coffee grounds.
Here's a self-portrait we took at a cove I can't remember the name of.
Just a small sample of the roads we took. This is a Jimbo-shooting-from-above-the-car special.
Mel's in downtown SF. We played the oldies jukebox while chowing on ground beef at the counter.
Today we moved from Eureka down to Fort Bragg, right on the coast. We took a long drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and were again amazed at how big these trees are. It's hard to capture the experience in a picture, so we tried some video, too. Stayed tuned for a DVD! The tallest tree we saw was 363 feet tall. After a while the mind starts to boggle as you walk among a grove full of 250+ foot trees.
We started back down Pacific Coast Highway around 7pm and zoomed through 20 miles of curvy hill-hugging road. My turbo-mobile loved it but Mary didn't as much. We made it to the coast around sunset but were shrouded in clouds and fog. We managed to spot some pelicans, black sand beaches and cool campgrounds before it got dark.
Along the Avenue of the Giants in the redwood park we spotted berry bushes along the road for hundreds of feet. A guide on our boat tour said they are Himalaya berries - like blackberries.
We picked a whole basket and had to keep Mary from eating them.
Here's Jimbo parked in a cool, quiet spot.
Here's a shot of a really big tree - over 300 feet tall. We just can't remember which one it is.
This is the only picture we could get on the coast before it got dark.
Today we drove north from Eureka to Klamath to take a boat tour up the Klamath River. On the way we stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson grove in the Redwood National park. It's always amazing to see the giant trees. There were redwoods and douglas fir that seemed to be trying to keep up and were over 200 feet tall and straight as an arrow. We're staying in Eureka an extra day so we can take more hikes in the forest.
The boat tour took us upriver about 20 miles past where the road ends. We actually went as far as where the road ends coming down from farther up the river. We saw golden eagles and osprey in flight, a bald eagle perched in a tree and a few locals seeking fish in the river. The boat we were in carried 23 people and had two 350+ horsepower V8 motors so we could cruise up the river at 30-40 miles per hour. It's a jet boat so it can keep moving even when the water is only a foot deep. We did a bunch of 360-degree spins and got a good rinsing. We started out in 65-degree weather down by the ocean and ended up in 90-degree heat at the lodge where we enjoyed a steak dinner before heading back down. What a blast!
We ended the day under a fog canopy at a dark-sanded beach with new sand - it's still the size of sesame seeds so you get sesame-crusted feet.
That's Jimbo and Mary standing in front of a REALLY big tree!
Here we are loaded into the jet boat.
Here we are mid-spin on the way back down.
The other boat at cruising speed. Woo hoo!
This beach was almost black and we had it to ourselves - in 60 degree weather, of course. A seal swimming by checked us out while we were playing frisbee.
We covered 382 miles today from Monterey to Eureka. The original plan was to continue our Pacific Coast highway journey from a few years ago which ended in Monterey. After taking over 2 hours to get from Monterey to San Francisco, we abandoned that since we still had a couple of hundred miles to go to Eureka. We went up the 101 and were pleasantly suprised by mile after mile of smooth, rolling highway between hundred foot forests. Well, okay, it was fun for the driver. Mary was singing the back seat blues after being in the car for 7+ hours.
We started out in the 60 degree coastal weather, drove inland for a while in 90-100 degree sun and then wound up back in the cool coastal fog. A local said this is the way it works. When it's really hot inland, it fogs up at the coast. Cool! :)
Here's the Pigeon Point lighthouse south of San Francisco.
Jimbo and Mary on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Zooming through the redwood forest.
Finally, back into the cool fog.
Today we moved 150 miles north to Monterey. We spent the afternoon under grey skies down around Cannery Row and the bay. We had some fish and chips, took a 2+ hour bike ride around much of the bay and then had a pretty nice dinner right on the water. We also went to an arcade where Mary demonstrated her secret rock-climbing skills.
Here's Mary posing on the way to the tip of Monterey Peninsula.
On the way to the other side of the bay, Mary made a new friend.
Mary was inspired to act like a monkey herself and scaled this wall 3 times!
The funniest thing we saw was these harbor seals trying to keep their heads and feet out of the water to keep warm. They were staking out rocks just below the surface and waiting for the tide to go out.
We couldn't get enough of the cool weather, so we headed down to the beach by Morro Rock. It's a 15 mile jaunt from campus. It's a huge beach and was almost completely empty - very peaceful. Even though it was about 65 degrees when we got there, Jimbo the animal had to try the 60 degree water. He ended up getting a bunch of sand-flea bites after he parked himself in one spot for too long.
Mary had fun collecting shells and taking pictures.
Jimbo couldn't stay out of the water. It only hurts for the first 5 minutes until you go numb.
Here's Jimbo in front of the Performing Arts Center on campus. Unforunately, we never made it inside to see if it looks as cool as the outside. We met in the theater on the other side for the introduction and parent presentations. We were at it all day gathering info and getting help with Jimbo's upcoming registration. We also had a chance to sample campus cuisine. Not too bad, but the word is it gets old when you have the same thing on the same day every week. We had a tour of the dorms and got to see the luxurious living quarters Jimbo will enjoy - NOT!
After arriving in downtown San Luis Obispo, we walked around the shops and restaurants, visited the mission, went for a dip at the motel and drove around campus a little. We discovered a cool canal that seems to come from under downtown.
Here's Jimbo and Mary in front of the courthouse in downtown.
Here's a shot of the fog rolling towards the campus at San Luis Obispo.The weather's perfect here - if you get warm, you get in the shade, if cool, get into the sun.
This entry is being done on the road - we're 58 miles from San Luis Obispo. Jimbo will be attending a registration advising day tomorrow.
Wireless internet is cool, but hard to do while the car is moving around. Here's a few self-portraits from our first few hundred miles.
Here's our reflection in a fuel truck.
Cruisin' down the highway
Jim, Jimbo and Mary are heading up the coast again to San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Eureka and points in between. We're taking some mobile tecnology with, so we might take a crack at a running diary of our trip. Check back for updates.
