Day 44 - Eureka, CA

We have sun & clouds this morning.

We decided this campsite in Westport must have been our worse KOA so far. They had lousy bathrooms and when I took my shower, my dry clothes were dodging the drips of rain from the skylights overhead. Not great. I guess we are getting spoiled by some pretty nice ones we have had so far... and yet this was our most expensive one ... go figure!!

After a short drive up the coast (see photo of seagull), we entered the forest, leaving the ocean behind for a couple of days we figure.

This road is one of these famous zigzag ones and after more than 50 minutes (28 miles), we were glad to be on a straighter course. We remembered this one from 1993... This road is situated between two mountains so you are literally climbing through a crevice. The road itself is excellent, very smooth. We have to remember that we have a Corvette driver behind the wheel!!

We enter the Redwood Forests. In Leggett (pop. 315), we take a small detour to visit the famous Chandelier Tree (see photo) at 315 feet tall, it measures 21 feet in diameter. It was cut out in the 1930s (see photo of me, usually a car would be able to drive thru but not with the Roadtrek). This is the famous one! It has been featured in National Geographic and many other publications. It is still privately owned by the same family in its 4th generation. Ross remembers going thru it with his mom & dad back in 1964. We will be looking for the slide when we get home to compare and see how much it has grown in the last 50 years.

It is starting to rain. We are back on 101 now. Town of Piercy. Quite misty ahead. Rhododendrons by the roadside. The rain has stopped, sun shining. Garberville. Hills are yellow with green trees.

We take the Avenue of The Giants, a 31-mile road paralleling 101, from Phillipsville to Pepperwood. What an awesome drive. So tall and straight. They are so close to the road. Humboldt State Park. The rain again...the trees love the rain!! Now the sun is almost shining. We wonder how many trees were cut down to make this road possible.... This is when you would like a convertible or a sunroof to be able to enjoy the site of these trees. In some places, you actually drive around them. The forest floor is covered with moss and ferns.

We parked along the road, under the redwoods, for our lunch. That was very nice.

Raining again!! Eureka (pop. 26,000). Found our KOA campsite, we park and take naps. Nothing we can do, it's raining. As before, the rain stopped, but started again. We did a little carpet cleaning, and then the rain. It didn't prevent the beer & chips. Now we have had our dinner, it's almost 9 pm. I have some emailing to do. We hope that tomorrow will bring brighter skies. Tomorrow will be our last day in California.

Day 43 - Westport, CA

Memorial Day Monday. skies are gray, 12 degrees. We are back on California 1.

We can see from our first vista point that the ocean is much calmer today and rather gray, like the sky.

This coast road is something else as we turn and twist, the ocean below us, the road edged by forest one minute, winding into a valley next, we circle the beach below and up again with fields on the left and right. Up and down we go, left switchback then right switchback...Vehicles over 30-feet not recommended...

Elk (pop. 210). We turn around so Ross can get a photo of a great view (see photo) while I walk about in the Catholic Cemetery - Irish surnames, Italian surnames.

The sun is coming out. 14 degrees. Navarro Bluff Rd. Albion (pop. 398). Two cyclists on a bicycle built for 2!! A hiker!! Little River, Van Damm State Park, Mendocino (pop. 1008). We decide to visit Mendocino. It has many well-preserved 19th-century buildings and houses. The architecture reflects the New England roots of early settlers who were drawn by the rich timber resources of the surrounding countryside. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. We parked and walked a small trail to the ocean then back to Main Street where we purchased some beer and wine and stopped at a local coffeehouse for café au lait and very nice cookies.

Russian Gulch State Park.

We make another stop at Point Cabrillo Light Station built in 1909, for a 1-mile roundtrip walk to the Light Station. It was well restored and very interesting (see photo).

Caspar. Fort Bragg - did some food shopping, had lunch and headed back to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. We were spoiled by the rhododendrons (photo). Walked through several different gardens, one with cacti (photo) and another with heather which was beautiful.

Drove on to our campground in Westport which is located near a beach. Walking back to our RV we noticed that our neighbours were from Quebec so we went and knocked on their door to exchange travel stories. By the time we got inside to start preparing supper it was raining. Too bad ... but let's hope the sun comes back tomorrow. Good night!

Day 42 - Manchester, CA

Since this is Sunday, we treated ourselves to ham, eggs, fried tomatoes and toast for breakfast. Got dishes done, teeth brushed and we're on our way by 10 am. We actually managed to Skype with Andréa and phoned Miche briefly which was a surprise to us as we didn't realize we had internet. After all that, our computer wouldn't shut down. Ross finally solved the problem by removing the battery..et voilà!!
Back driving along the coast. Many State Beaches and all of them have turn outs, parking areas and paths down to the beach. We take advantage of many of them. Beautiful vistas. A heron flying by with his long legs stretched straight back. Some beautiful cottages, mostly cubic with angles, bleached wood exterior, lots of glass and balconies.
Sonoma Coast. Duncan's Landing, Shell Beach. We crossed the Russian River, Jenner (pop. 107)
Another one of those incredible zigzag rides.
Fort Ross State Historic Park – Lunch and visit. This fort was built in 1812 by the Russian American Co. to supply their posts in Alaska (Sitka) with mammal furs (otter), food produce, meat and lumber.
By 1841, they had exhausted the furs, so they decided to move on. The fort was sold and eventually in 1906 became one of the first parks in the California State Park System.The buildings are very interesting containing lots of artifacts from the Russian period. They were built of squared off lumber. I met a Russian tourist who now lives in California and he observed that buildings are still built in this manner in Russia today, the kit type that you can assemble. There was a chapel, very quaint. It has been rebuilt a couple of times because of earthquakes.
2 pm - we are back on the road. Salt Point State Park. Stewart Point, Sea Ranch. We are beginning to see a lot of homes. Roads after roads heading to homes on both sides. This is a very popular area. Again they are all built of gray bleached wood on the exterior.
Gualala Point, Mendocino County (pop. 585). A very touristy town. People milling about.
Anchor Bay, Point Arena (more of a Western town look). The wind is getting very strong.
3 pm – Manchester KOA. They have a spot for us but no water and no electricity but that's OK.
A busy busy campground. After having our beer, chips & dip, we dress up warmly (it is only 13.9), we follow a path thru a field bordered by wild flowers, lupines, iris and many others. I made myself a bouquet on the way back. There is a lot of mist. The beach has a few people huddled down. The sea is very turbulent, boiling away. The sun has come out a little more as we walk back.
After dinner, we walk thru the campground. It is buzzing with Memorial Day activities. Large groups have gathered for dinner. Children all around. Tomorrow everyone heads home! Time for us to hunker down for the night.

Day 41 - Bodega Bay, CA

Saturday morning. Still quite cool for California – 12 degrees C. We were off by 7h45 am.
We drive thru Santa Cruz. We follow the ocean with farm fields hugging the road. We passed at least 50 cyclists. This is a very popular activity in these parts. Cabrillo Highway. San Mateo. A lighthouse out on the ocean. Pescadero (Est. 1850). Now misty and hilly, lots of State beaches, and again, lots of cyclists. We have to agree this is a beautiful road to cycle on if you don't mind the cars and the Rvs but they do have a good shoulder.

We stopped at a road stand and bought strawberries (home grown and delicious), green pepper and a melon (Mexico, but delicious as well).
Half-Moon Bay, Canada Cove (a 55+ community). Venice Beach, French Creek and then “Ruisseau Français” which was pretty neat. Montera State Beach, back to road hugging cliffs. Pacifica – quite the ride. Road construction - they are actually tunnelling thru the mountain as the road is eroding away.
We have arrived in San Francisco, following 19th Ave. Slow traffic, lots of lights.
10h47 – We have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. Lots of walkers taking advantage of the long weekend. We didn't stop. We had a great 3-day visit back in 1993.
We are now on Panoramic Hwy – 10 miles of zigzags. Ross is loving it!! but you still hope the oncoming car, truck is on his own side as you cannot see him ... At the end of it, Ross remarked that this was one of the windiest roads he ever encountered...
Stop at Muir Beach Overlook. This site is along the San Andreas Fault. We have lunch at Stinson Beach. Driving along a marsh with egrets and ducks. Point Reyes. Here comes another zigzag road! We are hugging trees again. Tomales (est. 1874). Tomales Oyster Bay Co. Oysters!! Beautiful smooth road.
It's raining..our first rain in California.
At 2 pm, we decide to turn in at Bodega Bay RV Park. They have a spot for us but no water and no electricity. That's OK. They also have a Seafood Restaurant, Brisas del Mar, where we decide to have dinner. Both were great decisions. The rain didn't stop until around 6 pm and we feasted on shrimp cilantro tostada, barbecued oysters, calamari and tiger prawns with 2 glasses of delicious Silver Creek Chardonnay (from the Sonoma County, where we are). The end of a great day, once again.

Day 40 - Marina, CA

When we woke up this morning, we had no power so Ross went in the back to check the battery. It had hardly any voltage left. Ross started the engine as we realized that we (i.e. Claudette) had forgotten to switch the fridge to gas last night. Consequently, the refrigerator had drained all the power from the battery. Luckily, we were able to recharge it as soon as we got back on the road.

Those things happen...but they shouldn't.....

We had some friendly stellar jays come and visit us before we left our campsite.

Really windy back on Highway 1 as we drive north. Large waves down below with beautiful vistas at every turn. Gorgeous red leaf ground cover with pink, white, yellow blossoms. Our road takes us very close to the mountain with the cliffs below, winding back and forth.

We leave the coast to enter Carmel-by-the-Sea, A very quaint town with very pretty shops. We found a beach at the end of the road. Very beautiful (photo). Quite a few people milling about. We drive on and find Pebble Beach where we pay an entrance fee of $9.50 to take a 17-mile drive following the coast (photo) and driving by many million dollar homes, some of them castles all beautifully landscaped. We drive by the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, and stop at different viewpoints, one was called Bird Rock (photo).

Leaving Pebble Beach, we enter the town of Monterey (photo) and again drive along the coastal route which is quite beautiful.

As we get back onto Highway 1, we arrive in Marina and Ross took an exit where there was mention of an RV Park. This is a great one as we have access to this incredible beach beyond the sand dunes. We spent a couple of hours just walking and watching the waves breaking on the shore. We returned tonight for sunset photos but it got really cold as the sun dipped into the horizon so we got back to our campsite for hot showers.

It is way passed by bedtime ... 11h27...but my blog is up to date!! Good night.

Day 39 - Pfeiffer State Park, Big Sur

7h20 am - This campground feels like an orchard. Very quiet. Cambria, Santa Rosa Creek, beautiful sunny morning. Spanish moss in the trees along the road. We drive through amazing vistas of soft velvet undulating hills. Like a hand pushed down on soft clay and molded indents between the hills. You would want to paint these they are so beautiful. An enchanting area (photo).

We start seeing vineyards on our left and on our right and pretty soon there are fields, immense fields covered with vineyards (photo), as far as your eyes can see. We were told that this area is now competing with the Napa Valley and you can easily see why.

As we drive on, the road changes drastically. Now we have parched hills and green trees below. And again, we start seeing more vineyards and orchards. Lockwood, San Lucas.

Now we are in an agricultural area, fields cultivated for broccoli, pimentos, again workers in the fields, iceberg lettuce, Taylor Farms. Greenfield. Very busy agricultural area. Spreckels, Salinas.

Now heading for California 1 and the coast. The ocean is beautiful, the colour turquoise with rocks breaking the waves on the shore. The drive is spectacular from the start.

We found a campsite in the Pfeiffer State but only for one night. Memorial Day weekend is coming up and they are completely booked. We had lunch there. This site is in the redwoods, awesome redwoods, so tall and so straight.

We leave to drive the coastal road. We stop to watch the sea lions. There are homes built everywhere, down or up. You can hardly see them nestled in the trees.

Ross wanted to drive up to where the rockslide was at this side of Highway 1 but again we turned around just before as there was a bridge under construction. On our return trip, we stopped at the Julia Pfeiffer State Park and walked a short trail to a water fall but with no access to the beach below. It was almost 6 pm by the time we got back to the campsite. After beer & chips, download photos, no internet tonight but did get a shower at 25 cents for 3 mins. We had quite the day!

Day 38 - San Simeon-Hearst Castle

We were on the road by 7h11 this morning. Nice to have the sun behind us to drive. There is quite the surf this morning. The road hugs the coast, it is quite windy, the breakers are right there. Sand dunes on right. Santa Monica Mountains. We drive through vegetable growing area - strawberries, raspberries. Pickers in the fields. Tomatoes. Oxnard, Ventura.

Did you know that there are over 34 million people living in California. Canada's population in one State!!

I think that my purple trees are 'accacia' but I have not had a chance to check on Google.

Our road continues and now we are quite mountainous with valleys on our right and the ocean on our left. Gorgeous scenery, cattle in the fields, soft hills. It feels like maybe what Scotland would feel like. Lompoc. Santa Maria, Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo.

Found a campground in San Simeon and then headed for Hearst Castle. Randolph Hearst was a very rich publisher who built his residence and guesthouses starting in 1919 and continued until 1947 when ill health forced him to abandon the project. He still had not completed Casa Grande at his death in 1951. It is quite the castle as you can see from the photos.

After returning to our Roadtrek, we decided to go for a drive up to where a rockslide had closed Highway 1 where we expected to drive thru to Monterey the next day. It was quite a ride on a windy cliff-hanging road. We didn't quite get to the slide as we thought we should be headed back for dinner before it got too dark. One interesting stop at the beginning of our drive was to look upon elephant seals laying about on the beach. Quite the spectacle.

That was it for the day....

Day 37 - Malibu, CA

This is a great campground perched up on a cliff overlooking the sea. It was got quite chilly in the night but now I know how to start the furnace so all went well.

We had our toast and coffee on the picnic table looking out at the ocean. Pelicans flew by. Very nice.

We drove back the same route we took yesterday afternoon, following the Pacific Coast Highway, then Sunset Blvd., to reach the Getty Center. This time it was opened and very busy by the time we got there. A tram takes us from the underground parking up a relatively steep incline to the entrance at the top of the canyon looking down on the suburb of Bel Air. You will see from the photo how gorgeous the buildings are. They are a work of art by themselves. Designed by an architect named Richard Meier. It has been opened since 1997. Caught the architecture tour when we arrived which was most interesting and then we walked through the different exhibits in the different buildings. We took a guided tour for the Paris exhibition which was quite entertaining. We toured the gardens which blended beautifully with the architecture. A great visit.

Did some food shopping along Sunset Blvd. and got back to the campground for a quiet evening watching the sunset over the Pacific.

Day 36 - Malibu, California

We got up real early this morning and were on the road by 7 AM. Leaving Vegas, the city skyline sparkled in the early morning light so very modern and sleek. Then we come upon housing developments, so many of them. You wonder how they manage to get all the water needed in the middle of the desert!!

Our road changes quite quickly back to desert with small brush and mountains in the background.

Welcome to California...people coming into Nevada are greeted with a large Casino Hotel, of course.

Our road follows the edge of the Mojave National Preserve. Lots of cacti, a forest of cacti trees (see photo), some very large.

The town of Halloran Springs actually has two dry lakes, Soda Lake and Silver Lake. "ZZyzx Rd"

Granite Mountains. Very dry again. and then an orchard with fruit. Apple Valley.

Traffic is getting heavier - La Verne - we now have 5-6 lanes.

At 12h we arrive at the Getty Center to find out that it is closed on Mondays but we are given tickets for the Getty Villa located not far away. So we drive down Sunset Blvd to the Pacific Coast Hwy. Ross was the first to see the ocean!! And so many flowers in trees, bushes, you name it. I saw a tree full of purple flowers. I need to find out what kind it is. Never seen before. Bougainvillias. Just beautiful.

We arrive at the Getty Villa. We are lucky with our tickets since normally you would have to reserve in advance for these. Lucky us!! This villa was built to replicate a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri in Pompei. It was built to display Jean-Paul Getty's collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. We join an architecture tour to explore the layout of the villa and learn more about daily life in the ancient world. We really enjoyed the museum visit. We saw quite a few Greek statues which reminded us of our visit to Athens last fall.

Tonight, we hear the sound of the ocean breakers on the beach (our elevation is "0" or almost), away from the noises of busy Las Vegas. Good night!

Day 35 - Las Vegas, Nevada

Lazy Sunday morning. We chatted with fellow campers from Holland, then went for a swim.

After lunch, we headed downtown but taking the bus this time. A slower means but definitely easier on our poor feet.

This time we went to the end of The Strip and visited Luxor (see photo of Egyptian Sphinx). I must say that hotel had unbelievable reproductions inside and out. Then took free monorail to Excalibur, with turrets and castle-like structure, looked more like Disneyworld. We then walked on to New York New York with replicas of landmark buildings like the Chrysler Bldg., of course the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Bldg., etc. We actually walked in and had a beer in an authentic Irish Pub. Leaving, we walked on the Brooklyn Bridge. This is all so strange when you have actually been on the real thing...

We finally got back to our campsite on a very slow bus for quick showers and dress-up so we could return and get to the Bellagio Hotel where we had tickets for the Cirque du Soleil show. We made it with 10 minutes to spare... What a show!! Nothing like we have ever seen. It was outstanding. For the price we paid for the tickets, we could have been a little closer (we forgot our binoculars) but we enjoyed it so much. It is spellbinding. This was their 6000th show! It all started here in Las Vegas in 1998. Unbelievable, and to think that Cirque du Soleil originated in Baie-Saint-Paul!!!

After the show, we headed back to the RV. We had thought of going out for dinner but everywhere was so noisy and it was too late. We had a couple of toasted tomatoe and egg sandwiches and slept like logs...

Day 34 - Las Vegas, Nevada

Sat. morning. 19 degrees, no wind and sunny. We're off!!

Driving through Kingman, I see a quail walking in a driveway, hollyhocks in a garden, lots of Cypress trees and lots of oleanders. The flowers are really beautiful, but as we drive off onto the road, the landscape changes dramatically and it is cacti world. We made a couple of stops to take some photos of some very special ones.

We drove by the exit for Bullhead City. There is a real spread of homes down in the valley below. Our temperature is going up. We are now 24 degrees at 2750' elev. Now 26 degrees.

From a scenic viewpoint, we can see Black Canyon and Mohave Lake. A very dry area. The colour of the rock is very muted yellows, grays, greens.

10h30 - Welcome to Nevada! We arrive at the Hoover Dam. At 726' high, it is one of the highest concrete dams ever constructed. Built in 1931-35 (during the Depression), in Black Canyon for flood control and water storage. We walked to the Visitor Center using the Overlook (32 deg.). Very interesting exhibits and information on the building of the dam. We walked back and had lunch in our cooler RV then drove up to the Colorado River Bridge which reroutes vehicule traffic from the top of the Hoover Dam, opened in Oct. 2010. We took the pedestrian sidewalk along the bridge's north side giving us optimum viewing at a height of 900'. see photos.

We head off to Las Vegas which is only 30 mins away. We found our campsite at Circus Circus, a huge hotel resort with an inside amusement park. The campground is basically a parking lot with very few trees but would you believe it, we are parked under a tree with the pool behind us with lawn chairs and table we can use. We are unbelievably lucky....

Las Vegas has a city pop. of 478,434 approx. which must bulge up to incredible numbers with the tourists-gamblers. There is a lot of traffic as you can see from one of the photos.

We started our walk up Las Vegas Blvd (The Strip) around 3h30 and returned around 8h30. We wore our feet out. We figured we walked 10 kms incl. inside stuff. The Strip is a glittery real-life make-believe world...dancing Italian fountains, pirate ships, Venice (photo), the Eiffel Tower (photo) replicates and people, people. And when you walk inside these huge hotels, more people, people gambling... quite something. We had dinner at the bar, on the roof top level, at Margaritaville with hamburgers, me with my margarita and Ross with a beer, soaking up the atmosphere.

When we think of where we were two nights ago, this is certainly the other extreme!!! Good night!!

Day 33 - Kingman, AZ

It was barely 1 degree when we got up this morning but with lots of sunshine. Got a few things done on the Internet and then off we went.

We decided last night that we would return to Valle which we had driven by yesterday afternoon and take Highway 180. It had a very good write-up in the book on Arizona that my friend Josiane had lent us.

By 8 am, it is 10 degrees. We are driving with the Kaibab National Forest on our right and the Cococino Natl For. on our left. We stopped at Kendrick Mountain Wilderness Area for a short trail walk. The area is dominated by 10,418-foot Kendrick Mountain (see photo).

The highway runs south alongside the western slope of the San Francisco Peaks, passing through thick stands of ponderosa pine. This mountain is actually the centerpiece of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, a 2-million-acre area covered with lava flows. The mountain was once a massive symmetrical stratovolcanoe that looked like Mount Fuji in Japan. But events that began 2.8 million years ago and ended 200,000 years ago transformed it into 4 peaks.

We took the Snow Bowl Road up to see how far we could get to Humphrey's Peak (12,670 ft) - Arizona's highest point, and Agassiz Peak (12,523 ft) but the road was closed because of snow and unfortunately they were hidden in the clouds. On the way down, we happen to see the deer in the 2nd photo.

Back on Highway 180, we reached Flagstaff and decided to visit the Museum of Northern Arizona. It was started in 1928 and contains an impressive number of artifacts from the different indian tribes living in Arizona and a lot of geology dating back to when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. We could have spent a lot more time...

We had lunch in their parking lot and then we headed off looking for Historic Route 66. Route 66 was the first completely paved transcontinental highway in the USA, linking hundreds of towns and cities between Chicago and Los Angeles. We had a lovely drive (see photo) through flat lands reaching out as far as you could see.

Tonight we are in Kingman and enjoyed having dinner outside with 25 degrees temperature. We certainly hope that we have left the cold and snow behind. Tomorrow....Vegas!!!