Tour Diary - Day Twenty Two
Feb. 14th, 2017 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingmanLeaving San Francisco... down the west coast
Tuesday 25th October - San Francisco to Marina, California
A little rain overnight did its best to wash away some of the hard-earned dust'n'dirt on Travis, but he's still a very dirty boy...
We said goodbye to our Oakland Air B'n'B Host & 2 of her 3 cats this morning, then headed down the road to the lake shore for the last time to pick up coffee, donuts & a couple of essentials for a light travelling breakfast. We were aiming to hit Highway 1, which would take us all the way down the coast to L.A. via a far more scenic route than the inland option, half of which we'd done the other day... Over the Oakland bridge in traffic that wasn't too bad - well, no worse than we've come to expect mid-morning in SF anyway. Some tricky cross-town navigation work past & through various construction & road works, then a scenic drive past the place in Richmond where we stayed last time, before we found the highway, making sure we were pointed south
As we gradually left town, the traffic opened up & the speed limits lifted to 65m/ph, but there were photo opportunities every once in a while, even though the weather wasn't exactly beach & coast friendly - it was overcast & windy for the first few hours
The Cabrillo highway passed through a few small towns/communities on its way down the coast. We tried to stay as close to the water as possible, occasionally detouring down streets that looked like they were headed for the beach, only to encounter dead ends, or less-than-perfect viewpoints. Certainly not as perfect as this guy's front yard view...
We kept expecting to find one of these little towns to be called Sunnydale... Some of them felt like they were hiding a Hellmouth underneath! Only as the road signs started to mention familiar names like Monterey & Santa Cruz, did the sun come out & it began to feel like California is supposed to. By this time, it was mid-afternoon & the weather forecast predicted a sunny day tomorrow, which would make the Big Sur coastline much more appealing than if we tried it today. So we found a Motel 6 near to Marina Beach & called time on travelling for the day
Except to drive down to the beach at the end of the street around sunset to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean, on the opposite side to where we normally do. I was approached by a young Latin couple from Utah, who'd never seen the ocean before &, somehow, had no way to photograph the moment. Apparently she didn't have a phone & he'd dropped his in the water, so they gave me their e-mail address & I took 2 photos with the sunset & sea behind them, which I'll send them as soon as we get back & I can go through the thousands we've taken in the last few weeks. I only hope that's really all they wanted - I can do without a trans-Pacific scam
As the sun set into the ocean, even though we were talking quietly to ourselves, our accent caught the ear of an ex-pat New Zealand couple - the male half of which wanted to tell me everything that's wrong with the Australian Rugby Union team. Given that we lose just about every time we play the NZ team, I suppose he's entitled to preach a little... or a lot, as it turned out
Down the street & 'round the corner was a little Italian seafood place which was remarkable for the fact that its main meals were closer in size to what we're used to in Australia, instead of being humungous. This meant the walk around the nearby Super-Walmart was relatively comfortable, despite the efforts of the usual candidates for the 'People of Walmart' website throughout
When we got back to the Motel, there had been a population explosion... the carpark was almost completely full. When we'd left a few hours before, we were the only ones in it!! Here's hoping for a quiet night
Tuesday 25th October - San Francisco to Marina, California
A little rain overnight did its best to wash away some of the hard-earned dust'n'dirt on Travis, but he's still a very dirty boy...
We said goodbye to our Oakland Air B'n'B Host & 2 of her 3 cats this morning, then headed down the road to the lake shore for the last time to pick up coffee, donuts & a couple of essentials for a light travelling breakfast. We were aiming to hit Highway 1, which would take us all the way down the coast to L.A. via a far more scenic route than the inland option, half of which we'd done the other day... Over the Oakland bridge in traffic that wasn't too bad - well, no worse than we've come to expect mid-morning in SF anyway. Some tricky cross-town navigation work past & through various construction & road works, then a scenic drive past the place in Richmond where we stayed last time, before we found the highway, making sure we were pointed south
As we gradually left town, the traffic opened up & the speed limits lifted to 65m/ph, but there were photo opportunities every once in a while, even though the weather wasn't exactly beach & coast friendly - it was overcast & windy for the first few hours
The Cabrillo highway passed through a few small towns/communities on its way down the coast. We tried to stay as close to the water as possible, occasionally detouring down streets that looked like they were headed for the beach, only to encounter dead ends, or less-than-perfect viewpoints. Certainly not as perfect as this guy's front yard view...
We kept expecting to find one of these little towns to be called Sunnydale... Some of them felt like they were hiding a Hellmouth underneath! Only as the road signs started to mention familiar names like Monterey & Santa Cruz, did the sun come out & it began to feel like California is supposed to. By this time, it was mid-afternoon & the weather forecast predicted a sunny day tomorrow, which would make the Big Sur coastline much more appealing than if we tried it today. So we found a Motel 6 near to Marina Beach & called time on travelling for the day
Except to drive down to the beach at the end of the street around sunset to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean, on the opposite side to where we normally do. I was approached by a young Latin couple from Utah, who'd never seen the ocean before &, somehow, had no way to photograph the moment. Apparently she didn't have a phone & he'd dropped his in the water, so they gave me their e-mail address & I took 2 photos with the sunset & sea behind them, which I'll send them as soon as we get back & I can go through the thousands we've taken in the last few weeks. I only hope that's really all they wanted - I can do without a trans-Pacific scam
As the sun set into the ocean, even though we were talking quietly to ourselves, our accent caught the ear of an ex-pat New Zealand couple - the male half of which wanted to tell me everything that's wrong with the Australian Rugby Union team. Given that we lose just about every time we play the NZ team, I suppose he's entitled to preach a little... or a lot, as it turned out
Down the street & 'round the corner was a little Italian seafood place which was remarkable for the fact that its main meals were closer in size to what we're used to in Australia, instead of being humungous. This meant the walk around the nearby Super-Walmart was relatively comfortable, despite the efforts of the usual candidates for the 'People of Walmart' website throughout
When we got back to the Motel, there had been a population explosion... the carpark was almost completely full. When we'd left a few hours before, we were the only ones in it!! Here's hoping for a quiet night
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-14 02:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-14 03:24 am (UTC)I thought it was some kind of eccentric Ken Kesey-style hippy hut, left over from the Autumn of Love in the late 60s/early 70s. The graffiti looks more modern though...
(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-14 03:31 am (UTC)