The drive along the coast
The campsites in our campground
Checking out the scenery
California is falling into the ocean. This used to be the
coastal highway that Mark drove his motorcycle on 33
years ago.
The coast
The coast
We climbed up this thing -- in street clothes!!
Mark installs the solar panel on the roof of the trailer. This
gave us all the electricity we needed and set us free.
Not a bad place to do a job like this.
Finished product, situated between a roof hatch and the
folded down TV antenna.
The beach below the bluff where we were camped (150 miles
north of San Francisco).
These "ice plants" are house plants in Phoenix but grow
wild here.
Drive-through giant redwood tree.
Redwoods are very tall and sequoias
are very wide.
Driving through the redwoods in the northernmost coastal tip
of California.
California Coast
June 24-30, 2007 - We drove west from Yosemite towards the
California coast, taking the small scenic roads through the
mountains, skirting past Sacramento, and finally reaching the
coast at Fort Bragg, north of San Francisco. The weather was
cooler and more moist than in Yosemite, and it was so startling to
see the ocean after all those woods, streams and shear rock
faces.
We stayed at the Westport-Union State Park Campground right on
the coast. What a beautiful campground. It stretches along three
miles of the coast.
Most people camp at the most northern end where they can perch
right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the crashing surf on the
beach below.
We camped at the more southerly end where there is a huge
grassy field with spacious sites that were largely unoccupied.
We walked along the old Route 1 that snakes along the coast.
It is badly eroded and is no longer used. The campground has
been pushed further west, away from the eroding cliff edges,
but you can see where some of the sites and toilets used to be.
We used our days here to install our new solar panel. Mark
installed the wiring from the roof down through the front closet to a
charge controller and on over to the batteries. Once it was installed
on the roof we were amazed at how much freedom it gave us. For
the rest of our travels in this rig -- another 10 months -- we rarely
had hookups. We got all of our electricity from the panel.
We got in a little cycling,
although I don't think Route
1 has a big enough
shoulder in this area for
bikes. Instead we climbed
the crazy mountains
heading inland from the
coast. The climb seemed
to go on forever!
The northern California coast is lined with sheer
cliffs and stunning views. There are also
towering redwood trees and occasional
sequoias as well. We had a stunning drive up
northwards to the Oregon Coast.
The roads are very hilly, with tight
twists and turns and insane
logging truck drivers that barrel
along as if they own the road.
Actually, I think they do. It was a
white-knuckle drive that was
definitely worth doing once.