Westward Driving Trip: California

Day 22 we entered Joshua Tree from the south entrance which was in the Colorado Desert. We then drove west into the Mojave Desert, while still in the National park. It has been fascinating seeing how much the terrain and plant life change depending on the elevation and this was no exception. The whole day was chilly and extremely windy then in the western section it got down to 38* and snowed! The highlight for me was the Ocotillo Patch and for Scott it was the Cholla Cactus Garden where there were Chollas as far as the eye could see. It was only in the western portion where we saw the actual Joshua Trees which aren’t very attractive trees to be honest. We exited into the town of Joshua Tree but spent the night in the town of Twentynine Palms, named after the 29 palm trees that were in the town when the Native Americans planted a palm each time a male was born. This is also the home of the Marine Corp’s largest base.  

We left 29 Palms heading toward the area of San Luis Obispo planning to stop in the south end of Big Sur in order to drive north on Hwy. 1. After lunch I started looking for a hotel in Big Sur and figured out why nothing was available…Big Sur was closed at both the north and south end. Erosion had caused the highway to fall into the sea and Scott was highly disappointed to miss out on one of his very favorite places. A quick re-route to Monterey took us to whole new vistas…from the dry cactus desert to green rolling hills and vineyards.

The Monterey Bay and the surrounding areas of Pacific Grove and Carmel-by-the-Sea were beautiful. The scenery on the coast, including sand dunes, cliffs, rolling hills and mountains made for a beautiful drive on the 17 Mile Drive down to the closed section of Hwy. 1. As we walked along the water front in Monterey we observed 15 Harbor Seals, several deer and two Sea Otters all on one beach right by the street. A volunteer naturalist taught us so much about the seals and the babies that were nursing. How cool to just walk down the street and see amazing wildlife. The historic area of Cannery Row, of John Steinbeck fame, was our home for three nights.

One day we spent from opening to closing time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium soaking up the educational videos and talks and observing the feedings . Some favorites were the jelly fish, octopus eggs, scalloped hammerheads, schools of anchovies, and the newly discovered creatures from the super deep submarine Monterey Canyon, similar in scale and shape to the Grand Canyon only under water. Pretty hard to comprehend that what we had seen at the Grand Canyon was right there in the bay but underwater. The Japanese Spider Crab has legs that span up to 12′ from claw to claw and 10 legs which can regrow.

On our way to San Francisco we stopped at the Light House Field State Beach in downtown Santa Cruz to eat our lunch and laugh at the Sea Otters frolicking near the shore. The water was so clear that when a wave breached we could see the otters dive down into the sea kelp forest. When they brought up their crustacean snack we could see them smashing it on their chest to crack it open. They are so cute as the rolled and played together. The second wildlife treat for the day was the 400 Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Park. We happened to see the park sign on Hwy. 1 and pulled over to ask at the entry what was in the park. We were pleasantly surprised when the ranger told us about the seals. On the beach a naturalist taught us all about the nursing, weaning, feeding and molting habits of the big fat blubbery seals. Newly weaned pups are closest to the water where they will chill until they get hungry and will then head out to sea. Once weaned, the moms do not teach them to swim or feed, they are on their own. The females do not eat or poop for up to 2 months and the males for up to 4 months while they are molting so no stinking smells!

As we drove through San Francisco Scott chauffeured me around the city and down the Crookedest Street which was crazy curvy and tight…maximum 9 mph but we only managed 6 mph. We actually stayed in Sausalito which was a lovely little town clinging to the hillside with wonderful views of the bay. We had accrued so many nights with Hotels.com we received an upgrade for a lovely hotel room overlooking the bay. It was cool to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and see it in all its variations of cloud cover as we took the ferry into the city. We couldn’t miss walking some docks and checking out the house boats. It was low tide and they were fully sitting in the mud which was not a pretty sight. While sitting on the ferry dock we belted out a few round of “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” since it was written in Sausalito.

In San Fran we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf, saw a bunch of Sea Lions, bought some extremely overpriced Ghirardelli chocolates, ate sourdough bread from Boudin and ate delicious cioppino. The best part was hanging off the side of the cable cars, especially when passenger cars passed close by. We rode all the lines and enjoyed the views then toured the cable car museum which was quite interesting. Scott enjoyed watching the drive motors for the cables that actually move the cable cars.

Next was a walk down memory lane for Scott as we drove by the house where he lived in Fairfield, saw his old Anheuser Busch brewery and had lunch with an old colleague and his wife (Cliff and Stephanie). From there we took a scenic route to Napa and enjoyed the views of the vineyards and lovely homes/tasting rooms. Twice we drove north to Calistoga and explored it as well as St. Helena and Yountville. Apparently reservations are recommended for tastings and they cost $40-$60. What does a couple do in Napa Valley when one person no longer drinks and the other only likes moscato and sweet rieslings? They do laundry and go to the outlet mall!

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees” (Henry David Thoreau) This is one of my favorite quotes and one that I felt deeply as we hiked and enjoyed the silence in the Coastal Redwoods in Muir Woods. Did you know…these giants that grow to 380′ tall and 38′ around and can live for 2000 years yet their root system is only 6-12′ deep? Pretty amazing. Did you know they often grow in families that sprout from a mature tree? The parent tree helps nurture the younger trees and they soon merge, sharing their root systems that grow wider instead of deeper. These giants create a calm and grounded atmosphere – pretty magical.

Trees and scenic views of the Pacific were our themes as we traveled north to Oregon on Hwy 1 or 101 when necessary. For the past ten years Scott has spoke fondly of the times he has driven this coast and he is thrilled to be doing it again. The roads are actually rather dangerous. We saw several signs warning of “slides” and many times the road was only open going north (the inland side) due to repairs on the coast side. We could literally see the road falling off. We average only 18 mph because of the curves and occasional stops to enjoy the views.

Stops included a night at Bodega Bay where the movie “The Birds” was filmed. At Glass Beach in Fort Bragg where we saw no colorful glass but plenty of people looking for it assumedly to take it home. Redwood National Park had a lovely hike thru Lady Bird Johnson’s Grove where silence was golden. We didn’t attempt a drive through the Redwood tree in Leggett for fear that we would get stuck. Our final night in CA was at Smith River Lucky 7 Casino which was on a Native American reservation. I had always wanted to stay on a reservation but didn’t think it would be in a casino! This was where we celebrated Scott’s birthday with dinner at the casino.

The forest views and oceans vistas have been spectacular! Unfortunately, our phone cameras do not do them justice. All in all we have driven 5569 mi. in 34 days. No wonder Scott wanted to revisit Hwy 1 and 101! Only 12 of the 34 days did we not move to a different location. Thank goodness for packing cubes! We have practiced yoga every evening that we’ve had room on the floor and once when we could only do standing poses! I’d call that dedication! More gorgeous trees and forests to come in Oregon and Washington.