A holiday within a holiday. Are we being greedy? Probably, but lifes not always going to be like this, so we're going to make the most of it. And so, our slightly longer than a month road trip along the west coast of the US starts with a flight out of Costa Rica, into LA. I don't see Family Back that often, and this being the second time I've come to visit in two months, feel spoilt at the opportunity to spend some time with them again. And Seren and Kai sort of seem to remember who I am, but have the added distraction of the far more interesting Becky to entertain them. Or is it the other way around, as Becky sets about putting makeup on Seren and laughing hysterically at her in her clothes, especially a very fashionable but slightly too large bikini which is worn on our first outing to the pool. Michael, Chloe's Dad is having his holiday crashed by us and babysits, allowing the four of us a rare venture out at night. Twice!We pillage camping equipment and electronic devices generously offered to us, and we are soon on our way in our rental SUV. Or is it? I have no idea what kind of car it is as I know nothing about cars. But its big. And we can sleep in it if we get desperate.
We've chosen a corker of a weekend to start our travels on, Labour day weekend. The last big hurrah of the American holiday season, and as such everything is booked. But we manage to steal a last minute camping spot at the start of Big Sur, a splendid stretch of road running along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. But can we get out of LA? No. Not without a slight argument with the GPS device, which leads us inland on route 101 instead of along the coastal highway 1. We do what every modern day person would do, and blindly follow every instruction the machine gives us. She does have a lovely computer voice after all.
Somehow we manage to make it onto route 1. I take over the driving and in blind panic, manage to swiftly reverse our progress by heading us back to LA. Its called a freeway for a reason. Everyone is free to overtake, undertake, ignore signalling amongst many other things. Turn offs can either be on the right hand side or on the left, and a road can very swiftly fork into two. Which is what takes me unawares. That and the automatic gearbox. Its like a dodgem car, especially on the brakes! The only thing they've got right over here are the pool lanes, which allow cars with 2 or more people to get ahead of the rest.
We drift along the coast, stopping for photographs of kite surfers jumping into the sky and sea lions basking in the late evening light. The scenery is stunning, rolling uphill and along cliff edge. We listen to Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 Rock Songs as a movie set backdrop slides by. Arriving late at the campsite, we soon realise that Americans 'Know how to camp', staying in a shielded-off camp surrounded by redwood trees. Pine fresh smells, and not from a 'shake n vac'. We park our newly borrowed double decker tent in-between trailers, winnebagos and SUVs with the crackle of campfires in our ears.
Hitting the road as we wake, we continue where we left off. Skateboard brand towns pass us by, Ventura, Santa Cruz, where we stop for an amazing bite to eat and a passing look at surf shops, making our way lazily up to San Francisco. The Sat Nav is now our friend and guides us skilfully to our hotel, The Red Victorian, owned by Sami Sunshine. I strongly suspect thats not her real name. We seem to have entered some kind of hippy paradise. Each room is originally decorated to reflect its name, such as 'The Summer of Love', 'The Peace Room, 'The Rainbow room'. You get the gist. We're in the Skylight Room. And yup, its got a skylight. Overlooking Haight, a main street that runs all the way into the centre of San Fran. Sami Sunshine's peace paintings line the walls of the hotel. One of them I quite liked.
We love the town. It feels creative, trendy, exciting and active. We visit Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge (Which the Sat Nav navigates us over twice!) and trek around the whole town. A trip to SFMoma gallery and a look at the 'Georgia O'Keefe/ Ansel Adams' exhibition finds us both agreeing on the genius of Ansel Adams and the extremely ordinary O'Keefe. I could paint a shell better than that! Ansel Adams provides a glimpse of the next stage of our trip with beautiful black and white photographs of nature, particularly Yosemite National Park which we will soon be visiting. Fisherman's Wharf is overrun with sealions, who swamp a floating pier. Becky buys me a shirt which feels equal parts lumberjack and equal parts Shoreditch chic. I luvs it.
Driving the car over the Golden Gate bridge, and then doing it again, we head for Napa and wine country. We've got the camping vibe which is easier after a tasting at a local vineyard in Calistoga. Then on to Guerneville. Nope, we didn't see anyone pulling faces, but a particularly mad bodybuilding barman provided some good entertainment. A Kayak down the serene river and a much needed shower-dip did us a world of good.
And next thing we know is, we're in bear country. Yosemite exchanges grape vines for ragged woods and looming pines. Winding our probably SUV along to White Wolf campsite, bear warnings are everywhere. Pictures of bears crossing the road, photos of bears invading people's campsites and prising the doors off the hinges of cars give us ample warning of who we could be sharing our tents with. This is warning enough to make putting all food and strongly scented cosmetic products into bear boxes the first job when we set up camp. Bear proofed bins are locked down with caribinas, red warning signs tell cars to slow down, a bear has been run over here recently. Apparantly bears can smell a sealed can of coke in a glove compartment of a locked car in a valley from the farthest cliff top. They also have a sense of smell ten times that of a bloodhound. Information such as this is the reason I am turning my head to survey the campsite as I write this. Bear shit near our tent this morning is another pretty damned fresh reason. So it is true!
John Muir, a naturalist who worked in these woods sums up how I am feeling right now. Sorry if its pretentious, but i'm going to quote him now, so hold on.
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy. While cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
A thousand miles gone. How many more to go?
View '1,000 miles gone - Big Sur to Bear Country' photos here
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