California

Day 332 – September 25 (continued)

After the finger slamming in the door accident, we drove on southwest towards the Californian border. We had to stop at an inspection station, where they just asked what fresh food we had and then….

We were in California!

First we went to Crescent City to check out the Redwoods visitors center and get info, and then we headed down into the park
Murray and I in Redwood National Park!

We drove through the redwoods down the Newton B. Drury scenic parkway

We also stopped to see Paul Bunyan (he freaked me out by speaking loudly and saying ‘Oh I thought someone was sitting on my boot) Ha ha!

Me with Babe the Blue Ox

Dolph and Paul


Then we drove to Kachel visitors center and got our Tall Trees Permit for tomorrow, and watched the short video about the park.

We then drove back down Davison Road – an unpaved 8 mile road that goes to Gold Bluffs Beach

We thought this RV’s sticker was hilarious

At Gold Bluffs we found a campsite, cooked and enjoyed some Miller High Life – lovely


Murray drinking the Champagne of Beers – or so they say

We broke out the salmon Murray had bought in Vancouver to use in our pasta, but I just couldn’t deal with all the bones, even after the spinal column was taken out…..
So I had tuna, he had salmon, and we gave the rest of our salmon away to the nice guy camping near us, since one can each in a tiny bowl of pasta is WAYYYYY too much!

The sunset view from the campground was amazing

There’s Dolph on the left – lovin’ the beach. See all that coastal fog?!

We were in bed by 8 because it was pitch black and misty and cold outside. Makes for an early night with sunset so early!

Day 333 – September 26

We slept in a bit, because it was SO cold and damp from camping by the sea…. very hard to force ourselves to get out of bed.

Morning in the campground – FOGGY! We liked the pop up tent this couple had though – it came right up out of their truck topper – cool!

On our way out we came across an Elk Jam! They were all over the place – right by the road on the beach!
The one bull Elk had a harem of about 9 females


These guys are called Roosevelt Elk

Oh hello - I want to lick your nose to see if we are compatible?



During the rutting season, adult bulls join the cow/calf herd. They give their bugling call, and urinate on vegetation and then toss it on their back

Although this was mostly sand, very little vegetation




Calves are entirely dependent on milk for one month, but may suckle up to nine months


A bull bugling


Roosevelt Elk are seldom seen on the beach - this is one of the few herd who live there. The beach allows them to keep an eye out for predator cats from the nearby forest.

Bulls of this largest subspecies of North American elk can weight as much as 1,200 pounds and are agressive in guarding their cow elk harems.



Looking for a suitable female


The most polygamous deer in America and perhaps the world, the bull Elk usually assembles a harem of up to 60 cows


Attempting to rut, he did this a lot, scaring off the cows

Time for the rut!



And...... captured on film

After the rut, he herded all the cows further down the beach to avoid the people who were walking on the other end - protecting the herd I guess.

We then drove to Bald Hills Road and used the code we got yesterday with our permit to enter the Tall Tree Groves area (only 50 permits are issued per day)

Then we hiked a mile and a half down into the grove

And then we hiked the mile loop around the Tall Trees Grove

Murray hiking with his VERY heavy camera bag

Me by a tree that was partly burnt out by fire

Coastal redwood trees can soar to more than 370 feet tall

Which is the tallest redwood in the world? The forest is dynamic, so the world's tallest tree designation will continue to change. The tallest known redwood used to be in this grove. They say the tallest is now the 379 foot redwood that scientists found in the back country.

Photographer at work

Redwoods appeared on the West Coast of North America about 20 million years ago. The Mediterranean climate provides a safe haven for trees that need abundant water, little fluctuation in temperature year round, and summer fog.

Murray holding his shorts up for the hike uphill – it was steep and exhausting (thus he was hot and needing shorter shorts.....) The camera bag weighs 60lbs.

Murray was a master banana slug spotter on the way back up

We saw a couple and gently moved them from the path so they wouldn't be trampled (they blend in SO well with the fallen leaves!!

Banana slugs chew up leaves, animal droppings, and dead plant material, which it later recycles into soil. Beside their good work as decomposers, slugs further benefit the forest by spreading seed and spores through their waste. They eat everything but redwood seedlings and seeds! Truly evolutionary!!

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in there
Murray checking what’s in this tree

On the way back down to the main road we stopped at the Redwood Creek Overlook for lunch and enjoyed this amazing view (those clouds are between the mountains and the beach, this is the constant coastal fog, you go only a mile inland and its blazing sun, head back to the beach and you think you're on the beach in Scotland! )

We drove further south and caught this beautiful sunset on the way

Eventually we ended up in Eureka and found a KOA campground with slow wifi, nice hot showers, laundry and some annoying harmonica playing neighbors.

Day 334 – September 27

Today we got up and drove south to Humboldt State Park to see the Avenue of Giants

The Avenue of Giants is a 33 mile long road that drives through a huge area of redwoods

Even Dolph looks tiny next to an ancient redwood

Redwoods are taller than any other living thing. They can live over 2,000 years and withstand most fires, floods and insects. The trees along this avenue have never been logged.

The founders grove is dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods League. They formed in 1921 and purchases 170,000 acres of redwood land over the years in order to preserve representative areas of primeval forests.

The greatest accumulation of plant mass ever recorded on earth was a redwood stand in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This temperate rainforest has 7 times the biomass (living and dead organic material) of that found in a tropical rainforest.

This is an old growth tree that has been through many fires, a natural occurrence through the centuries. Even though it appears to be heavily damaged, it continues to live.

Due to climatic changes and other factors, Coast Redwoods now only grow naturally in a narrow 40 mile wide and 450 mile long strip from southern Oregon to southern Monterey county in California.

These are ancient, or old growth, coast redwoods. Their average ages are 400-600 years old.

This is the reason we came to the Founders Grove – to see the Dyerville Giant

This tree, which was 370 feet tall, fell in 1991. (that's 2 feet taller than Niagara Falls, or comparable to a 30 story building)

The Dyerville Giant, which stood here perhaps for as long as 1600 years, was taller, larger and older than any of the trees around it. Few of these ancient relics still remain.

It is 17 feet in diameter, 52 feet in circumference and probably weights over 1,000,000 pounds.

It was a beautiful walk – even better than the Tall Tress Grove – I’m really glad we went

Redwoods are so immense that they live in 3 climatic zones at once. The base of each tree is in one set of climatic conditions, the system in an other, and the crown in yet another.

Me by the Giant again.
The events that cause the Giant to fall are common in ancient redwoods forests. During the rainy season the soil became saturated with water. Another large tree fell one week earlier, hitting a second tree and causing it to lean. A week later the leaning tree fell, striking the Dyerville Gian causing it to fall. No one actually saw it fall, but a park neighbor, who lives a mile away, reported hearing a large crash and thought it was a train wreck! A tree over 50 feet away had mud splattered 15 feet up its trunk from the impact of the Giant hitting the ground - pretty amazing!

After finishing our walk we drove to the visitors center, watched a short video about the 1964 Christmas Flood (which was massive – terrible)! And then we continued on our way

We decided to just stop by the road to tailgate and make toasted sandwiches for lunch because we were starving – we just didn’t know it was SO SO hot outside though – 95 Fahrenheit in the sun!


Yummm our own twist on a toasted sandwich – tomato, turkey and relish – maybe not the best idea to eat something hot in the hot weather though – oh well

Next we stopped in Leggett to check out the famous Chandelier drive through tree
This 315 foot redwood still is growing, despite the gaping hold in its belly

Dolph was too tall to drive through though (6’8” max) so he just posed in front of the tree instead

Me, Murray & our good friend Dolph by the drive through tree

They call this the 'original' Drive-Thru Tree

Hello Dolph!

We drove on and came across a multicultural club who were raising money by doing $5 car washes – ummmm YES! They did an amazing job cleaning Dolph – there was seriously as many as 7 kids working on Dolph at one time! Two soaping, two spraying, one polishing the rims, etc etc – amazing for five bucks! We did laugh though when one boy was spraying inside the wheel wells, trying to get the mud out, and it just kept coming out – no end in site! I guess that was leftover from that Alaskan haul road! As they finished it off, two girls struggled to wipe the windshield, but couldn't even reach a quarter of the way across it, so Murray interceded and finished it for them. We gave them ten bucks, and thanked them for giving Dolph the best shower he has ever had! (Murray was just disappointed they weren't wearing bikinis)

We continued driving and passed Clear Lake – which was surrounded by gorgeous houses. Finally we arrived in Yuba City around 8pm, got a subway and went to Wal-Mart to shop and sleep.

Day 335 – September 28

We didn’t sleep well last night because they were cleaning the parking lot and it was SO loud – the down part of sleeping there I guess.

So, we got up and set off early for Reno, Nevada. We got there by noon, tailed gated a quick sandwich for lunch, and then set off to explore.

Me in Reno – The Biggest Little City in the World

But the real reason we came to Reno was – to go to the National Automobile Museum

These lovely paintings were all around the lobby – this one portrays the 1908 New York to Paris Trip

The collection was assembled by casino magnate William Harrah and includes over 220 classic cars - perhaps the best and probably the most extensive car collection in the country.
This truly world class event included National Teams from France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The New York to Paris Automobile Race was to be driven across the frozen Bering Straits in the dead of winter 1908. All this at a time when horses were considered more reliable than automobiles.

Starting in Times Square, New York City February 12,1908 with over 250,000 cheering the start of a race to circle the globe from New York to Paris by auto! It would become the longest automobile competition in history, often with no roads & during a bitter cold winter. The Around the World Auto Race would cover 22,000 miles in 169 days!

The 1907 Thomas Flyer at $4,000 was a proven machine. Weighing 5,000 pounds loaded, it's 4 cylinder 60 hp engine could speed along at 60 mph. However, the car offered little in rider comfort or amenities.

With no roads, the Flyer is designated as Union Pacific Train #49. Rules forbid riding the rails, so they straddled them bumping along tie to tie for hundreds of miles. A Union Pacific Conductor even rode with the Thomas!

Where there were no rails, the Thomas was often forced to go "cross country", long before the days of 4WD.

Siberian mud was almost worse than the snow and bitter cold of Alaska. At one point the Thomas covered only 60 miles in 4 grueling days, using teams of horses and enormous human effort to move ahead.

The start - in New York

At 169 days, the Americans won by 26 days ahead of the Germans. The Italians finished third in Paris September 17, 1908.


A heroes welcome and ticker tape parade greeted the winners upon their triumphant return to New York. President Teddy Roosevelt (the first President to drive an automobile) invited the Team and the Thomas to join him at his summer White House in Sagamore Hill, Long Island.






They also had collections of hats, hat pins and some clothing - most of it belonged to women in Harrah's family
The Thomas Flyer posing for its shot in the celebration parade in New York!


Murray dressing up

Me driving a very old car in a hideous hat & scarf combo

Murray driving (we were allowed to in just this one car)

The first RV - fold out panel for picnics (the picnic basket was inclueded) and inside the seats fold down into 'beds'


Camping old style

Back to the future- a 24 karet gold DeLoran




It turned out that we happened to be in Reno on the last day of ‘Street Vibrations 2008’ Harley Rally

After admiring some of the bikes, we hit the casino to make our fortune – Murray betting his dollar

Me betting my dollar in the nickel slots – hoping to win this hummer

Acai wine – cool

In the end, I lost everything and Murray – doubled his money! He looks quite happy here with his winnings…… Two Dollars!

I took a picture of this on our way out of town – ha ha – not interested thanks

We then drove south to Carson City

We found a massive starbucks, that of course didn’t have free wifi, but nevertheless we enjoyed our drinks, panicked when we noticed photoshop was no longer working, and then of course went to find – a Wal-Mart. We were excited that they had a Red Box – which is a machine where you can rent dvds for $1 – hooray! We watched ‘What happens in Vegas.’

Day 336 – September 29

Before heading off, Murray changed a fuse so the cigarette lighter would allow us to plug in the ipod again

On the road we stopped this biker with his SMALL load – wow!


Eventually we reached South Lake Tahoe


The campgrounds in town were so ridiculously priced that we decided to check into a motel for the same price – and yes, we brought our cooler in

We enjoyed the wifi, shower and hair blow dryer (yay!), worked on the blog, and watched lots of trashy shows on E! Dominoes pizza dinner topped of the night – lovely.

Day 337 – September 30

We checked out of the motel at 11 and the then had a look around town


Murray chillin’ with the Blues Brothers


We loved all the gorgeous carvings in town


Bears!

South Lake Tahoe is really a lovely town


We then drove to the Taylor Creek Visitors center – and spotted this snake on the path


We then walked the Rainbow Trail to see the spawning salmon

Kokanee Salmon are a land-locked relative of Sockeye Salmon native to the Pacific Northwest. Kokanee means 'red fish' and they were named by the NAtive Americans living in Canada along the Fraser River. They are smaller than other salmon due to limited sources of food in fresh water lakes.

Then we drove up a pass with amazing views to see Emerald Bay




Murray hiked up from the campground we decided on for the night and got these stunning views of the bay


The trail was called the Granite Lake trail



After he got back from his hike, he headed off in Dolph to look for a better viewpoint, while I stayed at the campground and worked on typing the blog. When he got back we had a nice tuna pasta dinner and then it got dark on us, so we watched a movie inside the truck.

Day 338 – October 1

We got up early to catch the sunrise over Emerald Bay (up and off to the viewpoint by 6am).





Then, after combing the mullet, of course, we drove towards Yosemite

The drive took us ages…..

Along the way we drove over a bridge and noticed how LOW the water is – wow

Once we entered the park, we drove for a bit before noticing a dump truck driving down the road towards us. A HUGE part flew off the back of the truck, bounced 20 feet in the air, just barely missing the car behind him (and thankfully missing us too just as we passed him)!!! We pulled over, backed up, and Murray moved the piece off the road so someone wouldn’t hit it.

Then, the drive walked up to us, he had parked just down the road. HE said that was his whole drive shaft which had fallen out – oh oh! He asked for a ride back into the park, so we agreed and drove back to his truck so he could grab his stuff. Just before getting into the truck he asked ‘Do you guys smoke weed?’ Ummmm – no. He said – oh ok, I’ll leave it here then. Ok……………..

We drove on into the park, and actually he did a good job entertaining us with his stories. As we came around the corner to view the valley he said ‘Oh – this is your first time in Yosemite? You’re not going to cry are you when you first see the valley?’ Ha ha

Turns out he lived in the park for years and was a rock climber (he showed us his missing fingers from those days….). Now, he is a dog musher who lives most of the year in Alaska, but is down in Yosemite for the season (and yes he REEKED of dog)!

Anyhow, eventually we found the guys he wanted to be dropped off near, he offered us pot again (after telling us that he could get Murray a carers card so he could grow his own weed at home….). We politely declined again, and headed off.

We drove down into the valley to look for a campground, and then found out it was FULLY booked – what? This late in the year? We decided against waiting for the wait list drawing (because you’d only get a spot for one night…). Instead we drove back to another campground outside of the valley called Crane Flats – and booked in for the weekend.

It took us awhile to set the tent up because of the stupid broken pole, but eventually we got it up. Oh, and the rain cover stretch rope snapped me in the eye as I was attempting to connect it – fun fun fun.

Finally we drove back into the valley, checked out the visitors center and the Ansel Adams Gallery (luckily we JUST got there before it closed).


A model of the valley – interesting view

Then we drove back to Inspiration Point to enjoy this amazing view for sunset

On the drive back to our campground we noticed that you could see little tiny lights on the mountain El Capitan, where the climbers were hooked into their hammocks for the night- SCARY!


Back at the campground, Murray went crazy with the wetwipes, cleaning off all the dust and dirt from when we set up the tent (the campground is SOOOOOOOOOOO dusty)

Chili and cheese warmed us up for dinner (and the tent was nice and cosy warm because we cooked in there:)

Day 339 – October 2


This morning we got up and drove Tioga Pass

Tioga Road is 39 scenic miles and crosses the Sierra Nevada




Dolph waiting patiently at a roadblock – they were cutting down trees near the road, so held us back while they fell



One of the park's most spectacular views is from Olmsted Point

We then drove back to the Visitors Center to check out the displays and watch the movie about the park







I liked the stories about the people the best – this is To-Tu-Ya (foaming water) – the last survivor of the Yosemite Band who was driven from Ahwahnee (in Yosemite Valley) in 1851

Me with the 'father of Yosemite' John Muir

Then we drove up a very windy road to Glacier Point for some amazing views of the valley

Great views of Half Dome from the point
The Yosemite literature calls this point 'one of the most exhilarating overlooks on earth'
We agree - it is the most amazing view we have seen in a National Park on this trip
Amazing sunset

The point – where I refused to take a photo of Murray – I did not want him climbing out there – scary!!!!

The sunset at Glacier Point was amazing !!!

On the way back we stopped at a meadow in the valley to watch the lights on El Capitan – the climbers again. Their lights looked like sparkling stars on the side of the mountain – so beautiful. I counted around 20 lights – those guys really are amazing – I can’t imagine sleeping on the side of a huge mountain! We could hear them yelling to each other – pretty cool.

Back at camp we had some nice rice and soup.

Day 340 – October 3

We slept in a bit (the weather was terrible out, so there was no point in getting up for sunrise).

Eventually we made our way down to the valley and relaxed near the visitors center until 1pm when Murray’s ‘In his footsteps’ Ansel Adams tour began.




He was gone on his photography excursion until 6. I spent that time working on the blog.

Murray said it was a good tour, although the weather meant he didn’t get great photos (too cloudy and gloomy). However, he was excited that he got shown before and after manual processing photos – a vast difference was noticeable. Just shows that photoshop is only half the story – film photographers have been manipulating their prints in the darkroom since photography first started. So – is photoshop really cheating? Or is it just a modern way of doing what has always been done?

After his tour we rushed back to pack up our tent because we heard that rain was imminent (the ranger told me there was a 120% chance). We got it all cleaned up and packed away in a record 25 minutes in the light rain (including packing away the table, etc). Oh – I forgot to mention that in Yosemite you are not allowed to leave any smelly items (food, toiletries, etc) in your tent or even in your vehicle! Apparently the bears here have figured out how to break into cars if they smell something. Such a PAIN for us to have to put ALL over our smelly stuff in the bear box though – thank goodness our giant cooler fit!

Anyhow, so we packed up before it started to pour, and then drove back to the visitors center theater for the 8pm movie! We had bought tickets to watch ‘Return to Balance – a Climber’s Journey.’ It was a movie about a famous rock climber named Ron Kauk and his connection to Yosemite through climbing (he is the guy who trained Tom Cruise for the climbing in MI2 and he was the stunt double in Cliffhanger.He has been climbing in Yosemite for over 30 years. The documentary was good, and afterwards Ron spoke a little bit and answered questions. He looks SOOOOOOO much like Tom Cruise that it was kinda freaky!

Afterwards we drove back to camp, and found that someone had poached our spot because we hadn’t left anything there to say it was taken (but it was reserved in OUR name)!!!!! It was dark and there was no where else to go, so we just pulled in next to their tent and went to sleep.

Day 341 – October 4

It poured ALL night with rain, which is SO loud inside the truck, so both of us barely slept. Great. It didn’t help that we were parked under a tree and giant droplets fell on us all night.

SO, we decided to give up on one last morning in Yosemite, and just left the park (what’s there to see in the rain anyhow?)

We drove west, got a tiny bit of gas just to make it to a big town for a proper and cheap fillup, and eventually got to a town big enough to have a subway.

Eventually we got to the outskirts of San Francisco. We drove over the Oakland bridge (we had to pay a toll) and checked out the San Rafael state park. We found out we couldn’t camp there because it was walk in only, so we got back on the road to an RV park in San Fran.


It was really exciting to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge!!


Once in San Fran we spotted this cool shell car – fun!

We drove right through the city – spotting lots of people dressed up in crazy costumes (I guess a street part called ‘lovefest’ was going on).


Eventually we got to our RV park just south of downtown near Candlestick Park where the 49ers play.

This was one of the most expensive RV parks we have ever stayed in, but there just wasn’t anywhere else to stay – so, we checked in.


We took full advantage of the wifi, even after the (really nice) lounge closed for the night at 9, I finished off the blog in the laundry room.

Day 342 – October 5

We caught the shuttle from the RV park into the city at 9am which dropped us off near Chinatown.


The first stop on the AAA walking tour that I tore out of the book was Union Square


Then we walked through Chinatown


The financial district


I love the old and new photo




And then through Chinatown again


Ewww why is this chicken black?


Chicken feet anyone?


And then we walked through the Italian district, North Beach


Vesuvio was established in 1948 and remains a historical monument to jazz, poetry, art and the good life of the Beat Generation


I love the name of this street – cute!


A church we walked by on our way to Telegraph Hill


WOW do you think this restaurant is popular? The line to get in was around the block!


Murray had never seen one of these ‘safe surrender site’ signs – where people can drop off unwanted babies safely – sad


We walked up a steep San Franciscan street to get to Telegraph Hill. The houses were SO lovely…..


Lovely plant outside one of the houses


A view down one of the side streets into central San Francisco, dense – but lovely


A statue of Columbus stands outside the Coit Tower


A view in the distance of the very windy road


The Golden Gate Bridge


Coit Tower – which resembles a fire hose, is located at the top of Telegraph Hill


A view of the financial district






We saw our first cable car while walking to Fisherman’s Wharf


The San Francisco cable car system is the world’s lat permanently operational manually-operated cable car system – they turn the cars around on this circular platform


Me in front of the Fisherman’s Whart sign


And down by the water


Crabs crabs crabs all over t he place!


Ohhhhh and a Joe’s Crab Shack! We used to eat there nearly every time Murray visited Minnesota while we were dating


I love this cute flowery crab




We then caught the ferry out to see Alcatraz

A group of people in 1969 landed on the island claimed it in name of 'Indians of All Tribes' They ended up staying there for 19 months. They offered to buy the island from the government for $24 in beads, colored cloth, and other trade goods. They said Alcatraz reminded them of an Indian reservation because it is isolated from modern facilities, the soil is rocky and unproductive, and the land does not support game. Federal agents eventually removed them.

One of the cells - pretty dreary looking
What it looked like when they first checked in - the rule book on the bed.

Alcatraz opened as a maximum-security penitentiary in 1934 and closed in 1963. The most notorious resident was Al 'Scarface' Capone.
The best known escape occurred in June 1962, when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped into the water. They used raincoats as flotation devices and were presumably bound for San Francisco. Although their bodies were never found, they are assumed to have drowned.
Me in one of the cells
Murray testing out the loo
During one of the attempted escapes, guards threw down grenades to try and subdue the prisoners - these marks in the floor are from that event.
Us in the security mirror
The view of San Fran from the island. The families of many of the senior administration lived on this part of the island, even with their children! The swim to the city is nearly impossible though (for escapees). The water is frigid and the tides are extremely strong.
The men that escaped had spent a year and a half digging holes that led from their cells to this ventilation hallway.

The cellhouse
The escapees fabricated dummy heads (so the guards would not notice that they were not asleep in their cells), and even gave them the pet names of 'Oink' and 'Oscar.'The heads were crude, but lifelike, and were constructed from a homemade cement-powder mixture that included such materials as soap and toilet paper. They were decorated with flesh-tone paint form the prison art kits, and human hair from the barber shop. However, is this not THE most tasteless tourist souvenir you have ever seen?
Their escape was the basis for the Clint Eastwood movie 'Escape from Alcatraz' - the most famous prison-escape in history
The watch tower
It was a good tour! Very interesting

Then we walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions, Salty pointed the way

They had a bunch of wooden platforms, and the sea lions were constantly barking at each over, shoving and trying to keep their own space






Then we walked west past Fort Mason towards the Golden Gate



The houses along Marina Boulevard were gorgeous


Eventually we reached Marina Green, which had some great views of the bridge and the bay




We stayed for awhile, enjoyed the views


And then walked back, admiring all the gorgeous homes

We decided to catch one of those famous San Francisco Trolleys in Girardelli Square, however we weren’t expecting the long line! We waited as 3 cars filled with people, and got on their way. Eventually it was our turn. We got stuck sitting inside, squished in with way too many people. The conductor went around collecting $5 by hand from everyone, it was a long tedious process. Why didn’t he just take our fare as we came to board?

But, eventually we got on our way, and the cable car pulled us up the very steep streets – exciting!


We hopped off near Chinatown and then enjoyed a great Chinese meal for dinner

We got the shuttle back at10 pm, and then went straight to bed because we were exhausted from all the walking!!!! We loved San Francisco, but wow those steep streets are killer!

Day 343 – October 6

We woke up with VERY sore feet, did a bit of laundry, finished off the blog and then hit the road at noon.


Our first stop was Santa Cruz – where we checked out the boardwalk (it was just a shame all the rides were closed down because it’s the off season)


Murray washing all the sand off of his feet – it was a funny little contraption


Then we drove up to Point Break to see the surfers


The rules of the surf


Apparently this was the first good surf of the year called the ‘winter swell’ – thus why so many people were out


This was one of the really good guys – we found out later that he is a professional surfer








We watched the surfers until 5pm and then continued south.


We stopped in a town called seaside to restock our cooler (it was almost empty) and then had a healthy dinner of….

Fruit Loops – in the truck – for dinner – ha ha, whatever works!


Murray was excited by the glow in the dark skull spoon that came with the cereal

We then spent some time in starbucks working on the blog. Once they closed at 9:30, we went to the borders book store across the road and browsed and read until 11.

Day 344 – October 7

This morning we drove to Monterey.


We eventually found free parking near this Green Gables Inn – how CUTE is it!!


Then it was off to the Monterey Bay Aquarium


This bizarre looking fish is an Ocean Sunfish – he sculls slowly with his two big fins, using his stumpy tail to steer. The sunfish doesn’t need to be fast to catch its food – it eats jellies and other slow-drifting prey.

The jelly fish displays were amazing





They also had a GREAT viewing platform where you could see the sea otters up close



Otters have half a million hairs per inch, babies have a million – which helps them float SO soft (we got to touch a small piece)










All of the displays were just stuning - so many things we have never seen before

Can you spot the fish
Sand dollars


A spiky crab





SO beautiful
Can you spot the tiny, thin crabs clinging to the green weed? Click pic to enlarge.





A picture of women working on the line when this building used to be a sardines cannery.



A parrot fish in his 'mucus bubble' - this is what they sleep in - gross? yes





Me - as a clam




Me pretending to be a baby penguin in his shell

A stunning Sea Dragon

We spent about four hours in the aquarium – it was fantastic!!

Then we drove up to Shoreline Park for a nice sandwich in the sun

Afterwards we enjoyed watching these seals sunbathing


Murray took a photo of ............. Guess What??? Leave a comment if you think you know what this is!!
We stopped at a lovely viewpoint along Oceanview Road to admire the sunset and the birds flying overhead

The sunset was amazing! Pelican's were constant!




Murray captured the gorgeous view while I heated up some chili and cheese for dinner – lovely

We made our way back to the local 24 hour Safeway (grocery store), and hung around in the starbucks area with the free wifi and a lovely hot chai latte until midnight.

Day 345 – October 8

We got up, used the wifi a bit more, grocery shopped, and then drove a mile back to check out Carmel-by-the-sea.

The town is LOVELY – upscale shops, tons of galleries, nice main street. However, we did see the alarming site of many little dogs being pushed in puppy specific strollers… odd to say the least.

After admiring the town we made our way down to the beach


Looking down the beach to a view of the famous Pebble Beach golf course

This guy was singing a song about having a rabbit on his head – very original….


After a quick peek at the beach (it was windy and chilly!!) we continued on the coastal road and admired the gorgeous houses


Nice cars….. Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and a Jag – not bad




Another pretty beach


Next we drove up to take a peek at the Carmel Mission


We continued on down Highway 1, enjoying the stunning coastal views in the Big Sur area






We stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park – and spotted THESE bikes? Remember these from the Candian Rockies?


Murray chatted to one of these two German guys who are on a PanAmerican journey. Wow I can’t believe we saw them again! Murray tried to explain to the guy that we had met them before in Jasper, but the lack of English meant he just nodded and really didn’t understand – ah well – cool to see them again!


The reason we were there though was to see the McWay Cove waterfall


It is a beautiful site – a slender waterfall that drops crisply down into a nearly circular turquoise-blue cove. This is the only waterfall in California that plunges directly into the Pacific

We hung around in Dolph until it got dark enough to capture some sunset shots
The sunset was lovely, and Murray met a photographer who joined him for another viewpoint to capture the scene moonlit. Beautiful.

After sunset we drove south, found a subway for diner and then a Wal-Mart in a city called Arroyo Grande.

Day 346 – October 9

We got up and continued heading south. Our first stop was the Danish town of Solvang.


We HAD to take this picture for our South African friends (this is what they called England)


Murray posing as a guard


The town was lovely – tons of windmills about!




What do you think of this clog? A tad too big?






After exploring the town, we drove to the nearby Santa Ynez Valley, near Los Olivos. We were on the search for Neverland – Michael Jackson’s ranch. We DID find the gates, but could see anything but the security booth and fancy gates. It seems as if the complex is surrounded by hills – nearly like a crater – bummer.

So, we drove back to Buelton and checked into and RV park (best campground ever – they gave us 2 chocolate chip cookies when we checked in and they have a NICE pool)!

We found a nice grassy spot, showered and then relaxed by the pool for a little bit. We then took advantage of the nice lounge area which had a phone you could use for FREE calls to anywhere in the USA – fabulous. We stayed there until 9ish and then went back to the truck for a healthy fruit loop dinner and to watch a movie.

Day 347 – October 10


Murray showing off his long hair

Behind Murray are the RVs that were on show at the park (i.e. for sale). We stopped by and asked if we could look at a few and the guy was happy to show us around. Wow – just wow. Some of them are SO amazing inside. It kicked our RV envy into full gear, that’s for sure. And you know what, they are actually quite reasonably priced if you get one a few years old – amazing!

We then continued on south down Highway 1 past Malibu, where we stopped for windy tailed gate sandwich lunch. It was hard to find somewhere to stop though, since all of the beaches have fees just to park – bizarre.


Eventually we made our way to LA and our destination – Manhattan Beach

We found our friends’ place, scored a GREAT parking spot, then set off on foot to explore the area.


We LOVED all the cute little pedestrian walkways down to the beach, with gorgeous houses on either side


QUITE a view


After some lovely strawberry shortcake ice cream, we made our way down to the pier


On the walk back we noticed these cute black cats set up for Halloween


Me on one of the lovely streets

We met our friends Jenny and Stuart back at their place, inspected Jenny’s newly scratched back wheel (she had just been side swiped) and after chatting for a bit we set off to find some dinner.


We ate at Wahoo’s taco place – I had a massive burrito with enchilada sauce and oh my gosh it was amazing


When we got back, Stuart set to work blowing up the spare bed for us

Day 348 – October 11

We got up in the morning to watch England versus Kazakhstan, and looked at wedding photos, before having some lovely eggs on toast for breakfast.

Then it was time for a mullet photo shoot




He looks SO much like his shirt now it’s scary!


Walking down the beach to town – Jenny, Me & Stuart (we know them from London – Jenny was in Murray’s photography class & they lived in Putney too)!


Me & Jenny by a gorgeous and massive old house by the beach


A cute little bug we saw on the way


The saga of the barber who would NOT listen

When he first started cutting it looked great – much like the cuts Mruray used to get in London. I said, just trim the top a little bit then it will be perfect. He said NO – it has to all be the same length or it will look bad. I said no, it’s style, and that’s what you need to do. He turned to Murray and said ‘Women don’t understand men’s hair’ and then proceeded to cut it ALL shorter. I could have screamed, but I kept my mouth shut. It ended up looking good in the end, but GEESH how rude!




The gorgeous classic corvette we spotted on the street


After his haircut Murray deserved a cookie and a fabulous cupcake


Then we went shopping – the boys decided to see JUST how heavy these pumpkins were – Heavy


After shopping we ran into the Red Bull promotion team and all got a free refreshment – nice


He looks thrilled – doesn’t he? He absolutely hated it and didn't want to get cleaned up in the first place...oh well.


They also took us out to see the Beverly Hills 90210 beach house (remember – the girls lived here on the show!). It was JUST down the beach from where Jen & Stu live!



It was a WINDY day at the beach!

Back at their apartment Stuart got straight to work at the BBQ

The Fabulous guacamole dip Jenny made – yummmmmmmmmmm

Jenny & Murray enjoying the dip


Work work work!


They also invited two of their lovely neighbors for dinner – Neils the German and Morris the older sweet guy who has lived all over the world (he had some great stories!)

We had a fabulous dinner – burgers and corn on the cob with garlic salt and parmesan. Sounds odd I know – but it was SO fabulous!


Then we decided to stay in – with beers and American Idol – Wii style

Paula, Randy and Simon were harsh critics, but we had a GREAT time. We sang our hearts out for hours and hours.

Stuart rocked ‘My heart will go on,’ Jenny’s song was ‘You’re Beautiful’ and Murray did great on ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.’ My song – ‘Baby Don’t Hurt Me.’


Stuart rocking 'my heart will go on'


Murray knockin' on heaven's door

Shame the video of me was too big to upload into blogger
But if you want to see it you can go the below link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixLKNh4Oq3U

Day 349 – October 12

We had a nice sleep in and then popped down to main street Manhattan Beach to pick up some lovely bagels and cream cheese. The boys left Jenny and I there and set off to play 9 holes of gold. Jenny and I walked down to the pier, enjoyed our bagels and chatted – lovely morning.

When the boys got back we heard about this….


Apparently Stuart hit his ball onto an 8 lane highway! Opps – not gonna get THAT one back!

Jenny and I also enjoyed watching the NKOTB (New Kids on the Block) behind the music program, which also showed the first three songs from their tour. VERY interesting I must say!

Later that afternoon we drove to In and Out Burger

And WOW was it good – amazing when you consider it is fast food! All the stuff is fresh and cooked to order – event the fries are peeled and cut daily – yummy.


Then we arrived at the LA Galaxy stadium – Jenny and I tried to get to Beckham…..


But I got him in the end 


Unfortunately though, David Beckham was not there. He was in the UK to play for England – darn it!



It was still a great game though – GOAL!




Sunset from the stadium


We won – hooray!

On the way back we stopped by a local pizza place for a slice to go – it was fab!


Then back at their apartment we enjoyed our lovely blow up bed again.

Day 350 – October 13

We got up while Jenny and Stuart got up for work, said our goodbye, and thanked them for a REALLY fun visit!

Then we went to mainstreet for postcards and starbucks (we wanted to try and avoid the terrible LA morning traffic). Eventually we headed off and drove to Irvine where the Canon Service center is. But, it was CLOSED, for Columbus day! Darn it!

So, we drove to a nearby campground in Garden City (expensive and awful – so so so dirty, I had to wipe down the countertop before setting down my toiletry bad – gross). But, they had wifi and we could park Dolph there – so it had to do.

We checked in and then went to the nearby Target, and sat in their snack bar area to eat a bite and to plug in the laptop to work on it a bit.


Then we decided the Outback Steakhouse was in order – YUMM the bloomin’ onion!!


Murray loved his Prime Rib meal (although why oh why would they put butter and brown sugar on an already sweet sweet potato – yuck)

My salad was terrible (the chicken was coated in mayo), but I was so full from eating most of that onion that it didn’t really matter!

Day 351 – October 14

We drove to Canon again the morning and turned in the big camera for a free sensor cleaning. We had to wait two hours – but it was free and the cleaning was well needed!

We then drove south down the PCW (Pacific Coast Highway)


We stopped in Laguna Beach for a subway sandwich – fanciest subway I’ve ever seen

And oh my gosh – wow – the area was stunning. The rich high school kids in big fancy suvs, the gorgeous beach, the lovely shops – just like the TV show I must say!


A laughing display at a florist shop

We walked down for a quick look at the beach too


Nice


Eventually we reached San Diego


Unpacking Dolph at our accommodation – wow we do really have a lot of stuff in there! (this isn’t even all of it!!)


Dolph – posing in San Diego

We had a nice dinner and then worked on the blog – of course!

Day 352 – October 15

We slept in a little bit and then drove downtown – to shop


We finally found a garage that was JUST tall enough for Dolph to fit in

Then we walked to a lovely shopping center and picked up a few things we needed.



Then it was time for a relaxing Chai and Strawberry Fraphachino – they just got our name a little bit wrong…. Ha ha

We then had dinner with Murray’s friend from his old work (their head office is in San Diego) at the Rock Bottom Brewery. It was a nice catch up!

Day 353 – October 16

Today we spent ALL day at the San Diego Zoo




The gorilla enclosure was fantastic







But the panda enclosure - WOW it was really really amazing


How CUTE is his tongue?



Happy Panda



The hippos had a great underwater viewing area - but all we could see was their giant bums
Me on a bronze hippo






This is a shot of the 'sun bear' chewing away on a giant bone - ewwww. But he had a cute blond spot on his chest - that looks like..... a sun!

They had a couple of moving walkways to take you around (not many though -we walked SO SO SO much!!!)

The koala enclosures were absolutely amazing. They had SOOOOOOOOOO many - much more than we have seen in any Australian zoo.

Mama cuddling a baby - this is the best view of the entire zoo - my gosh that's cute

Apparently they have 40 koalas, some of whom are on display and some who are loaned out to other zoos


TGhen we went back to see the pandas one more time before heading towards the exit


Look - I'm hiding behind bamboo!


The zoo wasn't the most amazing we have ever seen (they really need to improve their maps and walking routes....) but they had so so so so many endangered species. Many animals that we have never seen before. We stayed for ages and left just before the Zoo closed at 5


Then it was time for some Cherry Garcia – YAY!


Ahhhhh how we missed you. However it is DIFFERENT in the U.K. The ice cream is a cherry color and tastes stronger! USA - you're missing out!

Day 354 – October 17

Today was an exciting day – we spent all day planning the Grand Circle, working on our resumes, the blog, etc. It was an admin day – and we got a LOT done!

Day 355 – October 18

Today we went to the Wild Animal Park


Me in an ear a the Wild Animal Park



Our 'Into Africa' tickets allowed us to go on a train trip around the free range area of the zoo. We had some great views of the giraffes and some baby rhinos!

We managed to catch a talk with the cheetah keeper - he even had them run around for us - cool!

A lion sleeping on a range rover - now THAT makes it look real - very cool.


This animal park is associated with the San Diego Zoo and also has these information panels showing how endangered each species is
This is for you Steve - the Cock on the Rock - the bird we tried so so so hard to spot in South America. He really is gorgeous!

Me in the petting zoo area. One sad little deer in there only had 1 eye - I felt so bad for him! He was lovingly petted by a ton of little kids though:)
We walked around the very open park which had great open views of the animals - much better for photos because the enclosures were so open.

The food was SO expensive though – I’m glad we brought our own! A tiny bag of chips for $3.25? REALLY?

The only thing I didn’t like – the misting walkways. They were ALL over the place, but you know – sometimes I just didn’t want to get wet!

Day 356 – October 19

Today we got picked up by Murray’s friend from his old workplace who took us to Old Town San Diego


We had a lovely brunch at Café Coyote – yay breakfast margaritas!

The food was great though too – I had the chili relleno omelette and Murray had the breakfast quesadilla – yummy.


Then we explored the old town a bit


An ancient Steinway on display in an old dwelling in the area


Next he drove us to La Jolla so we could see the harbor seals – they were SO cute!!!

We also drove to Coronado to see the huge wooden hotel there (huge lovely beach)!

It was a great day – so nice of him to take us around.

Day 357 – October 20

We got up and took Dolph in for an oil change and tire rotation and ended up spending hours there because they also had to replace the back brake pads. Good thing we brought things to do! FOUR hours we sat at Ford – fun fun fun.

We spent the rest of the day doing admin tasks, and then went for a lovely meal in Del Mar with the guys from Murray’s old work. I had pepper encrusted seared ahi tuna with wasabi mash and bok choy. Oh. My. Gosh. It was SO fabulous I ate every morsel! Murray had a fabulous prime rib and the margaritas were great and the company was fun!

Day 358 – October 21

Today we got up and repacked up Dolph and hit the road for…… Vegas Baby!

Next up - Nevada – coming soon!