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Sorry if this blog may turn out a bit of an essay, i havnt updated it for ages and have got all cali coast to do and as am sitting in LAX now with a wait of 8hrs before we can even check in i feel now is a good time to catch up.
......So we left the beautiful Yosemite all relaxed and recharged and made our way towards the coast and San Francisco. The drive was a good one of only about 2 hrs or so and with Jen driving I got to enjoy the scenery, although I was still showing some of my 'crap passenger' skills I did begin to chill out and have faith in other drivers!!!!! The scenery was great and ever changing, from the initial mountainous granite cliffs and monster trees to dusty prairie and then farmland getting greener and greener. With the roof down and the tunes on it was a great typical roadtrip and we were having fun and living the dream. It then began to change when we started to get close to the city, the air temperature dropped and traffic heavier, then as we got into the city the clouds began to roll in, there we were living the dream in our convertible with roof down in 15c fog an smog!! Hmmmm!
Time to make a plan we thought, we drove into San Fran without any pre arranged accommodation or plan hoping it would be easy to find something in such a city.......it wasn't.
After stopping input usual wifi zone (McD's) we scoured our accommodation directories and the net not to have any luck, it seemed that all hostels and hotels were full for some reason and there was nothing available in a decent price bracket. We were tired by now and were wanting to put our bags and head down and get settled a bit. During this haste we got a reply from a message we sent out on 'airbnb' stating that the room we had looked at was available at this short notice, we immediately jumped at the reply and accepted. 20 mins later we were in our room just north of golden gate park (our preferred location) we threw our bags down and jumped on the bed, it was then we smelled that the sheets were smelling of aftershave we pulled them back and saw small bits in the bed. Obviously not changed sheets, NOT HAPPY!!
We decided to put our sleeping bags on the bed in the interim and tell the 'host', when he got back from being out, we also went out to eat too. We didn't see him again that night and went to bed. The next day we went off to take some pics of the sights so a trip over the Golden Gate Bridge, we did good by getting the shot in without any fog as the following days we saw it it was covered in the stuff, that evening we went down to the piers for a bite to eat and attempt to get to Alcatraz but it was booked up for the next 3days!! We wandered around the piers and watched the seals that were resting there before going to eat in Bubba Gumps shrimp company. When we got home that night the 'host' was there, we explained to him the situation re the bed and instead of apologising and offering some other sheets he simply argued that they were clean!! Not impressed!! We left swiftly the following morning. I know we may sound snobs with this and carrying on like were demanding from a private b n b, but the reason we demanded at least clean sheets was the fact that in our haste to book we overlooked or mistook the full price of the 2night stay, a whopping $250, $150 per night, hope you can understand our upset!!! Anyway we then drove north out of San Fran and the second we left the city, the clouds (fog) lifted and temperature rose. Decided there and then that despite its bohemian laid back atmosphere, it would not be a location we will put on our 'to maybe live list'. We drove about an hour North up to the wine country if the Sonoma and Napa valley, again with the top down we rolled into Sonoma (a lovely small town centred around a green park square) a d proceeded to sample !! as much free wine as we could get our hands on, from whites to reds to blushing i think we managed about four glasses each, or was it six !!! We bought a bottle of rose from a vineyard further down the road and then made our way to the motel. The following day we set off again, this time south back through the smog / fog / miserableness if San Fran and out onto the pacific coast highway and our journey south to L.A.
We drove and drove and drove that day, almost as if running as far and fast away from the misery that was. In fact we drove so far for so long that we drove 30miles past our destination (alternative reasons for this are available depending on who your asking!!) We turned around and went back to find a motel, eventually finding one with the same company as last night (#cheapaschips) and settled down for the night. Before leaving the next day we trotted off into Monterey to the aquarium (Jen had never been to one before) that apparently had the only great white shark in captivity (this didn't materialise as they don't keep them indefinitely and had released it some few days previously, typical!) also saw some classic US hot rods in a show on the Main Street. In early afternoon we left and made our continuing way south, today going along 'the big sur', this was a great scenic drive along the coast with the road hugging the cliff top and the road winding its way up high then round a corner and back down for over 20 miles ( I must say my almost Olympic 'crap passenger' skills did return a bit, but we eventually arrived at our campground situated just south of the elephant seals in San Simeon, we aimed at getting there for sunset but arrived about 10 mins later so we bought some firewood and had a pit fire instead (Jen also saw her first 'live' raccoon tonight)
Next day was a quick trip up to see the seals before a short days drive to Santa Barbara where our next campground was, we hadn't any planned but decided to find one en route, we found a few ON the coast but costing $45 per night (way too much) so Jen found one inland (turning out to be be about 10miles south on the same road as Michael Jackson's Neverland) we pulled up at the site and as i asked if there was any pitches available back chirped a proper northern British accent 'of course there is love'!! It turned out that the woman was from Blackpool with family in Willenhall (nr Wolves), she also told us about a 150 yr old stagecoach stop a few miles in the hills that served good food and so we went up there, and just as quoted the food was lovely, really special with the small wooden stagecoach inn as a backdrop. We woke early after an uncomfortable nights sleep and packed up straight away and set off following the Brit womans advice and drive along the top of the hill with a view of the mountains to one side and the pacific coast to the other; we drove the route and went up and up and up eventually getting to the top to the view of lovely hills on the left and clouds to the right, no coast! We were above them though so that was cool, then as the saying goes, whatever goes up etc. so we drove down and down until we got into civilisation again. We stopped off at a property that was for sale and choked at the 4mil price tag!
The travel then continued for a few hours on towards L.A, passing the Malibu beaches enroute and inner cities of L.A, the roads getting busier and wider the closer in we got. Also we were a bit worried at this point as we were going to be staying at another 'Air bnb', once we had arrived though and found our way into the apartment it turned out it was pretty nice (the bed was electronic with massage facility for a start) that night we tried to go out and find somewhere to eat but got beat by the craziness of the L.A freeway system!!?
Our first full day in L.A was spent in and around Hollywood, seeing the sign, Chinese theatres and walks of fame then again spending hours returning back to Long Beach. Day 2 was going to be star spotting in Beverley hills but after arriving at the 10th film stars house and only seeing a long drive and postbox we gave up......oh there was one almost...as we drove up to Cameron Diaz gate, we pulled in before the security man on the gate, a Toyota Prius pulled around us and went to the gate and chatted with the security man before the gates opened and they went in, as you prob are too, we thought, Toyota Prius ?? Prob a cleaner or the like?! Only after googling stars cars later that night did we see Cameron Diaz drives a bloody Prius (...b*****!!)
Anyway, we drove off and on the way out heard a plane noise, looked up and saw (what we again googled later) the space shuttle endeavour on the back of a jumbo being chaperoned by 2 F18 fighter jets flying its last flight over specific famous US sights (this being the Hollywood sign) COOL!!
The afternoon was spent on Santa Monica pier (where Jen got the quality snapshot of a pelican flying off the pier) then onto the crazy strip of Venice beach where there was every freak going from muscle men to dropouts to deadbeats to proper doctors selling 'medical marijuana'!! We spent the afternoon taking pics of surfers before watching a beauty of a sunset, that was almost perfect until some inconsiderate ass starts badly playing the bagpipes nearby, I don't mind it but it grates the crap out of Jen so we left the beach and made our way to Santa Monica for an Indian curry.
The final day in L.A was spent surfing at Malibu (a life dream of mine), what can I say??? It was amazing and more than I dreamed it would be, clean waves, warm water, seals swimming with you, sunshine, a backdrop of Malibu, a truly fantastic day and a great day to finish our travels in the USA.
It's been fun here, an experience, met some great people, met some nice people and some crazies even a few freaks. Seen some amazing and awe inspiring views, seen some amazing structures both natural and man made, been to locations I've heard about and not heard about and been amazed by both.
Now it's time to leave though and I can confidently say I have seen the country and an ready for another one and another time zone (hope you all enjoy your 24th Sept, as I missed it!!?)
Next stop: FIJI
- comments
Mom Well, what a rollacoaster of an adventure. It's just like reading a good paperback, but you know the characters personally. When you were talking about that Brit woman, it reminded me of Dan on his travels in India when he happened to sray with a family whose Sister or Sister in Law lived in Bilston......... Keep it coming, more......more.......more......x