Shoud have finished this up about 10 days ago, but I got sidetracked.
Just returned from a great trip with my pal Steg. The intention was to head to San Francisco, camping and enjoying our time along the way, sticking to the coast as much as possible. The trip really began when we got through Washington and made it out to the Oregon coast. It’s a beautiful spot with many awesome beaches and coastal scenery. We camped out as much as possible in the Oregon state park system which was very affordable, well run with friendly and informative staff. Tent sites were $14-$17, with yurts andcabins going for $25-$40 I think but you have to bookthese ahead of time. Nothing but good things to say about Oregon’s state parks. Check out Fort Stevens on the Columbia river if you get a chance. A great beach with paved bike paths through the park.
After a couple of nights in Oregon, we entered California and found our way to the #1 and continued South; driving the #1 was a highlight of the trip for sure. It’s everything you want out of a driving road, fantastic coastal scenery, lots of curvy bits and it’s well designed and maintained. I’d say a standard transmission is required for enjoying this part of the trip, and if the car has some balls all the better. Fortunately we were in Steg’s V6 Passat, and when Steg forced me into the driver’s seat, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was some evidence of wild fires in this portion of the trip, but nothing too big. We eventually camped down near Montecito and then hit up the beach to watch some Mexicans throw a few red tailed perch into their buckets. A little windy and cool this night.
Made it to San Fran the next day, and got our heads spun around at Fisherman’s Wharf. It seemed like a good place to start, but heavily infested with tourists (like us!). After being on camp time for a few days, it was a little much, and eventually we settled into a pub to gather our senses and come up with a plan. Fortunately, that plan included checking out a Giants game! The Dodgers were in town, and it was a 6 pm start. After some wrangling, we managed to find a modest motel for the night that was a 15 minute walk away from the ball park. Note to travellers, be prepared to pay through the nose for a bed on July 4th weekend. Ouch.
So, we cruise up to the park, fully intent on heading to the box office to pick up whatever tickets we could, and the stream of scalpers started. Probably the first pitch had already been thrown, and the guy we bumped into rapidly dropped his prices to a little over book. We paid $40 for $37 tickets, and gave the guy a tip of $5. The tickets turned out to be awesome as we were in the 2nd row, of the 2nd section in between 1st and home. We had unobstructed views of the field withno net in front of us. A great game, well pitched by both starters, a full stadium, and the Giants ended up with a crowd pleasing 5-2 victory, beating up on LA’s bullpen in the 7th.
The next day Steg and I parted ways for the afternoon after visiting with Alexandra in Oakland. I went to visit my dad’s ex, Stevie, who lives just north of San Fran and Steg was hoofing it around SF. Hadn’t seen her in over 10 years, but we had a nice time and caught up quite a bit, and I happily got some insight into the old man. Stevie is doing really well too which makes me happy. After departing from Stevie’s and picking up Steg, we headed south towards Monterey to find some lodging/camping, but campsites had filled up or were ridiculously expensive (boo Koa!). After I refused to sleep on the side of the road, we eventually settled on a reasonable motel for the 2nd night in a row. The budget was under strain, but we took advantage and set up an early start to the morning, heading to the Monterey Aquarium.
At the Aquaurium I was mesmerized by the 3 chinook salmon in the tidal water tank. They cruised around pretty quietly, and I even saw one dig it’s back into the sand as if to scratch it. Not what I expected; I assumed they would be more active but I suppose they can get into a feeding frenzy at times. The rest of the aquarium was pretty interesting, but it got busy really quickly so we were happy to have arrived first thing in the morning when it was a little quieter. After this, we headed to Santa Cruz to check out the beach. For some reason, I really enjoyed SC when I was a kid. These days, not so much! The beach was ok, but definitely for a younger crowd and/or families. Next!
So, we had officially made the turn heading North by now, and our next stop was the amazing camp site called Costenoa. Although a little biased against Koa based on the previous night’s attempt at finding a campground, this one was affordable and awesome. I highly recommend stopping at this one for a visit if you are Northof Santa Cruz on the #1, with some of the most impressive bathroom facilities on the entire trip. Here I managed to do about 5 minutes or so of swimming. But after ducking under three waves in a row, I got a massive brain freeze and packed it in. The water was very cold.
The next day, with a tear in our eyes, we left Costenoa and got off the #1 and into wine country, after a brief stop at the whiskey shop in SF. The difference in heat was amazing after heading in land. I think the gauge on the car read between 42C and 45C. Reminds me why I like living on the coast. Stopped at a vineyard after some trouble in locating a suitable one, and got tried various wines. My palette is not yet refined enough except to say.. “I like it” or “I like this one less” or maybe even “I like this one more”. Anyway, our host was pleasant enough, and she poured big tasting portions!
Continuing North, we stopped beside a river campsite and bedded down for the night. The next day we were going to be camping near the Oregon sand dunes, and we did. Steg got directions to the beach, with the attendant looking at him kind of funny. Apparently not many people hike over the dunes to the beach, preferring to use motorized vehicles, which is too bad, cause hiking the dunes with the wind howling and sand flying was a ton of fun. Felt like I could have been in the desert. Got up bright and early the next day for some ATV’ing on the dunes, which was a blast! 1 hour was about right though; I was getting a little bored by the end of it. This is where my camera packed it in as well. Oh well.
This day we made it up to the aforementioned Fort Stevens and got out for a nice long jog along the bike paths, and then returning on the beach. The trip was rapidly winding down, so it was nice to get out for some exercise, followed by finishing off our liquor supplies. A noble mission. The next day was going to be a long day of driving home, which we were both just about ready for. Musical highlights for me included the new Coldplay, MGMT, and I was happy to introduce a good friend to the great music of the Cardigans. Till next time.
