Santa Cruz and Redwood State Park

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Monday 18th August
Another early start, and a trip along the coastal road, brought us closer to our next major destination - San Francisco. However, we made a couple of stops en route before hitting the big city.

First of all was a stop at Santa Cruz. Another coastal town, very much geared up for sunbathing, surfing, and swimming. However, we were beginning to notice a consistent difference in temperature between North and South California - the sun was still shining, but the heat had been reduced from averages of 110 degrees in San Diego to 70 degrees at our current location. A gentle stroll on the beach was followed by a quick look round the town centre.

Then it was on to the Redwood State Park for a short walking trail that took in an incredible circular route of huge redwood trees (the tallest being said to be almost as high as the Empire State building).

Our final stop before arriving in San Fran was another State Park called Big Basin. This had a number of trails, but we opted for the 2 hour walk which took in a supposed waterfall half way round; we say supposed, because when we got to it, it was no more than a trickle of water falling 30 or so feet into a small pool down below - very disappointing!

After dusk, it was back in the car, and we took a very winding road that finally led us to San Francisco. We arrived at our motel (in South San Francisco, 8 miles from downtown) at 10pm, and immediately headed out to find somewhere to have a late supper. We found a lovely bar grill, called the Elephant bar and enjoyed one of the best meals on our travels so far.

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