Advertisement
Published: August 17th 2014
We left the scenic State of Utah and arrived back in Arizona for a short while and then back into Nevada. We drove down the ‘strip’ of
Las Vegas once again but did not stop this time having visited on our way up and seen enough!!!! Even outside the main strip of Las Vegas, however there was no forgetting that we were still in the gambling epicentre of the USA. Slot machines lined the walls of the ‘gas’ stations, and glittering casinos appeared out of the desert frontier, offering gas rebates and ‘all you can eat’ meals to entice anyone in for one last ‘fix’ before they left Nevada. If you like to have a ‘flutter’, Nevada is the place to be and if you are here then you have to see it - some of you will really enjoy all of it… … … We were not
entrappedthough and left the glitz with all our cash still in tow as we entered Arizona!
We continued our journey along more very
straight roads - most of the roads in USA run north to south or west to east not like in the UK where they have
to follow the many contours of the landscape so cannot follow rigid compass directions. These straight roads do get you to your next location a lot quicker then going around endless bends … … …We laughed when we passed a sign which said
Prison Area - Hitchhiking Prohibited - perhaps those inmates wanted to get somewhere quick too..............
We stopped for a break and suddenly a dust devil (whirlwind) swept into the Rest Stop making everyone scurry for their vehicles until it vanished as quickly as it appeared. As we drove on the traffic was getting really busy and several cars overtook us only to slow down to take photos of our
‘eyeball van’ but we finally arrive in
Barstow where we were going to stay overnight. The streets were being decked for the 4th July
Independence Day celebrations with hundreds of flags they really know how to celebrate here. Our host at our campsite said that the roads would stay busy now until the festivities were over. Hundreds of people were heading to Los Vegas from Los Angeles for the celebrations so the roads would be heavy all night long - hope we
get some sleep…………..
…….we did and left the next morning following the old Highway 58 road.
Wind turbines littered the hills east of Bakersfield and they were all you could see for miles. Thousands of them dotted the landscape, twirling away in the light breeze while providing a hopefully cleaner alternative to the area’s energy needs! There appeared to be two distinct types of turbines; small ones that were meshed and others which were much larger and probably more efficient as they seemed much newer.
We entered the
Mojave Desert which had oodles of
Joshua Trees creeping down to the road - we were skimming the edge of Death Valley region but we did not want to return as it was even hotter there now than it was when we were there in June!
We passed through a town called
Lost Hills, which seemed to be nothing other than one large oil field. Oil rigs littered the landscape as far as the eye could see, north and south across the pancake flat valley floor. It was a harsh and uninviting landscape, but what seemed most
odd was its proximity twosome very rich agricultural lands in the adjoining fields. The oil fields were literally surrounded by almond and pistachio groves as well as dairy farms, which gave way in each direction to other crops such as cotton, some leafy greens and of course lots of vineyards full of unripe grapes. There were even fields with row upon row of brightly coloured cultivated flower beds ready for the florist trade.
We wanted to find somewhere to stop for lunch away from the busy road. There are not too many lay-bys when you want one in USA and you usually had to pull into a service area which was full of fast food restaurants which seemed to be what everyone wanted - not a roadside picnic culture … … … We managed to find a small side road to stop though and had some lunch.
We finally arrived at our next campground in
Paso Robles - we had tried to get into several places but they were all full due to the
holiday weekend. This campsite was aimed at large five wheelers so much so that when we
pulled up the lady looked at our small ‘Eyeball van’ and said ‘are you going to sleep in that’? We said we had done so for the last 2 months and were going to continue to do so until we got back to San Francisco!!!! She said, they would not normally accept ‘our type of van’ but as we had reserved a place they would do so … … … probably best not to go into the politics of that in this blog… We must say though we did look a bit odd parked amongst these ‘posh’ massive vans. The facilities were definitely different to what we had been used to with 5 star toilets and marble showers - these facilities though reflected in the cost which was also drastically increased for the holiday weekend as well - the most we had paid anywhere else to park our eyeball…………..…
Located in the coastal mountain range of central California, Paso Robles, or
‘Pass of the Oaks’, is close to mountains, beaches and deserts - an ideal place to live. Also an ideal climate for wine making, in fact grape growing in the region began as long
ago as 1797 when they were introduced by the first Spanish missionaries. Nowadays there are more than 170 wineries and many variants of wine - it was a shame we could not stay longer to see a little more of the wine region but next time we will probably choose another campsite!
We continued our journey and it was not long before we descended a hill and saw a huge shroud of mist and realised we were nearing the coast. How lovely it was to be back by the sea which we had really missed on our travels around so many inland national parks. The mist was settled over the area but every now and then there was a break and we could see a lovely vista just awaiting our arrival.
We had not booked anywhere but were hoping to stay in the little town of
San Simeon located on the beautiful California coast line, exactly halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is only a small town and you would almost certainly miss it if you weren't paying attention because it doesn't look any different than
the miles of coastline around but we had heard that the
State Park Campsite was a good place to stop for a while…………. We were hoping that there would be room for us but had not appreciated that the holiday weekend was a long one and people were taking more than just one day off…………….
We chatted to a park Ranger at the campsite entrance and she said to come back at 1200 hours as
there might be a space, we asked whether we could reserve the spot but she said no. We walked along the coast while we waited and soon headed back but still no spaces were available and they said that there were several people ahead of us on a list! We were quite angry as we had not been told there was a waiting list and we had been there really early in the morning! After a lightly heated debate we parked up and said we would wait for someone to leave (campers are supposed to vacate their site by 1200 hours) - it was now 1230 hours. It was about 1400 hours when a ranger came over to us and
said that we would have Site 126 but that the current campers had not left yet… … …. so to continue to wait.
About 30 minutes later they came over to us again and said 126 had still not left but we could go into 124 but could move if we wanted to when the other site became available. We drove to Site 124 and it was a much more roomy and private site than 126 (and we could see that there was not a lot of movement from the campers there) so we decided to stay in 124. In the end this was just as well because a while later Site 126 was visited by an
‘armed park ranger’ because they had not left their site at the right time! We watched as after a heated debate they paid him for another night……. we were happy where we were in 126 so did not really care. The whole campsite was so full and we were surrounded by lots of campers with large families of children and dogs it looked like it was going to be a very frenetic campsite - but the sea is
so soothing … … …
I must admit we were surprised to see ‘armed park rangers’ but even more surprised when we came across stores selling guns and firearms throughout the USA. We had visited Cabela’s a large outdoor shop on the outskirts of Salt Lake City and there were a huge number of firearms for sale just ‘off the shelf’.
Apart from being full to brimming San Simeon State Park was an
ideally located campsite with just a short walk under the road bridge to a long beach which was probably why it was so busy. We walked down to the beach and had a very close encounter with a huge
Osprey perched on a rock right next to where we were sitting watching the waves break. As we watched it proceeded to pluck a dead cormorant right in front of us before flying on to the cliff top with its kill and started to pluck it yet again. We walked further along the beach but when we returned it was still sitting there but suddenly took off with the carcass in tow following the tide line down the beach and
disappeared.
Later when most people had left the beach we sat on a boulder and watched the sun go down with the tide drawing ever nearer. Lots of seagulls as well as large pelicans were diving into the sea to select their supper and we spotted a seal swimming amongst them - awesome. A group of four teenager girls were building a sandcastle and waiting for the sea to come and take it - it did and them as well - they all ended up with soaking wet clothes but were having such fun in the fading light ……….
The next day we decided to stay in
San Simeon for another day - it was nice here even though it was so busy so we paid the rangers for another day (did not want a visit from an armed ranger) and headed into
Cambria. Renowned as a
picturesque village nestled among towering pines and the shimmering sea on California’s Central Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles - it really was what the brochure said. With no giant chain stores and brimming with charm, this delightful village had a lot
to offer - Paul found a small model shop that was really unique I think he would have liked to transport it back to Brixham (where we may live one day). The reason we were here though was because of our Lonely Planet guide book which we had with us at all times and mentioned
Sweets - and not just any sweets.
The village of Cumbria is renowned for
Linns Olallieberry Pie and we just had to sample some of this. We entered the village and asked where the cafe was but it was in
West Cambria and not
East Cambria the same village but about a mile between the two areas - so we got back in the van and it was not long before we located the cafe. We sat in a shaded garden and sampled the Olallieberry Pie with vanilla bean ice-cream and could have stayed forever - if you ever get this way be sure to sample this delicious desert at Linns. That evening we ate at a nearby Mexican Restaurant overlooking the ocean before returning to the campsite - it was ok but not as good as
Rosa Mexicano in Dubai. What a surprise we got on our return to the campsite, the whole area which when we left was
jammed packed with tents was deserted apart from two small tents. We had left our two camping chairs at our site and these had also disappeared with all the other campers………………..never to be seen again. Hope the hirer company does not mind too much but what a disgrace to steal someones camping chairs, pretty feeble minded of them, particularly as they were the only chairs we had and would now have none for the rest of our journey, lucky it was nearly ended………..
We met Chris and Kathleen from Florida who were one of the only other campers remaining - they had also been out for the day and had got a shock on their return to see that everyone had gone - so they had not seen who had ‘walked off’ with our camping chairs. Like us they were also travelling to Canada later so we swopped itineraries and chatted into the night. Whilst chatting we heard a noise in a nearby tree and I managed to get a quick snap
of a large
Owl before it flew off into the night before I could get any closer. Chris smoked his own fish and always travelled with supplies - he gave us a couple of smoked salmon steaks to take with us - which was delicious for lunch the next day. Later a couple of guys, one from London and the other from New York arrived at the campsite. They had cycled from Seattle and were heading for Los Angeles - averaging 30 to 70 miles a day they were hoping to soon be at their final destination. Although they had a great time I think they were a little ‘saddle sore’ and missed quite a few home comforts.
In the night I was awoken by some strange lights and watched them for ages thinking they were aliens landing (too active mind) before waking up Paul - we were confused for quite a while before realising that they were head torches, someone else had arrived at the campsite and were putting up their tent in the dark - it was about three in the morning so it was a really strange time to arrive………….but it was
not anything suspicious or strange ………. just my mind playing tricks.
The next day we visited
Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery a couple of coves away from our campsite. As we got out of the car dozens of little chipmunks were scurrying around the carpark looking for ‘friendly’ tourists again………..and they found a few……. We walked along the cliff path and heard what appeared to be a a cross between an elephant trumpeting and a lion roaring - looking down on to the beach we saw our very first elephant seal surrounded by hundreds of others either lazing on the beach, asleep or fighting, aggressively biting each other and drawing blood in the surf.
We were approached by a Ranger who visits the beach and chats to tourists about the activities going on below them, all free of charge. He was very informative and told us that they were mostly males in different stages of development and you could tell the youngsters by their less prominent proboscis whereas the older larger males had the big noses that give the elephant seals there appropriate name.
The seals spend
about nine months of the year foraging off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in the open ocean and can dive to about 6000 feet, staying under water for up to two hours. They return to their land based rookery for birthing, breeding, and to molt - as with human skin cells the seals need to replace theirs as well. In humans, the process is continuous throughout the year - we shed and grow about nine pounds of skin cells. With seals, growing new skin cells requires circulating blood outside their blubber layer - so the elephant seals grow their new skin during a few weeks spent each year on a beach, where the loss of body heat is much less than would occur in the open ocean. To ensure healthy skin cells the seal travels thousands of miles to get to a beach and whilst in the rookery they fast –
no foodor water for the duration of their stay.
Fasting therefore necessitates a quiet life, lots of sleeping and not much moving around which answers the question why we saw so many lying around snoozing, but what about the ones sparring in the ocean?
The ranger said that these were mainly younger males learning how to fight but for them, as with other young male mammals, this is playing rather than fighting and the seals are very seldom injured in this activity even though we did see some draw blood.
Some of these seals were large and it is not surprising as males can reach 14 to 16 feet in length and weigh between 3000 and 5000 pounds. Adult females are 9 to 12 feet in length and weigh between 900 and 1800 pounds. Even the pups are not small and are 3 to 4 feet long and weigh 60 to 80 pounds at birth.
We were going to visit
Hearst Castle that day which we could see on the hillside but the elephant seals had taken up so much of our time so we had a short walk along the beach instead before heading back to camp. On the way back we spotted a group of
Zebras grazing in a field with some beef cattle - no we were not in Africa but these zebras were left over from the castles heady past.
Hearst Castle is one of the most unique historic attractions in California. A real 20th century castle that was owned by a a super rich man who you will have probably have heard of, William Randolph Hearst - we only knew of him through the famous mid 70’s trail of his granddaughter, Patty Hearst. Not only did Hearst built this majestic castle surrounded by gardens, lakes and ranches, but he also turned his land into a natural zoo where wild animals like bears, lions, tigers, bison, elk, elephant and yes zebras roamed free.
The
dismantling of the zoo began in 1937 after Hearst experienced financial difficulty but it was not until after he died in 1951 that most of the animals were relocated to zoos. In 1958, when the castle was donated to the State there were still elk, goats, llamas, deer, sheep and zebra roaming free. It was the descendants of those animals, including this family of zebra that we saw grazing in the meadows near San Simeon - hopefully now forever free to wander the warm California coastline………
Hearst Castle is a major
tourist attraction in the region but it is not cheap to visit and the costs escalate when you add on the different areas that you can view on one ticket - we just enjoyed seeing it from afar and watching these African Zebra roaming and enjoying the misty sunshine - maybe next time.
California is renowned for its
shrouding mist and it was this that greeted us in the morning as we headed up the
Pacific Coast Highway towards
The Big Sur. We followed a
winding misty road for ages, passing steep cliff drop offs blanketed in mist so much so that we could only just make out the jagged cliffs being pummelled by the sea way below. We stopped a couple of time but were unable to see further than our hands in front of us so no good to go for a hike!
It took ages before the mist lifted that day and we were then able to view California's most memorable ocean vistas, edged with giant coastal redwoods along the road. We stopped at
Andrew Molera State Park which was not large and relatively undeveloped but had
good hiking with many leading to isolated beaches. As the sun came out we rested under the shade of some redwoods and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
Later we hiked out to a beach and the first thing we saw in the park (minutes after we set off) was a large
Bobcat, crouched in the long grass alongside the trail. The most common wildcat in North America, the bobcat is named for its
short bobbed tail, we could not see this but just knew what it was. They are medium-sized cats and are slightly smaller but similar in appearance to their cousin, the
Lynx - we noted that its ears were definitely like its cousin as we had seen these close up in Africa. A Bobcat's coat varies in colour from shades of beige to brown fur with spotted or lined markings in dark brown or black and this one was so well camouflaged hidden amongst similar coloured grasses. This was the first Bobcat we had seen during our travels and to have one so close was a special moment for us both.
We also saw a young
Mule Deer nearby
so we stayed and watched the 'cat and the deer' for a while before moving on, arriving at a windswept beach with a small lake behind the tide line. We sat on a log with the ocean behind us and a beautiful lake in front of us - surrounded by water and watched the world go by. A family of
Californian Geese were resting on the lake’s rim whilst behind us a couple of
Oyster Catchers were
looking for some nice edibles amongst the seaweed - bliss.
We walked back to the van and stopped again to view the mist that was now shifting further out to sea before passing through
Monterey Bay and heading inland through the small town of
Gilroy (known as the Garlic Capital of the World). As well as garlic there were numerous fields full of workers picking by hand the ripe harvest of a variety of different crops. The roads that had been so quiet for so long quickly changed and it became busier with several lanes of traffic - quite a culture shock as we joined them heading towards
San Francisco where we had started eight weeks ago.
So we have come full circle and were back in the heady vibrant city of San Francisco. This time we were only in transit but enjoyed a day in the city and caught the cable car back up to
Lombard Street but this time got out so that we could walk down this memorable crooked street (my ankles now fully recovered).
The next day we returned our
‘Eyeball van home’ and straight away we really missed it - it was so strange to walk off and leave it in the parking lot of Escape Campers but it belonged to them and not us…… Not only had it been our home during our travels around the USA but it was also a great talking point and we met some lovely people just because we were driving around in this brightly colourful vehicle. Perhaps we should all drive around in uniquely painted transport - maybe the world would be a much more ‘happy’ place.
Over the last two months we have visited many exciting places within;
Cities, Towns, Homesteads, National Forest, Tribal Parks, State Parks and the
National Parks that outlined our visit to Western USA. We know we are going to be asked, ‘what was our favourite’ but this will be a very difficult question to answer each place being so very different and unique but as a very brief synopsis here goes:
San Francisco - heady, trendy and vibrant city
Yosemite NP- awesome scenery of mountains & waterfalls
Death Valley NP - hot, so hot but magical and memorable
Las Vegas - somewhere you have to see just once!
Route 66 - iconic, delightful and worth another visit
Grand Canyon NP - the main reason we came, didn’t disappoint
Petrified Forest NP - interesting geology a true gem!
Painted Desert NP - lovely shades of colours so striking
Canyon de Chelly NM - visually masterpiece canyon - unbeatable
Monument Valley NTP - a photographer’s dream and mine!
Mesa Verde NP - sheer majesty and historic cliff dwellings
Arches NP - amazing rock arches and bright spring flowers
Canyonlands NP - huge canyons, massive rivers - stunning
Dead Horse Point SP - immense vertical cliffs and river views
Colorado -
giant rivers, canyons and rocky mountains
Wyoming - cowboys boots and wild west rodeos
Nebraska - historical o
regon and other ‘old west’ wagon trails South Dakota - matchless black hills monuments & indian culture
Yellowstone NP - so much in one park, geothermal & wildlife
Grand Tetons NP - perfect mountain range and azure lakes
Bryce NP - amphitheatre of hoodoos, definitely the ‘wow’ factor
Zion NP - breathtaking scenery and memorable hikes
Central California - tasty wine & unsurpassed rugged coastline
After all this travelling around some of the
Lower 48 states we still have yet one more to visit and tomorrow we fly from San Francisco via Seattle to
Juneau in Alaska, the 49th state - see you there.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.189s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 10; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0636s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
taracloud
Tara Cloud
Astounding wildlife shots!
I've so enjoyed following your adventures through some of our wondrous parks. I'm from Santa Barbara, just a little south of San Simeon, so your visits to the elephant seals, Hearst Castle, the beaches and wildlife made me properly homesick! I must say, I've been shocked by the prices charged for the campgrounds and the giant mobile homes you've encountered. I remember crossing the country in my tiny Toyota Corolla, sleeping in my bag on the ground and being astounded at those giants "camping" with their TVs. Also, I hope you know that the majority of American want gun ownership eliminated and many of us work hard toward that end. There's just a rich gun lobby that donates lots of money to politicians' campaigns, so we've not been successful--yet. I love Alaska, so I'm looking forward to your adventures there. Bon voyage!