Sideways

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Thats right - Sideways. If you saw the movie "Sideways" then thats where we are now - at Buellton which is an hour or so north of Santa Barbara, drawing closer to LA as the excitement level increases for the boys. All they're interested in is having the crap scared out of them on roller coasters. Susan and I just want to drink wine and try and escape their reality!

Going back though, after we didn't see any bears at Shasta we moved on to Lassen Volcanic Park hoping to see some there. Again we did the mountain climbing thing up to about 8000 ft on Mt Lassen and up there they have this volcanic area which is really hot and smelly - Seth was blaming me for all the bad smells going around until Ryan explained that volcanoes are a bit like that. He was happy with that and it allowed me to rip a couple off without getting caught so everyone had something to smile about on the day. But Lassen was very impressive.

Next we took a detour over the Sierras to Nevada on the other side, down through Reno without stopping and back into Lake Tahoe which also has a fair bit in common with Qtown. We had another campsite in the trees next to a river but still no bears. The campsites are really good here though - everyone has their own area with a table and fire ring. We went up Squaw Valley where the Winter Olympics were held in 1960 and Susan and I both felt a winter ski holiday coming on. It would be awesome to have a ski holiday at a place like that, the whole place is set up for it. Its a whole ski village with more ski runs than you could poke a stick at.

I'm not sure what the latest is but when we were at South Tahoe a forest fire started a bit further over and I gather that it has caused major destruction. The whole sky was one big smoke cloud (honest)! Well it was certainly looking bad anyway which is a real shame because it really is beautiful around there.

Anyway we got out of it and headed down towards Yosemite. We camped literally just outside the park gates on the easter side at Tioga Pass at 9945 ft. That is seriously high. Spotted a couple of bald eagles but still no bears. The next morning we went in and Yosemite is really something else. Unbelievable volcanic and glacial forces have been at work here. Saw heaps of animals up close. No bears. The ony time I became seriously aware of lots of people was in Yosemite Valley which is also where the most spectacular views are. That was crowded. The next day we saw some very very big sequoia trees and that was our 2 days in Yosemite. Very impressive. Off to the Coast.

Santa Cruz was our first stop just below San Francisco. The Boardwalk with all its roller coasters did a good job of whetting the boys appetite for LA. In fact, even after all the great places we'd been, the comment was heard "Dad this is the best place we've been so far". I pretended not to hear.

Monterey Aquarium was also very good and we took a drive from there around the coast drive to Carmel just south of there. This is seriously expensive real estate, I mean, mansions big time. There are about 6 golf courses one after the other including Pebble Beach and Cypress Point which are pretty famous (they are, take my word for it, would I exaggerate?).

The Big Sur is the coastline you ofter see in travel mags with the road winding around the clifftops for about 60 miles, and that was next. We're pretty spoiled in NZ with Kaikoura, West Coast, places like that, and this was like them with a few more cafes here and there and the odd mansion thrown in for good measure. The photos in the travel mags always have the cool guy and the stunning diva in cooler than cool designed sunglasses, cruising along in a snazzy red convertible, not a care in the world. We were in a big RV getting buffeted around by seemingly tornado-force winds on the edge of treacherous cliffs with 3 hungry boys fighting each other in the back. Not quite as romantic but at least Susan was looking pretty good. Maybe thats the problem, I should spend more time watching the road.

But it was spectacular and so was Hearst Castle. This guy called Hearst decided to build a castle so he bought 22,000 bits of art, sculpture and all sorts of other amazing things mostly from Europe, many dating back to medieval times, and stuck them in this amazing castle. The outdoor pool was amazing. I think the guy had a few bucks but probably not a lot of sense.

So now after a couple of other stops, here we are in Sideways wine country. We'll test a couple out tomorrow and see what we think.

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Photos

Classic Yosemite
Ansel Adams stood here once

Lassen Volcano
cauldron bubbling behind us

Breakfast with Altitude
boys having breakfast at 9445 ft at Tioga Pass

Big Sur
snack stop

Hearst Castle
Susan wants this pool for Queenstown

Comments

[Mark Raddon]

Bears
If you do find one you will be able to tell us if they really do !!!

[Dad]

Jealous
Hi gang at last catching onto modern technology. I've had all of your blogs now and really enjoying your offerings and photos. What's that golden stuff and all in shorts - wow it must be warm. All's well here. Love Dad