..But California was just as amazing as Oregon. The sand dunes made way for craggy cliffs with beaches in between, and where the highway leaves the coast, towering redwood forests which are seemingly impenetrable in size. Then comes wine country, with swathes of grapes sitting between patches of the forested areas.
A couple of days of this was enough to get us into San Francisco where we stayed for a few nights. This is an amazing city, with ‘tude laden fog rolling in and blanketing everything in sight, a grid of streets laid over impossible terrain, and a buzzy cool with more energy we’d seen since leaving Portland.
A day trip to Alcatraz sounded a bit like mass-tourist overload to me, but it was a fantastic experience – the island is big enough to absorb the number of tickets sold, and the industrial/military/prison heritage sits in contrast to the bird breeding grounds and flora preservation areas. The audio tour of the prison is the highlight, with gruff prisoners and even gruffer guards recounting their experiences in first person as you move through the cell blocks.
We headed out for a bike trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and further, returning via ferry across the bay. It’s a great ride along the foreshore, and on the day we went, the bridge kept on disappearing and reappearing as the fog rolled in.
Another culinary highlight was visiting Chez Panisse, a Berkeley institution and famous for using local organic ingredients. It had just reopened the night before after a fire, so we were lucky to even make it there. The service was incredible, and only just managed to be topped by the food!
We loved San Francisco, and were sad to leave for the trip down to Los Angeles, the last hurrah of the whole three month shebang. But set off we did, first stop Monterey, including a famous aquarium and marine park, as well Cannery Row, immortalised in John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name and milking the connection as much as it could. South of Monterey starts the part of the coast Known as Big Sur, the windiest, most treacherous part of the West Coast, and more beautiful for it.. It was hard to appreciate and stay safe on the road at the same time! Hearst Castle, the monumental edifice built by the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst in his own honour looms large on top of the mountain range inland and entices you to the top. It’s obscene and beautiful in its opulence and a monument to a tremendous ego. Pushing further south we reached San Luis Obispo, a university town with no main tourist drawcard, but a great vibe and heaps on offer including a free concert series on summer Fridays on the park in front of the mission, and a great bar scene which seemed like a great way to deal with the packing exercise which we needed to do before the drive to LAX for the flight home.
Stay tuned for photos….
