Giant trees and dodging wild animals

The coastline north of Monterey
see all photos »

The drive north from Monterey is less dramatic but just as enjoyable. I went through fields of artichokes, strawberries, pumpkins, and fields full of less easily identified crops. Some of the fields were right on the water - prime real estate, but I guess we all have to eat.

You would think that since I'm staying on the same road, Route 1, the whole trip up the coast, it would be pretty difficult to get lost. Not so, my friends. In the nice little town of Santa Cruz, I spent 45 minutes getting on and off Route 1, which I think is designed to get you so lost that you stop for lunch or something.

Kamikaze wild animals

while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
see all photos »

After the unintentional detour, the coast becomes very gentle. Lots of fields that just end and drop into the ocean.

Eventually I made it to San Francisco, and tried to take a pic while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Don't laugh.

Past San Francisco, I stopped in Muir Woods for a hike. The redwoods are incredibly humbling. They are so huge, you can't even get one whole tree in the camera lens. I looked for a postcard or something, but even the professionals can't capture the entire tree. But even the trunks are huge, some more than 8 feet in diameter. And it smelled so good.

Redwood trunks in Muir Woods
see all photos »

Next I headed further up the coast to Point Reyes National Seashore. Once in the actual park, I spent a lot of time just driving, looking for the hostel where I was supposed to stay. When the first deer came into the road, I thought he was cute, and he quickly saw the car and ran back into the woods. A bird absolutely refused to get out of the way. I even resorted to honking my tiny horn, which didn't even phase it, but eventually just had to very carefully drive around it. The worst was the elk. It jumped in the road between my car and one in the opposite lane, then spent thirty minutes trying to fake us out by quickly darting like a rabbit back and forth across a two-lane road. Eventually it got the hint that neither of the cars were going to harm it, if it would just hurry itself back into the woods. Another deer family almost killed me. I started to think the animals were cursed.

As close as I could get to the tops of the Redwood trees
see all photos »

I eventually made it to the hostel, killing only small bugs and a bit of gasoline. The hostel was very cold and dirty, so I decided to just ignore the atmosphere and take a nap.

I tried to wake up to see the sunset from the lighthouse, which I thought would be pretty. Unfortunately, the drive to the lighthouse was about 30 miles, all on road where you couldn't safely exceed about 20 mph. I made it to a beach, about 20 minutes after the sun set. Oh well, the sun will set again.

Too tired to drive all the way back through the park, I found a cheap motel for the night.