Tuesday 9th October

Just a few miles down from Larkspur we stopped at the smart town of Sausalito where we walked along the oceanfront for an hour.

We sat by the edge of the ocean and enjoyed watching lots of crabs on the rocks.

Only a short distance further on we crossed the Golden Gate bridge into San Francisco.

We then followed part of the 49 mile scenic route, as suggested by Rachael and Mike. This led us by the ocean where many people were out on the beach.

Further on there were sand dunes covered with multi-coloured plants.

The drive then took us into Golden Gate Park where we stopped to walk around some of the attractrions.

Also in Golden Gate Park are the San Francisco Botanical Gardens which we explored in the warm sunshine.

To get to our hotel we had to travel through central San Francisco and noticed many houses in this local style.

This will be our last blog post before we fly back tomorrow.

Monday 8th October

Today we took the 30 minute ferry ride which crosses the bay from Larkspur to San Francisco Pier 1.

As we headed up Market Street early in the morning, the cable cars were nearly empty.

We walked through the heart of the financial district which is a mixture of very tall buildings, so little sun reaches the pavements.

Out destination was this building, the SFMOMA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
www.sfmoma.org

Many of the exhibits related to photographs, light and movement. In this exhibit the lights tracked people as they walked across the room. The floor was a 50/50 selection of bathroom tiles laid completely at random.

This exhibit needs a movie to show it in action. The pattern on the left and the circles on the right were continuously moving.

We had hoped to see Andy Warhol's print of Liz Taylor but had to be satisfied with his self portrait.

As we returned to the pier, the sun lit the Bay Bridge and showed it at its best.

Sunday 7th October

After setting off in bright sunshine, we drove into mist as we followed Highway 1 down the coast.

Most of the route was lined with very dry grassland but still some lovely views when the mist dissipated.

The roads were steep and winding and in places there were several hairpin bends following each other. You can see the road that we followed.

We took a break at one of the State Parks wher hang glider pilots were making good use of the cliffs and winds.

Many of the headlands had large rocks creating interesting shapes where they jutted out into the ocean.

This beach is just north of Bodega Bay where Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds" was based and filmed.

The colourful plants that grow everywhere here on the cliffs are just like gardens.

When we changed direction and headed inland for the next leg of the journey toward San Francisco, the weather changed from grey and misty to bright blue sky and sunshine in a matter of a few miles.

Saturday 6th October

Today we chalked up five thousand miles on our trip so far. We began the day by visiting Van Damme State Park. The sea was an unusual flat calm so many kayaks were being launched.

Our main aim was to visit the Pygmy Forest where there are very old trees which would normally reach a hundred feet plus but which are stunted due to lack of nutrients in the soil.

In the afternoon we visited Mendocino Headlands Park which was once a major lumber port and you can still see the remains of the ship loading gear.

Mendocino is known as the watertower town as there is no piped water and the town still has to rely on pumped water from wells.

In the evening we walked down to Glass beach which is the remains of the city dump where visitors comb the sands for multi-coloured glass. Only in America can a city dump become a tourist site.

As we were returning we saw this herd of deer grazing on scrubland beside some houses.

Friday 5th October

We drove through more forests for a couple of hours today, leaving Highway 101 for the start of Highway 1 which follows the coast. Our first view of the Pacific Ocean today was here. 

Looking down the coast we saw lower cliffs and more wild flowers.

Our first stop was to visit Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.
www.gardenbythesea.org
They are well set out and in a stunning location.

This is the view from the wilder end of the gardens at Cliff House which is a sheltered viewing area.

We are staying in Fort Bragg and enjoy a good view Pudding Creek Trestle, the local boardwalk, from our room.

We spent the later part of the afternoon exploring MacKerricher State Park. The plants growing over the dunes are full of colour.

The colour of the sea was even brighter and a deeper blue than shown here.

We were able to get down to rockpools where the water was absolutely clear and there were tiny fish in some.

At Laguna Point there is a seal watching station and the harbour seals duly arrived while we were there.



Thursday 4th October

We begn the day by exploring the Victorian part of Eureka and came across these two examples of Gothic architecture.

A few miles further on we visted the Ferndale Kinetic Museum which housed some of the contraptions from the annual race over land & water between pedal powered machines.

We wandered up the street to have a look at the town's buildings and picked up a coffee at a local cafe.

We detoured off the main highway to follow the Avenue of Giants through 32 miles of redwood forests.



We walked some of the trails and came across this giant in the middle of a clearing.

Yesterday we thought we had seen giant root systems until we saw this one. It is the root of reputedly the most massive tree in the redwood forests until it fell under its own weight.

In the Humboldt Redwood Visitors Centre is the first ever example of a camper van. It is made from the solid trunk of a redwood tree hollowed out and fitted with basic amenities.