Home Sweet Home in Hayward, CA

Friday we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway from San Simeon to San Francisco.

This post is a bit delayed (should be dated 6/19/09).

Beautiful. Stunning. Curvy.



Five minutes up the road we stopped at a sign that said "View Elephant Seals". We parked and noticed a few seal heads sticking up out of the water far into the distance. There were louder barking sounds coming from the right of the parking lot so we followed our ears, though a gate and along a bluff. There, 15 feet below us, were a pod of Elephant seals in all their stinky amusing glory. They were enormous.



The seals would heave themselves out of the water, wiggle along for a few feet, then collapse. Then they'd wiggle a few more feet, then collapse. If they accidently knocked into another seal, they argued by lifting their heads way back and barking/burping into each other's faces. It was extremely entertaining and not at all how I expected to spend my first hour "on the road" that morning. A second pod was further down the path, as were several rabbits and some birds. I'm not sure if it was because we weren't expecting this sight, or if it was because it was entirely cool, but I do believe the Elephant Seals are the highlight of the trip.



The curvy beautiful coast continued north through fog layered mountain and sea views. We stopped at a bakery ran by hippies and ate some lovely quiche at a picnic table in the sun. An old man gave me the code to life. He wrote on a piece of paper "A-Z" and "0-9" and told me that with this code you can write your life story. I liked the old bald hippie. The cookie I carried from the store and ate later that day was good enough to make me want to make a special trip back to their hippie garden.



There were some wind surfers in wet suits at one of the beaches, and a surfer dude selling weird two-seeded cherries at another beach. A light house was another stop. We saw more seals there, but nothing compared to the Elephant seal beach.



At 11am I finally received the message from my company as to what address I would be calling home for the next 3+months. A thought this was way too stressful and proclaimed the life of contracting would not sit well with her- she likes a plan. My philosophy is that my company is responsible for finding me a place to sleep- it's not something I worry about. If it's unsafe or gross, I'll send them pictures. That's only happened once in the 3 years I've been traveling! We popped the address in Garmin and continued up the road and then over east to San Francisco.

A helped me unload my car- I told her she could just sit with the car and I'd run the loads up the 3 flights of steps but she's way too nice and wanted to carry as well. It took 11 trips (5 each, and one box that both of us carried). We found target and spent $150 on soap, groceries and other stuff necessary to make a house livable (Soap: dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, hand soap, dish soap for hand washing pots, shampoo/conditioner, 409 and clorex wipes...we are a very clean nation!)

Then we found my new sushi place and had a fabulous dinner. I will be visiting this sushi restaurant often- the BBQ eel was spectacular and the dynamite rainbow row had great spice.

I'm sure I'll be sharing pictures of the actual city of San Francisco in a later post. We do plan on a quick trip tomorrow, but it's more of a scouting trip for me. I'll do the city justice and devote a few weekends to just being a photo-bug. And good news! My brother is selling me his old camera- I'm upgrading from the point-and-shoot that I've taken all my blog pictures with! We shall compare the professional camera to the point-and-shoot and decide if it's worth it to lug it around on my adventures.



Adam- I'll devote a post to your questions as well. Give me a few days and then check back!

Road to California; Day 5; Arrival

Kingman, AZ was only about 40 minutes from the border of California. We crossed the Colorado river and entered into the very hot and sunny California sun.

The border patrol confiscated my two oranges. I had placed one behind my front seat within grabbing distance for a morning snack. Apparently the oranges did not pass the inspection's high standards.

Today I was very glad that friend A was here. The Mojave desert was intimidating with the call boxes placed every few miles, the endless scrub land with little ugly cacti, and the sun that beat down through the windows. Even through frequent sunblock was applied (spf 70), I now have pink arms, cheeks, and neck. I was not expecting to be fearful during this drive, but the combination of forces and the knowledge that a friend of mine had broken down on the same stretch of highway worried me. We made it through without incident. The desert gave way to brown dried hills with Dr. Suess-like trees. I believe they are the famed Josua Trees.



On the hilltops were armies of windmills. The windfarms were a bit scary to look at- I think it was the size and sheer number, combined with the fact that they lined every surrounding hill around us at times.



The general rule for the trip has been: keep the tank at least half full, always have water, and keep an eye on where we are. I think these rules have helped keep us safe.

We made no interesting stops on the way (other than border patrol) and arrived at the Pacific ocean at 5:45pm today. A and I parked in the closest beach access and skipped down to the water. Fog was rolling in from the ocean-during our drive we had wondered if it was fog or smoke from a local fire. The water was frigid, and the wind was chilling. We took some quick pictures and proceeded to the Best Western in San Simeon, CA.

Best Western was a pleasant surprise. We had jumped from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn Express all the way across the United States, but there wasn't one along this stretch of highway. Best Western had an ocean front location, restaurant next door, parking right outside the room (better to watch my car full of belongings). Furthermore, they lit fire pits 20 minutes prior to sunset.

A and I ate at the restaurant and headed to a fire pit to watch the sunset. The fire fought back the chill and the fog cleared enough to enjoy a soft glowy sunset. We laughed at the family sharing our fire pit as they attempted s'mores for the first time. I demonstrated some roasting marshmellow tricks for the teenager who was obviously hanging out with his mom and aunts.



Day is done. Gone the sun. Goal is reached. I'm in California and I've now seen the Pacific ocean.

Road to California; Day 4

4 am is actually really early, for those who do not routinely wake up at this time. It is the time before dawn; the time before hotel bills being slipped under the door; and the time before coffee being properly brewed. And it was this time we chose to wake and depart. We were on the road by 4:20 pm. Not bad for two girls.

The darkness was consuming, and we had been warned to watch out for elk. I drove in part because I felt that if we hit and elk, I should be driving the car, and in part because we had already determined that my friend A is overdue for a new glasses prescription. We did not see elk.

We did not see the photographed sunrise over the Grand Canyon, but it was still very pretty.



A cloudy sunrise gave way to rain and the view was occluded. We drove to the other side of the south rim and tried a trail. The rain chased us back up the steep trail and we dodged mule poop the entire way back. We headed to the entrance of the park and attended the IMAX movie- it could not have been better! When we stepped out the theater, we smiled and headed back to the Canyons. The sun was back.

Lunch was eaten on the edge of the canyon overlooking the beauty. I had a very interested friend hoping for crumbs (or, if I had turned my back, half my sandwich!)



Puffy white clouds and sunlight brought out some of the colors of the canyon.



And then the rain swept back across the canyon. First, a smaller storm across the canyon. Then, a larger storm engulfing the area in lightening. We headed back to the car and drove what seemed to be a never-ending journey to Kingman, AZ.



Kingman, AZ- Oyster's Mexican restaurant was surprisingly good, and within walking distance of the Holiday Inn Express. This was good, as we were out of energy. As I type this, A is fast asleep and I'm ashamed to say I've been "resting" my eyes as each picture loads. It's almost 10 pm and I'm ready to sleep. Am I so tired due to getting up prior to the crack of dawn or is it the fatigue from racing across the United States? I don't know. I'm glad this trip occurred and I'm enjoying it immensely. Tomorrow, we enter California and we have absolutely no plans other than to pick up my apartment key Friday or Saturday. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but it can't possibly be as full as today.

Road to California; Day 3

Delayed due to faulty internet connect in the Holiday Inn in Williams, AZ.

Day 3 started much the same as Day 2, but with less stress than Day 1.

We stayed in Tucomcari, NM - much futher than planned- on night three. By mutual agreement, we decided that the marathon pace would give way to more sight-seeing these later days and our first stop of the day was Albuquerque, NM. We drove down the route 66 into town (construction on I-40) and drove through a poor hispanic district, a trendy town by the University of New Mexico, and finally Old town. Old town is a quiet green square surrounded by tourism and arts. Many of the shops are junk shops, but the feeling of the town is more than that. All of the other shops are local artists selling their wares. I really enjoyed Albuquerque and the 1 hour we alloted to this stopover became 2 hours. We saw the church of San Felipe de Neri and I bought a pretty cross at their gift shop.





To be honest, it reminded me of my Zorro movies. My opinion may be skewed, but I liked Albuquerque, NM.

Our next two stops were to be Petrified Forrest, AZ and Meteorite, AZ with possibly a sunset visit to the Grand Canyon.

Petrified Forrest stopped us in our tracks and completely ruined the itinerary. We estimated 30 minutes to see a bunch of petrified wood, but ended up spending almost 3 hours in the park. It was a beautiful drive- and we ended up doing a small hike around the Crystal forrest as well as spending quite some time taking pictures of both landscape and still life of the wood. I'm not sure what held our interest for so long, but we were held and the rest of the day didn't happen.





We arrived in Williams, AZ far after sunset and well into the night. It was 11 pm before we were in bed. We decided that life is short, and tomorrow we would see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon-despite the hour drive to the rim and the lateness of the hour. We set the alarm for 4 am.

Road to California; Day 2

Arkansas was a whole lot of nothing.

Oklahoma, despite the upbeat musical, was also a whole bunch of nothing. I did not see a surrey with a fringe and the cowmen and the farmers were in constant conflict.

I did stop and see the Memorial for the Federal building in Oklahoma City- what a beautiful memorial! Two arches, with the times 9:01 and 9:03 on them, embrace a reflection pool. The pool is 9:02 am April 19, 1995 when the federal building was attached. Rows of chairs line the pool, organized by where the victims were working in the building, and differing in size according to whether they were children or adults. There were way too many small chair there. Some pictures:





After Oklahoma came Texas. Right outside of Amarillo, TX we stopped at Cadillac Ranch. An art project planted in 1974, these cadillac are half buried. The artists encourage interaction with the project and you may spray paint them, write on them, climb on them, or whatever. It was great! Guess what I wrote? Look closely at the gold wheel!







We drove 720 miles today and were in 4 states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and now New Mexico). We are now in Mountain time. We are now quite tired. It is time for bed. Tomorrow, we plan a much less road weary day and several Arizona attractions are calling our name. Tomorrow night I'll hopefully be writing from the Grand Canyon!

BTW-iphone vibrated for 15 minutes this morning as we entered Oklahoma. Not sure if iphone just did not agree with Oklahoma or if there is a software problem that is raising it's ugly head. There may be an Apple Store visit in the future!

The Road to California; Day 1

To those who don't have my phone number out there, my next travel assignment is in California. It's been a long time coming. First, I had to muster the nerve to release my psychological death grip on the East coast. Then I had to get finger printed and jump through the other loops to obtain the SLP license. Finally, I had to interview in a state that is now fraught with hiring freezes and funding cuts. I did manage to find a job and it's within 30 minutes of San Francisco.

I even managed to talk a friend (A) into driving out there with me. I'm flying her back next Saturday evening and I start my new job (home health again, but in a less rural setting) on Monday. She's an old friend from my last permanent job in Augusta, GA (an audiologist who used to work at MCG). So far, she is excellent company and a good driver.

Day one. 700 miles. Six states (SC, GA, AL, Mississippi (MI? MS?), TN (for like, 5 minutes) and finally Arkansas (AS).

We're hopping from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn so I can accrue points. My company has a ceiling of $500 for relocation, so I'm keeping close track of my receipts. So far we've spent $50 in gas, $82 in hotel fees, and $7 in food (Friend A's Nanny fed us lunch in Pell City, AL).

It's been a riot trying to take pictures of the Welcome signs. I've only managed to get a decent picture of two. Here's one:



We haven't stopped yet for pretty pictures anywhere, but I did take a few from the window. Here's the best from the day:

Biltmore House

I'm a bit behind on posts, so this will be short and sweet.

The Bilmore is a very large house. I can imagine that it was quite fun to party there in "the day". The flowers were beautiful.

Here's a picture.



And a lovely example of their roses.



I highly recommend a visit here. Do the tour. Visit the winery if you want. Take some pretty pictures!!!