The Redwood forests, home to one of the three remaining Sequoioideae on this planet: Seqouia sempervirens, the Coast Redwoods. Along with the Giant sequoia, Seqouiadendron giganteum, (only found in Yosemite), and Metaseqouia, the Dawn Redwood (only found in China), they make up the only existing coniferous redwoods alive. Dating back some 1.6 million years, the Coast Redwoods are some of the earliest trees known to exist, a first blueprint for modern trees. Growing to heights of almost 400 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 3000 years old, these colossal plants are some of the oldest things living, not to mention the biggest. As the largest of the redwood species, the Coast Redwoods dominate the landscape completely, it’s not difficult to see why it was picked as the location of Endor, I kept expecting Ewoks to pop up from between the towering pillars of wood.
Day 15 Road Updates: 2PM Pacific
8AM Pacific
After a night in the citizen hotel, we’re on the road and headed to the city of Eureka. A day at the beaches and the redwoods beckons, as we work our way up to the return leg of the journey. The highways are empty and the heat is on, with a high of 99, were most assuredly out of the mountains. Not a lot to say at this point, but we should be passing through fort Bragg in a few hours. More updates to come.
Tertiary update: just passed the town of yolo. Heh.
Day 14 Road Updates: 12PM Pacific
My apologies for the lack of road updates of late, it’s due simply to a lack of road in general, the city posts each night should give the full picture though. We’ve just come from the Presidio, and are currently crossing the golden gate. Trust me, it’s better from afar. The traffic is abysmal, perpetuated by the ludicrous amount of tourists who think a car is just a sightseeing utensil. Since entering the city, we’ve encountered a marathon, a bike race, and an aids walk, none of them have been as detrimental to our time as the ridiculous out of country drivers.
Day 13: San Francisco, CA
Today we started off going to Monterey, CA to see the awesome cliffs over the Pacific Ocean. We did not have a ton of time there but it was well worth the stop.
Then we headed to San Francisco and we went to Chinatown and then took the cruise out to Alcatraz.
Tomorrow we head to Oakland to catch an Oakland A’s game and then staying in Sacramento, CA.
Day 13 Road Updates: 2PM Pacific
11:30AM Pacific
We’re just now heading to San Francisco, after traveling highway one along to Monterey. The late post is due to the lack of service as you travel between the Pacific and the Santa Monica mountains, essentially a 40 mile stretch of dead zone. The loss of LTE is hardly missed however as the coast is everything it’s hyped to be. The evidence of the ocean’s raw power is everywhere, the remnants of its destructive crusade against the coast seen as the battered shoreline of central California. A staggering amount of spires, caves, and pools populate the area, which can change from a sheer 150 foot drop to a gentle sloping beach in just a few minutes. The rocks were not only magnificent in construction, but also strikingly colorful. Kelp pools created areas of water painted a shade of deep red, contrasted by neon blue shallows and the kind of moss coverage that you always imagined would make an incredible bed. As I ventured out onto the rocks, a condor decided to ride the wind directly in front of, and subsequently right over me. 100% worth the stop, but get there earlier than ten a.m. or plan to come back tomorrow, because parking will be completely and totally nonexistent.
Day 12 Road Updates: 10AM Pacific
8AM Pacific
We’re blazing through Southern California on our way to Yosemite and the Madera Speedway. The sun had just risen over the mountains when we started about an hour ago, so naturally it’s now positioned to annihilate our entire field of vision. The traffic is treacherous, the 6+ lane highways are packed full, but somehow everybody still manages to be breaking the 65mph speed limit. About 15 minutes ago we stopped for the usual McDonald’s breakfast, incredibly clutch for anyone doing this journey, their breakfast is actually the best thing they offer. Back on track the the Yosemite Valley, we have a long journey through the heart of California ahead of us. More updates to come
Day 11: Los Angeles
For Day 11, we ventured into LA, which yes the traffic is as bad as people say but it was well worth it to see some of the historic landmarks around the city. We went early to check out Hollywood Blvd. and we saw the Chinese Theatre. Then we drove up the the hills and found a spot to hike up and see the Hollywood Sign.
After spending a little time in Hollywood, we booked it out to the Santa Monica Pier and that was an incredible place to be where they had actual talented street musicians playing and lots of other things to do along with the beach!
Day 10: Legoland, CA
On the 10th day of our trip, we decided to fulfill our dreams as kids and visit Legoland, CA. The park, overall, is aiming its market towards kids but the two parts I was overly impressed with were Miniland, USA which featured mini Lego versions of major cities, ie New York, Vegas, San Francisco, etc. I was also impressed with the fact they had the original sets used in the Lego Movie.
It was nice being a kid again for one day but for day 11 we’re headed off to LA!
Los Padres National Park
Los Padres. Located just north of Santa Barbara, this dynamic area encompasses rolling hills, towering cliff sides, and even a few of southern California’s lakes. The drive up into the park is through sweeping vineyards and cliffside villas, Smokey the bear pops up to warn you of high fire dangers in the area today, and camp sites become more and more frequent as the palms turn into pines. We went in search of a visitor center, a base of operations from which one could venture out into the best trails and roads the park had to offer, this proved difficult however, as there didn’t seem to be one. This was ok however, because we ended up simply driving through the mountains, drinking in the scenery. The lack of proper park accommodations was completely overshadowed by the winding 30mph roads that twisted through tunnel and mountain alike.
Day 11 Road Updates: 6PM Pacific
10AM Pacific
We just got our first sight of L.A. after what should have been a 30 minute journey took four times as long thanks to the infamous L.A. traffic. The smog is absolutely real, a thick haze of grey hangs over the entire area for miles, it’s absolutely unreal. The sky is perfectly clear, but it’s not blue on the horizon, just pale and drab. It effectively conceals the city from view until you find yourself swallowed up in it, caught in the crushing jaws of gridlock. The weather is still gorgeous though, I hear it might even rain this weekend. More updates to come.
The World As We Know It 