Day 5: Monday 3rd September 2012 - San Francisco to Fort Bragg

Also entitled "No TomTom, we don't want to miss the wiggly bits"

Or, From One Extreme to the Other

With great sadness we extracted ourselves from our rather lovely hotel room and the view, to depart San Francisco. We felt we had unfinished business with the Golden Gate Bridge and driving San Francisco in general, so, with the top down and sweaters on, we started out for the bridge. Finding ourselves on Route 101 and realising this was Lombard street famous for being the twistiest road, we couldn't miss an opportunity so found somewhere to turn around and headed back up to Russian Hill to give it a go. Inevitably there was a long queue of cars to get up there but it wasn't too bad. So with an audience of pedestrians we descended very very slowly. From my point of view in the passenger seat, filming the whole thing out the top of the car, I had fun. CK did say he thought it was a little like driving down a multistory car park, if novel for being outside. The alternative title from today's blog was the quote of the day caught on video while trying to navigate to the interesting section of Lombard street on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. GPS systems should really have a navigate to, via scenic route setting. 

Mission 2, Golden Gate Bridge - still shrouded in fog but not as bad as the day before. It cleared up as we headed towards the other side. With more time we would have loved to go down to Sausalito, the town the other side. It looked lovely and we attempted to go down there but there was a labor day festival going on and it was crowded and impossible to park. Next time.

We headed inland to Sonoma, aiming for a Domaine Chandon, a champagnery in Yountville which was recommended to us. As soon as we left the coast the temperature started rising rapidly, going from about 55 in San Fran to 98 in Yountville! A sneaky change of clothes in an isolated part of the car park was necessary before going in due to the change in temperature. Not so great for the now exposed sun burn.

Between us we went for two different tastings and decided on the Brut Classic, the Brut Reserve and the Mt Veeder Brut. All excellent but with very different price tags. With a bottle of each to go through I'll report back on which came out top. The tastings took place in a very modern, glass and black and white decorated bar with an outdoor patio and sculptures in the grounds. At $20 for a tasting of 3 Reserve or 4 standard sparkling wines, including a Chandon labelled glass to take away, it wasn't bad. For future reference, think about going on the $40 tour which includes a tasting or signing up for the club which also included this. 

We would have loved to go to more of the vineyards but had to press on. The day, it seemed was destined to continue with the "wiggly bits" and the journey back to 101 along rout 128 was slow and twisty. It became so hot that we had to give up on the open top and close the roof so we could have the air con on full blast. 

We came off route 101 to take route 20 directly down to Fort Bragg. Route 20 consists of about 30 miles of forest road up and down valleys and I would be suprised if there was one bit of straight road. Average speed was probably 15mph involving some challenging driving. If we were to do this again I would find an alternative route. Even if it meant taking longer to go the coast route. 

We had decided on Fort Bragg based on the maximum distance we thought it would be sensible to travel in one day. Mendocino, just South of Fort Bragg had been recommended in the guidebook as a quaint fishing town. Most of the motels seemed to be in Fort Bragg or around. After booking late we missed out on our first choice and ended up at the Travelodge. Disappointing at first, until we met Don, the manager who obviously knew everything about the surrounding area and all the history and people. He even drew us a map with the botanical gardens, lighthouse, local state parks and best restaurants on. Based on this we explored down to the very industrial marina to a place called Silvers on the Wharf. The location alone would have normally put me off but the food was excellent. 

Our room at the Travelodge was motel style with chalet rooms, somewhat basic and backing on to a timber yard amongst other things. It could not have been more different from the previous night. This driving trip was about finding the interesting places you would never normally visit and so we definitely managed that.

Day 4: Sunday 2nd September - San Francisco

Finally a day without driving anywhere!

After enjoying the luxury of the Westin, Market street, I was good and hit the gym for a bit of treadmill speed work to start the day while CK attempted to tackle the sun burn with a lot of ice.

When we arrived the night before, it was a dark and a little foggy so we did not see much of the view from the floor to ceiling 18th floor window. Come the morning it was also foggy for a bit but as it lifted we were presented with the most amazing vista of San Francisco. The Yerba Buena Gardens were directly in front of us with a South East view of the city beyond, some of the bay to the left and hills to the right. We could have watched thew view for hours but with only a day in the city and time ticking on we got on with the sightseeing.

Our plan consisted of doing the most touristy stuff - unfortunate since being labor day weekend, that was everyone else's plan too. Heading to Union square and the cable car turnaround we found a line which could easily have been a mile long. Resorting to plan B, go see the Golden Gate Bridge, we flagged a taxi and headed for the viewpoint just before the bridge. Sadly for us the fog decided to make it's presence known and all we could do was take photos of the cross section of one of the cables, with us pointing to the rough location of the bridge.

Plan C, head to Golden Gate Park. We got dropped off by the California Academy of Sciences and allowed our inner geeks to run free. Feeling peckish and having a little time before the planetarium show we headed to the cafe to find another huge line so made for the Moss Restaurant downstairs. To anyone reading this and planning to go, don't bother. It was a nice place but over priced, I assume because of its location. The living garden on the roof was impressive. We also got talked into going to the 3D show on geology of other worlds. Due to the two glasses of wine consumed at lunch while waiting for a table, this may have involved a small nap in the middle. Hopefully no snoring or drooling.

The park itself was lovely. Lots of nice green space, trails and sculptures, plus a small art exhibition going on. Very impressive and I would highly recommend a good amble with plenty of time. The temperature was much colder than we were expecting but it was a crisp clear day. The Japanese tea garden was a favourite for me. It was quite extensive with lots of hidden paths to walk around.

Shopping in Union Square Macys for Men was excellent. I've never seen so many floors devoted to Men's fashion before and CK went on a bit of a spree, having finally found a Macy's big enough to stock a good range.

After some confusion in the evening between meeting at the Westin on 3rd and Market and the W on 3rd and Mission, we met up with friends who live locally for drinks and dinner. It was great to catch up and experience some of the nightlife. Many thanks for showing us around.

Day 3 Saturday 1 September 2012 Santa Barbara to San Francisco

So we woke up nice and early at the Sandpiper Lodge hotel in Santa Barbara, an advantage of not yet adjusting to the west coast time zone.  We headed straight to the pool, which was pretty much deserted and very warm.

After a few lengths we grabbed a couple of bananas for breakfast later and got packed and hit the road.

Having been slightly frustrated by the stop start nature of the Route 1, we headed inland a bit and headed north up Route 154 through the mountains, with some spectacular scenery, joined Route 101 until San Luis Obispo and rejoined route 1.  We stopped briefly at Morro Bay and were once again tempted by the inviting looking beaches and sea.

What a mistake!  The sand was smooth and warm, the sea was however, cold.  That was a shock and in classic comedy style we both ran away from the approaching wash. A quick restroom stop later, directions provided by the always helpful and never grumpy park ranger and we were off on the road again.

Route 1 - Morro Bay to Montery was the Tom Tom destination.  We were looking forward to this, especially the stretch of bridge that we knew as Big Sur, we'd seen it on Top Gear so we thought we knew what it looked like, altough we didn't actually know where this particular bit of concrete was.

This part of the route, while not stop start with traffic lights and stop signs, was never the less slow going.  A good job too as it is as twisty and steep as an Alpine road.  Hairpin bends, adverse camber, steep drop offs on one side and sheer rock face on the the other, plus of course, spectacular good views ambushing you round every other bend.

After a while, we saw a sign saying, Welcome to Big Sur, ah ha we thought, here it is any minute now... and for the next few hours, every elevated but of concrete, bridge or other substantial barrier became Big Sur and very well photographed.  Regular 'turn outs' provide ample safe parking and viewing opportunities and I confess, there loose gravel provide good opportunities for pure mustang rear wheel drive wheel spins, when no one else was looking.

Eventually, we did get what we had been waiting for, the real thing, Big Sur, a huge concrete marvel of elevated road way, it was worth the wait and at about 4 pm, we crossed it. Having later googled Big Sur, we discovered it was more than just the much photographed bridge but a 90mile stretch of coast line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur

A quick stop for a late lunch of yesterdays left over Chinese tasted good, all the more satisfying after our long drive.

We were then in Montery in no time at all, a quick wander down fisherman's wharf brought the pleasant surprise of seeing some Sea Lions (noisy) and Pelicans (not house trained at all!) and other sea life, including trainee scuba divers, a suspicious looking dummy used for training said divers that we both mistook for a dead person for at least a minute and some kaykers playing (and loosing) chase with some sea lions.

Back in the car, Tom Tom set for the hotel, via Route 101, it was getting late and we wanted to just get there ASAP,  we arrived at about 8.30pm and after getting the bags out of the car (no mean feat, the Mustang is not blessed with a big boot and a bag on the back seat is tricky to extract with the roof down) and handing the keys over the valet parking guy and we were into the plush hotel.

Our tiredness was soon replaced with joy after we got an upgraded room.  Perhaps it was the accent, perhaps the check in girl took pity on our sun burnt faces, or perhaps they were just out of smaller rooms, whatever, we got upgraded from floor 4 to 18 and to a suite, it was lovely!

Once in the room, we realized two things.  We were both sun burnt; my right arm inside elbow in particular and KK's face was a lovely pink shade, especially on the forehead.  Oops.  The second was that we were very tired.

Exhaustion set in and we collapsed into a very comfy bed.

CK

Day 2: Friday 31st Aug 2012 - San Diego to Santa Barbara

End of a very long day, most of which was truly amazing, some just frustrating. We picked up the Mustang with no problems. Zoo trip went fine. It was a very hot day so the animals were mostly escaping from the heat and we didn't feel like wandering around much. The highlight was the Grizzly Bears - one of whom was cooling off in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and generally playing in the water. We watched him for ages. The other bear would occasionally wonder round too so I got some great photos.

Coming out of San Diego we had some confusion with the roads. I had originally planned on going down route 5 to LA, not thinking there was any coast road alternative at that point. We discovered that route 101 did run all the way along the coast and route 1 ran along all the beaches into LA. After managing to use the navigate to point on map feature on TomTom to get too the beach we discovered Solana Beach and stopped for a paddle in the Pacific! The beach was relatively quiet and as we wondered further down there was no one else in sight. Beautiful day, wonderful company, just wading around through the surf. Awesome and definitely highlight number 2.

We followed highway 101 some more but found that although the beaches were lovely, the traffic lights ever few meters were not. After about an hour of slow progress we hopped back to route 5. At this point we were a little behind schedule and decided we would keep our experience of LA to driving only. Plan was rejoin what became Route 1 along the coast at Newport Beach and drive to Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway. Hmm... well it's a lot further than it looks. OK change of plan again. Lets go drive Mulholland Drive. The Lonely Planet guide book says its well worth a visit and there is a good view point but only if we get there before Sunset.

At this point I was driving and made the fatal error of saying "I'm not even tired, driving along these big roads with very little traffic if great". Boom, the curse struck and Mulholland Drive went from being 10mins away to 30mins plus in stop start traffic. Add in a few wrong turns when TomTom told us it had found a route 6 mins faster and some bad decision making due to tiredness and huger and it all went a bit wrong. With then Sun setting and having to manage to grab some random snacks from a gas station, we abandoned LA to head to Santa Barbara.

Having made that difficult decision and committed to it we chilled out for the remainder of the 1h 30min drive to the "soothing" tones of Deadmau5 on the mp3 player, enjoying the wind in our hair and the Santa Monica mountains silhouetted against the setting sun.  With the full moon appearing large on the horizon behind us it was a magical drive. There is a point where the view opens up in front of you as you look town on a small town, mountains to the right and the Pacific ocean to the left where the it is breathtaking. As we closed in on Santa Barbara the stars came out overhead. The unrestricted view from the convertible was worth the crazy hair by the time we reached our destination.

Tomorrow we will follow the Pacific Coast highway through Big Sur and Monterey Bay, winding up in San Francisco.

As promised, here are a selection of photos from today.

Day 1: Thursday 30th Aug 2012 - Gaithersburg MD to San Diego, CA -

Hello from San Diego!

We made it in safely last night after a horrendous time at Dulles airport getting through security. Flight was 4h 40mins so not too long. The airport is right by the sea so we flew low over San Diego at sunset to land. I've never flown so low over a city so that was pretty awesome.

Awesomeness number 2 was being upgraded to a junior suite at the Porto Vista hotel due to a shortage of standard rooms. We had vouchers for a free drink each so headed staight for the bar where we sat overlooking the bay from a glass sided balcony. I would highly recommend the cocktails - we tried quite a few between us. The detox/retox - made with green tea and various spirits was a particular if rather ironic favourite.

Sorry to any family members we woke up early with the texting - it seemed very off to us that at 10.30pm we were still out drinking where it was 6.30am UK on Friday and evryone would be getting up to go to work soon. Don't think I'll ever get used to time zones. Being 8hours  removed rather than the usual 5 for us seems to make things much more odd.

Thins morning we were up early and I spent time chilling (actually catching some rays since its a hot sunny day) on our huge balcony - watching the planes come in low over the top of us.

Just off to pick up the rental car and drive to San Diego zoo. Then off to LA. Thinking of driving Mulholland Drive.

Will check in later with some photos.

KK and CK

Route map