June 24-30, 2007 - We drove west from Yosemite towards the
California coast, taking the small scenic roads through the
mountains, skirting past Sacramento, and finally reaching the
coast at Fort Bragg, north of San Francisco. The weather was
cooler and more moist than in Yosemite, and it was so startling to
see the ocean after all those woods, streams and shear rock
faces.
We stayed at the Westport-Union State Park Campground right
on the coast. What a beautiful campground. It stretches along
three miles of the coast.
Most people camp at the most northern end where they can perch
right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the crashing surf on the
beach below.
We camped at the more southerly end where there is a huge
grassy field with spacious sites that were largely unoccupied.
We walked along the old Route 1 that snakes along the coast. It is
badly eroded and is no longer used. The campground has been
pushed further west, away from the eroding cliff edges, but you can
see where some of the sites and toilets used to be.
We used our days here to install our new solar panel. Mark
installed the wiring from the roof down through the front closet
to a charge controller and on over to the batteries. Once it was
installed on the roof we were amazed at how much freedom it
gave us. For the rest of our travels in this rig -- another 10
months -- we rarely had hookups. We got all of our electricity
from the panel.
We got in a little cycling, although I don't think Route 1 has a big
enough shoulder in this area for bikes. Instead we climbed the
crazy mountains heading inland from the coast. The climb
seemed to go on forever!
The northern California coast is lined with sheer cliffs and stunning
views. There are also towering redwood trees and occasional
sequoias as well. We had a stunning drive up the coast towards
Oregon. The roads are very hilly, with tight twists and turns and
insane logging truck drivers that barrel along as if they own the
road. Actually, I think they do. It was a white-knuckle drive that
was definitely worth doing once.