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.