carmudgeons.com - Pictures from my California Road Trip (Lots of 'em)

California Road Trip
Late May, 2004

In Spring of 2005 I took 2 weeks off work and set off on a road trip to California. The plan was to leave Seattle, hit the Pacific Coast Highway east of Portland in Oregon, and travel down to L.A. to meet up with my friend Mike where I'd spend 4-5 days blasting around on the twisty canyon roads surrounding L.A. I must say it was a great way to travel. I believe I covered the 1400 miles down the coast without returning to the Interstates until I got down to L.A.

The scenerey was spectacular with intermitant rain storms in Oregon and norther California but once I got within 400 miles north of San Francisco it was sun, sun, sun all the way down to L.A.

And the roads? The roads were to die for. Wonderful, smooth, banked turns. Twisty bits that would streatch on for 50, 70, even a few 300 mile stretches. And all this spent driving a Miata.

After leaving L.A. I'd travel back up to San Francisco to meet my fiance (then girlfriend) for a week with her attending her sisters college graduation. We spent a couple days buzzing from one winery to the next in the Sonoma and Napa valleys. Finally after dropping her off at the airport I began my trek home. By the time I reached my house back in Seattle I had covered a total of 4,400 miles

I present to you all now the photos from that trip. Enjoy.

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Keeping it cheap. While on my own this is how I traveled. Just toss the
tent in the trunk along with a sleeping bag and it was $15/night for lodging
in the various state parks along the route. First night's stay in Lincoln City, OR.

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Depot Bay, OR is reputed to be one of the worlds smallest natural harbors.
Highway 101, part of the Pacific Coast Highway, runs along the deck of the bridge.

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High up on the rugged Oregon coast.

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Approaching the southern Oregon boarder (still about 100 miles north) I came
upon these stone teeth jutting out of the Pacific Ocean that made for a dramatic backdrop.

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The underside of Thomas Bridge which crosses a chasm along
the Oregon coast some 355 ft below.

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Leaving Hwy 101 in Northern California for a bit I blasted along the
Avenue of Giants in the redwood forest. Now these are some BIG trees.
It almost felt like I was one of those speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi.

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As the second day was drawing to a close I headed off Hwy 101 to continue
the route along California Highway 1 back to the coast. Unbelievable. There is a 22 mile stretch
where you can't get out of 2nd gear because it is so twisty and winding.
It finally dumped me out here, on the edge of the Pacific before making
a sharp left turn heading for San Francisco some 500 miles away.

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I kid you not. . . 300 miles of road like this. One turn right after the next.

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The Pacific Coast Highway hugs the cliffs high above the frothy ocean waters.
Definitely not a place to screw up and loose control of the car. Still nowhere near San Francisco yet. :cool:

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PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) as it is affectionatly called twists, turns, winds, accends and descends for
hundres and hundreds of miles along it's entire length. This is still north
of San Francisco.

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Flowers along the beautiful Botega Bay, CA. Still maybe 60 miles north of San Francisco but this is
where California reallly starts to feeeeel like the California you see in the movies.
I popped into a local cafe for lunch in Point Reyes and stumbled into the middle of a TV cooking show. :eeps:

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The last 45 minutes before reaching San Francisco were intense, under beautiful blue
skies. THis was the straightest section of road for a looooooong time.

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My trusty ride. Man, what a chore of a drive it was in this car. :banana:

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A few hundred miles south of Carmel is the start of Big Sur. I still have wonderful memories
of that drive. Wish I could have taken a pic of the road sign that said "Curves Ahead, Next 74 miles".

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Looking back north just after crossing into the start of Big Sur the weather looks very
ominous. Shortly after that I the skies cleared for a wonderful, warm spring
sea breeze.

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I feel very forunate to have been able to soak up the setting sun as night began to fall on Big Sur.
I can still remember it. The top down on the Miata as the engine screamed between
5000-7000 RPM for a good hour. Brake-gas-brake-gas that whole time. The balmy sea breeze gently
wafting up the cliffs. And the gorgeous orange and yellow rays of the sun reaching
out one last time to stroke this desolate, scrub covered cliff side. Mmmmmm.... it takes me back.

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Ah . . . Finally down in L.A. My friend Mike took me up into the canyon roads
surrounding the basin. I believe this was Mulhulland "Hwy" in the hills
above Malibu where we found these guys playing on thier bikes.

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Me taking a break watching the guys on their bikes. My front wheels a bit dirty from brake dust after 3 days of driving.
I washed my car at my friend's house and 2 days later you couldn't tell the wheels were washed.

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F@ck'n Yubra Buena! Holy Sh!t I couldn't believe this road. This is the straightest length
of the 12 mile road. It has 6.5 ft wide lanes, cliffs on one side, a mountain on the other. And the f@#k'n road
engineers put a 55 mph speed limit here! My balls-to-the-wall-top-speed was 45 mph. The rest
of the time I was doing maybe 25-35 mph. Think of a 12 mile autocross course. :eek:

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I let another friend drive my car as I took a side trip down to San Diego. We headed
up to Palomar Mt. Rd for 34 miles of twisty mountain goodness, stopping here
at Lake Henshaw for a breather. My friend has an M3 and drives like a grandma.

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Aaaaahh. . . Angeles Crest Highway. After 55 miles you go . . . nowhere.
Only thing to do is turn around and come back. No intersecting roads, no driveways,
no traffic. . . and no police. What to do? :scratch:

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Try building a straight road here. This is what the Angeles Crest Highway traverses.

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The only neighbors living along Angeles Crest Highway. Awesome road. I can't remember ever seeing
a turn or curve on the road that wasn't banked.

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At Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Came back up to meet my girlfriend at the airport.
Now, faced with 7 hrs on I-5 or 9 hrs on PCH going through Big Sur again guess which way I chose to come back up from L.A.?

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World famous Lombard St. in San Francisco.

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My fiance (then girlfriend) as we stand at the Golden Gate Bridge overlook.

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Rough 2 days touring wineries in Napa and Sonoma valleys.

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Life as a grape. All is good until you're plucked.

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Mt. Shasta in northern California made a lovely sight as I wait for the California Highway Patrol Officer to
write me a ticket. (still sitting in the car here)

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Stopping by Crater Lake in OR. It was cold up here and the ring-road wasn't open.
Still beautiful.

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Crater Lake sits in the remenants of a collapsed mountain.

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The last 3 hours of my road trip. Coming back into Washington state east of the mountains
some clouds dot the blue sky as they float over wavey dry fields 2 miles north of
the Miiiiiiiighty Columbia River.

4,400 smiles later.

Hope you'all enjoyed these. It's been fun reliving that journey.

:wink2: