17 March

I started the day out with a complaint – the Bluebird Motel was too comfortable and I didn’t want to get up. But I lived up to my obligations, arose and got ready. Breakfast was slices of teacake and coffee (or tea, for philistines like me) – the teacake confirms my belief that a lot of Americans like a very sweet breakfast.
I left after checking out and had to fill up with petrol almost straight away. With that chore out of the road, I hit the road, ready for a big and interesting day.
The first new sight was directions to the sea lion vista. I was most surprised when I leaned over the fence of the parking area and saw – sea lions, lots of them, just relaxing on the beach. One bull, obvious by his size, was right up the beach (so you only see each end of him) and the rest of the beach was presumably his harem and any young.
Her I got engaged in conversation with a Canadian and his wife, from Victoria, BC. They winter in Yuma and were on their way back home. During a varied conversation, he mentioned that a lot of Canadians had retired to Mexico and were enjoying it and a high standard of living, certainly different from what was expected.
I headed off because I realised my time schedule was already shot – too interesting, too many beautiful little bays and coves, too many islands and rocks. I tried (unsuccessfully for the most part) to limit what I stopped at and what I photographed. There were a lot of beaches, each with their own parking area. Some were free, some had day charges – but all were relatively empty, with quite a few having no-one on them at all. But that would obviously change for holidays and for weekends.
I stopped in at Big Sur to send yet another parcel home. This one was also costly to post, but there is no other option. It was interesting that despite the popularity of the place for surfing, it’s basically just a little country centre.
Driving along, a lot of rivers had large bridges over them. Most of them were from the 1930s, another legacy of employing people during the depression to do things which would be of lasting value to the country (like at many of the National Parks). This prompted me to compare the drive I was taking with the Great Ocean Road. The type of scenery is similar, but still different. If you like the Great Ocean Road, you’d also like this. But if oceanside driving isn’t your thing, then you wouldn’t like this (especially if you get carsick, as there are many curves).
As I neared Carmel (where Clint Eastwood had been mayor), a deer warning sign with a judiciously placed reflector made it look like Rudolph. Very clever.
As I neared San Francisco, I had to stay on the main road as otherwise too much time would go for little return. Then suddenly (well, after about fifteen minutes of suburban driving) I was on the Golden Gate bridge. Going north I didn’t have to pay the toll (good news, but the SatNav was convinced I had to) and I was amazed by the pedestrian traffic. It was hard to tell if they were tourists or just locals out for a stroll in a spectacular part of their backyard on a very pleasant day.
I continued up on Highway 1 and it quickly became a narrow, winding and rural road. Something triggered me off and I realised it was the smell of eucalyptus – there were gum trees everywhere (one of our less successful exports, as they contribute greatly to the severity of Californian wildfires). After a time on this road, I had to go inland, because I was down to an average of twenty-five miles per hour (40 km/hr) and I have to be in Seattle on Thursday late morning.
I was very amused to see a warning sign – Slow : Oysters crossing, complete with graphic. I don’t think it is a standard road sign!
Once inland, the pace became quicker and I had to refuel again. I took the opportunity to ring up and confirm a booking in Eureka at a coupon price, then settled down to driving to arrive at a reasonable hour (the SatNav said 10, but I made it by 9). The road (Highway 101) varied from freeway standard through to a very narrow road with redwoods right next to the pavement (just like near Marysville in Victoria) – and these fairly big trees present an interesting picture when they loom in the headlights of a tired driver, after twelve hours on the road.
So I arrived at the motel in Eureka, booked in, set the computer up and unpacked, transferred the pictures, went and got some tea (not enough time in the day to do that, and very few places beside the road where I was driving today), then completed my usual stuff and got ready for bed (gee, the spa in the bath is looking good, but I don’t know if I would stay awake – but then again it may put me to sleep more quickly – but then again, I’m tired enough now. Decisions, decisions!)