The Northern California Coastline

written April 25, 2015

We left the city life of Roseville, California, and headed towards San Francisco but before we got there we veered off the highway and headed north towards Napa Valley. There is just so much we want to see and do in San Francisco that we have decided we will have to come back another trip to see it. Terry has offered to be our personal tour guide since she knows “The City” as she calls it. That way, we can just run around and be “tourons”!

Beautiful roadside flowers along the highway

Napa Valley is simply gorgeous. Gently rolling hills of crops (mostly grapes) planted in rows forming perfectly straight lines regardless of the direction you view the fields. The exquisite chalets dotting the countryside are beyond description. Instead of old falling down campers the furnished “farm hand” quarters match the theme of the Winery. Good golly even their processing plants are works of art.

Rolling Napa Hillsides

Such beautiful symmetry

A beautiful Vineyard

Julie has really been enjoying the many many spring flowers that have sprung while we have been driving the highways and byways. Color has been just exploding in our windwhield.

The Charming little town of Willits, California

The most stunning display of Wisteria I have ever seen!

I didn't realize that Calla Lilly's grow wild in parts of the country.  These were near a beach.

Leaving Napa Valley we travelled the Redwood Highway passing around, through, and by dense stands of trees taller than the mind can imagine. After parking our Monty in a campground at the bottom of a steep hill (1.3 miles straight down), we were off to see the area. This campground originally was the Ridgewood Ranch, where Seabiscuit, (the horse of movie fame) was retired, put to stud, and is buried. We couldn't see the grave since they only have tours in the summer.

An interesting RV Park and in the summer months, a Horse Farm, with tours, deep down in the Valley

Tom the Turkey, showing off for the ladies

a Dense Dark Fog rolling in from the Ocean

Wow, twisting and turning up and down over the narrow mountain road on the way to the ocean was not only a thrilling and exhilarating driving experience, but happily very challenging. Leggett, CA is the home of the “Chandler Tree”, the famous drive thru redwood hollowed out in 1936, one of he true tourist trap venues this area is “known” for. We decided to take it in, however, trucks are bigger now than they were back then because the lady at the gate just looked at us and said “You won't fit”. We plopped down our tourist fee anyway, and went in. Since no drive-thru, we walked around the tree! Cute little tourist trap. Lots of things no one really has any use for made out of redwood!

Redwoods

A fallen Redwood - fun to climb on and in

The Chandler Tree - it is still alive and healthy!

Yes, it's really a live tree!

  Following CA-1 for twenty more miles of up and down, over, thru, and around we finally made a left turn and right there in front of us was the Pacific ocean. Julie sucked all the air out of the truck and almost cried. I am a mountain people, but she is a water girl. She got out the trusty camera and started shooting pics until the batteries died. So she put in new batteries and went right back to shooting more pics. I am getting pretty good at “Oh My God, isn't that beautiful, could you pull over Honey”!!!

My first views of the Pacific on this trip!

Highway 1 along the Northern California Coastline

California Poppies

We have encountered lots of different animals along this journey. While here we were serenaded by a tom turkey and his four hens each morning, and down by the ocean we saw our first “sunning” seals. While we were excitedly watching the grown-ups work their way onto the rocks we happened to look down at the bottom of the cliff we were on and there were a couple of juveniles who had swam over to see just what in the heck we were looking at. Darn Kids!! 

Sunning Seals

Oh, those kids, they watched us and played about!

 

California has been exciting and exhilarating, but since we have nowhere in particular to go, and all the time in the world to get there, we must press on. 

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