Trip Report: Pacific Coast HWY in a VW Van

[Every Miles A Memory]

Wednesday November 11th - Day 8 of the VW Surfari Adventure

Waking up this morning was like being perched along the edge of a cliff. Cindy commented that it felt like we were flying over the Pacific Ocean because of how far we could see down the coast and out to sea all around us.

Another camper had decided to share our pull-out with us, so I guess we werent hiding all too well. Their big fifth-wheel stood out like a sore thumb where we had tried our hardest to tuck ourselves up against the side of a wall.

We threw down some breakfast and were on the road heading back towards the Salmon Creek trailhead.

Once parked, I threw on the ThinkTank Belt System to carry a few extra lenses and some filters that always go with us when we photograph waterfalls, and we finally on our way to see this waterfall.

The trail is pretty easy, although it climbs up and around some smooth rock.

If you ever come out to Big Sur to hike this trail, make sure you have good hiking shoes with a sticky sole on them. Cindy was wearing just a normal pair of running shoes and was sliding all over the rocks.

The black and green, Jade like volcanic boulders we were climbing around were the size of our camper and they dwarfed the big trees all around them. It was as if we were hiking through a fairytale and the waterfall lived up to the excitement we had to go through to get to it.

There are a bunch of different routes to give you various views of the water dropping over 120' into the emerald green pool at the bottom of the cliff

We played around all morning and if you ever come out to photograph this waterfall, make sure you're here early in the morning. By 10:30am the light was starting to filter through the trees on the bluff behind us and was causing that dappled light that ruins photographs.

I wanted to hike up to the top and have a view from the peak, but with Cindy's slippery shoes, she decided to stay down at the bottom and just soak in the view.

Climbing to the top was very strenuous, especially when carrying a tripod in one of your hands. The view was pretty awesome and coming back down I found a much easier trail that dumped me back out my the road.

I hiked back in to see if Cindy was still down there, but she never answered any of my calls, so I grabbed her water bottle she had left sitting on a rock and hiked back out to the van.

Once at the van, I found that she wasn't here, so I threw the camera gear in the back and grabbed Luca to give him some exercise. He would probably make a great Search and Rescue Dog as long as Cindy was the only one he was searching for.

All I had to do was say "Go Find Ma!" and his nose hit the ground and he was gone. I could barely keep up with him he was towing me so hard behind his leash. One of his favorite things to do is play Hide and Go Seek, so this was a really challenging game for him.

Cindy just soaking up the Beauty of Salmon Creek Waterfall

Surprisingly enough, he followed our exact route we had taken in the first time and he never even veered off when we passed the trail I had hiked back out of.

When we heard Cindy whistling for me, I let Luca go and told him to go get her. He took off so fast, I was worried we were going to have another incident where he plows right into Cindy and knocks her onto the ground.

She yelled at me for going back to the truck without her, and I explained that I had called for her a few times. Sitting at the base of the falls, I realized you're almost deaf to any other sounds because of the roaring of the water.

The 3 of us walked back out to the van and were soon on our way North up HWY 1.

The rest of the day was spent pulling over every few miles to take in the views and we finally found the McWay Waterfall. I had told Cindy that I had a few things I wanted to photograph and see with my own eyes along this journey.

The Elephant Seals up-close in San Simeon, touring the Hearst Castle, visiting the end of Route 66 on the Santa Monica Pier, taking in the Salmon Creek Waterfall, experiencing Venice Beach and finally, seeing the McWay Waterfall. Up until a few weeks ago while I was compiling all the info we had received for this adventure, I had never even seen or heard of this amazing piece of nature.

But once I saw it in a photo someone had sent me a link to, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Its something you'd see on a tropical island in the Caribbean. When Cindy asked me how you could even describe it in words, I said I'd just say "Imagine you're jogging down a tropical beach in slow motion with corn rolls in your hair, a skimpy two piece bikini on your tanned, buff body. This would be the backdrop you'd see in the background." She got a chuckle out of that one.

I couldn't believe it when we found out this piece of property was actually someone's private house at one time. Imagine owning the only waterfall to drop directly into the Pacific Ocean along the West Coast.

This waterfall is breathtaking and I couldn't stop taking pictures of it. I've also found a new goal in life. To do a photo shoot on the beach and have a few days to wait for the perfect light.

As we were leaving the McWay waterfall, we were sitting in the parking lot having lunch and watching the ravenous Steller's Jay who were practically stealing the food out of our hands as we ate with the doors open when another of Bill's VW Surfari Vans pulled up right beside us.

The German couple who was driving the vintage green Westfalia tried to talk with us, but they spoke very little English, and we spoke no German.

So we just smiled, pointed at a few different things and did alot of laughing.

After lunch we stopped at a few Galleries and had a drink at Nepenthe. This Restaurant/Book Store/Cafe offers some amazing views and blends into its surroundings so well, you almost dont even notice it.

The views off the deck are something everyone should see while traveling the PCH Trail and while we were sitting there just watching the evening fog roll in, I said aloud to Cindy "Why would anyone want to live anywhere else than California?"

The place is so beautiful and diverse. Each day just amazes me more and more with the new sights we see.

We finally landed at the Fernwood Campground so we could have some electricity and I could get caught up on this dang blog of mine. I'm so far behind right now, it will be days of sitting in front of the laptop before I can get some galleries posted and have everything uploaded.

Camped in a thick grove of redwoods, even though it was only 5 in the afternoon and the sun was just now setting, once we pulled into the grove of towering trees, all outside light was blocked out and it instantly became night.

If you thought the VW Van was small before, try looking at it when it's parked beside a 300' tall redwood that is larger in circumference than the van is long. Nature has a way of dwarfing you and making you realize how insignificant we humans are in this world, no matter how bad we try and ruin it

I sat in the van all night while Cindy grabbed her Laptop to go sit in the little coffee shop/restaurant the campground has. While she was checking in, the guy working the desk was surprised to find out she was originally from Michigan. I guess he just moved here last week and said the same thing I had just said while sitting on the deck at Nepenthe. "Why did I live in Michigan for so long?"

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Thursday November 12th- Moving back into Civilization

I'm thinking that sleeping in the camper last night with the temps getting down to the low 40's wasn't good for my worn out body. I woke up with an all over body ache and a throat that felt like I had a piece of sandpaper stuck in it.

Cindy made some coffee while we took turns in the hot showers. I'm confused that we pay $40 for a campsite, and still have to pay to shower. I've come to the conclusion that California is way to rich for my blood.

Being tucked in this Redwood Forest between these towering giants was like being locked in a cold, damp cave. We could see that the sky was a deep blue above the trees, but none of that warm sunlight could penetrate the thick canopy.

We figured since we spent $40 to camp here, we might as well take advantage of the electricity and work on the computers till check out time, so the morning was spent putting together a VW Surfari Gallery of our photos up to this point and trying to move my many pages of notes into a legible, readable blog.

We moved from the campsite to the Fernwood Cafe, but it was too hard for me to write because of the worst service I've seen in years. The manager was sitting at a table and Cindy and I could see the frustration in his body language with the young, slacker girl behind the counter.

She sat texting on her phone the entire time, and when a new couple would come walking in, he'd have to clear his throat to get her to look up where she'd give a short, rude "Can I help you?"

Two ladies came in and sat beside us and when we all got to talking about the $6 coffee and crappy service, we found out that they were from Michigan and knew the Red Dog Saloon from visiting Milford....What a Small World!

We sat talking about California and how beautiful it was and our journeys up HWY 1. They were headed to Whistler at a pace about the same slowness as we were crawling. We talked about the VW Van and how fun it was to have the ability to pull over and have everything with you, but also about the camping and how exaggerated the prices were.

I guess people from California are just used to these sort of prices, because each time we bring them up, folks from out of state all agree its just too expensive, but people from California almost seen shocked when we say "Its just too much!"

Camped in Arkansas along the Beautiful White River for $20 per night!!

I have no problem spending $19 for full hook-ups when we're camping in a beautiful Arkansas State Park. I have no qualms about spending $25 for a full hook-up site with laundry, hot showers and beautiful scenery when camping in a Florida State Park.

When we boondocked in the Ocala National Forest in central Florida, the sites were primitive with a water spigot you had to share for the entire campground and cost only $7 per night. Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada offer BLM campgrounds that blanket much of those states for free, State Forest Campgrounds are $6 per night for primitive sites and maybe $20 on the high end for full hook-ups.

Camped on the Rim of Monument Valley - $15 per night and worth every cent

Minnesota and Wisconsin State Park Campgrounds offer free camping if its out of season and still provide access to the dump stations if you need it. Oklahoma offers free camping in many of the public parks and their rest areas along the roadways have dump stations so travelers dont have to be carrying extra weight while they drive.

None of these states have the problems California does with their financial budgets, and they are major destinations for travelers. I understand that California isn't really comparable to any of these states, but you would think rather than keep raising the costs to go out exploring and having fun, it would be in the best interest of the state to lower the prices of these campgrounds which would make more people want to go out and have fun, especially in these off season months.

When we left Fernwood, we drover further up HWY 1 stopping every few miles to take in our last few miles of remote coastline. We knew that once we hit Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove, we'd be back in civilization and this rugged, remote coastline would be behind us.

Spooky Cypress Forest in Pebble Beach

Planning for this adventure, we had thought we were going to have a few days in San Francisco, maybe even enough time to spend a day or two sampling wines in Napa Valley. But heck, we didn't see half the things we wanted to see and we're 9 days into our journey.

The VW allows us to pull over so much more than when traveling with the much larger travel trailer in tow, I can only imagine if we were to explore in this sized vehicle full time how much more we'd see.

Monterey, with the Aquarium and its downtown district would be a whole day in and of itself, and it will probably take a few days to drive back down the 101 to L.A.

As we were pulling into Carmel, I saw a sign for the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo. It was getting late in the afternoon, so I figured why not stop to add this Mission to the long list of religious structures we've visited.

If you haven't noticed up to this point, I have a pretty bad sickness when it comes to photography. If there is something beautiful, out of the ordinary or anything that has to do with History or Architecture, I'll stop to photograph it.

This addiction is insatiable and it tends to control everything I do. The other night while we were sitting there in the VW, Cindy asked what I was thinking about as we were watching the last few rays of daytime disappear. I replied with some comment about trying to set the camera up on a tripod to shoot some star trails but couldn't figure out how to do it because each night we've had such strong winds.

Of course Cindy just rolled her eyes and laughed at how crazy I am.

So when I saw the sign for Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo and turned into the parking lot, Cindy just rolled her eyes again, grabbed her camera and said "Let's go do this."

Walking around the beautiful Mission, I could feel a cold coming over me that no amount of layering or bundling up was taking care of. I'm thinking the last week of going, going, going non-stop and sleeping each night in the damp, cold, coastal air has got me a little worn down.

Leaving the Mission in Carmel, we were pulling into Pebble Beach just as the sun was setting and took the 17 Mile Drive Loop around this amazing tract of property.

We stopped to see the most photographed tree in America, the Lone Cypress and wished we would have had more light to see more of this area in the beautiful light of late afternoon.

Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach Shoreline - Photo by Pat Bonish

Pulling out of Pebble Beach, we found a spot where we could hang out, plug the computers in and play some catch up. Thanks to the local Subway in Pacific Grove for letting us take up one of your booths for a few hours straight.

As we left the Subway because they were closing, we were sort of in a pickle. I was feeling like crap feeling like I was coming down with a full blown cold and the temps were down in the low 40's again.

The last thing I wanted to do was sleep another night in the cold with an aching body and hiding out in the Monterey area. We were told by a few locals that the local Po-Po isn't too keen on dirtbags sleeping along the streets, so against all our normal rules, we broke down and got a hotel room.

I justified it with simple math. $40 for a campground where we still have to sleep in a roof top tent with no heat. Pay for hot showers in the morning and have to share a bathroom with everyone else in the campground. Or, pay $70, sleep in a king sized bed, have heat, have our own bathroom with unlimited hot water to bathe in and breakfast included in the morning.

Thanks to the Front Desk guy at the La Quinta Inn who totally hooked us up on the price and allowed us to sneak Luca in the back stair even thought they dont allow dogs. I was more worried about him sleeping out in the cold night air than Cindy or myself

Once in the room, Cindy was like some kind of drug addict with the television and a remote control. She jumped into the bed and spent the next few hours drooling on herself flipping the channels incessantly.

I spent the entire night working on my blogs, uploading the VW Surfari Gallery shivering even though we had the heat on high.

When I finally crawled into bed, it was 4am and Cindy was still watching the TV. I kissed her goodnight and was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Best $70 I've ever spent.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Friday November 13th - Sort of a Lazy Day

We slept in this morning, ate our free breakfast in the dinning room of the hotel, I answered some of the 1700 emails that I haven't been able to look at for the past 9 days, and Cindy vegged out in front of the television some more.

We both took long, hot showers just letting the steaming hot water wash some of the aches we were both feeling come over us in the past 24 hours. I hate getting a cold and with us being on the road so much, its rare that we ever get one, but I guess with the last week of cold nights and non-stop moving, our immune systems are worn down a little.

When we finally left the luxuries of the hotel room, I said to Cindy that if we had the money, this would be the ideal way to travel the California Coast

Using the VW Van as your ideal mode of transport. Having it for the luxuries of its small size, the ability to carry all our camera gear and the Westfalia pop top that allows us to stand up comfortably when making lunch or lounging around waiting for the right light to make our photo work. Yet not having to hide out at night and worry about where we're going to use a restroom.

Since the average price is right around $40 for a campground here in California, I'm thinking if we have to chose one or the other, the hotel would be our first choice.

I really want to visit the Monterey Aquarium because of how many people we've talked to that have just raved about the displays of sea life and how close you can get to it.

Cindy on the other hand was only looking at the $30 per person entrance fee.

So we compromised and visited the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History which is free. We spent a few hours wandering around this great little museum that describes every type of mammal, fish, shell or bird you'll find in California.

I couldn't believe how cool it was for being free. I also spoke with a woman from the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce who gave me a map to the Butterfly Sanctuary where the migrating Monarch Butterflies are supposed to hanging out right now

While talking to her, she too recommended the Monterey Aquarium and said that to offset the entrance cost, just make sure you get there at 9:30 in the morning when they open and get your $30's worth.

After the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, we drove over to the Butterfly Sanctuary but only saw a few butterflies and they were pretty far up in the eucalyptus trees, so no good photos.

Jess and Susy had told us about the butterflies while we sat talking with them in San Simeon and Jess showed us some awesome photos he had taken. We were both bummed today's visit left us empty handed with no photos to show off.

As the cool night air started to set in, I asked Cindy what she wanted to do. She said we were both feeling like crap and she's so worried about our bank account, that she thought it would just be wise to start heading back to L.A.

I said that we were right here, and its stupid to not visit the Aquarium because we're worried about money. If that's the case, we probably shouldn't have left Yellowstone in October. We should have just stayed in Wyoming and continued to work.

She asked me what I wanted to do and here was my plan. Lets get another hotel room tonight. Stay right here in Monterey and be at the Aquarium first thing when they open. We'll spend the day seeing everything the Aquarium has to offer and we'll leave from here tomorrow to start driving back to the VW Surfari headquarters.



When we had met up with Dave and Joanie in Pismo Beach, Dave had asked if he could jump on my laptop real quick to book a hotel room for the night.

He logged onto Hotwire.com and said he wanted a hotel in the area for $50. The cheapest price they offered him was $57 and he jotted down the number and we followed him to his hotel....it was that east.

So Cindy grabbed her lap top and tried to do the same thing. She found a 2 star room for $57 that included a continental breakfast and I wondered whey we hadn't been doing this the entire journey? We soon were as happy as clam sitting in a warm, cozy room with our own bathroom, a big bed and more TV to feed Cindy's addiction.

She went to bed saying if we're going to go for broke, we might as well break the entire bank while we're having fun. I figure once the account hits zero, it'll give me some more incentive to figure something out to earn a buck while we're on the road.

Tomorrow the Monterey Aquarium, then we head inland where it'll hopefully be warm enough that we'll be able to go back to sleeping in the van. These off shore winds are what's dropping the temperatures so bad.

 

[suntinez]

Mama mia! That is beautiful and I've never heard of it either, thanks ...

I did a very similar route last summer, and just about to repeat a piece of it. Maybe I'll add a day and try to find this magical spot.

 

[Linus Tremaine]

I know that guy!

I used to work at a state park and I met that guy. He calls himself sunnyside. He beat up his truck with a sledge hammer so that it wouldnt get reposessed.

He told me that affirmative action was ruining his life because a small woman fire fighter couldnt hold a fire hose and he watched his house burn down. I bought his book- still have it kicking around. He was a riot.

Always wondered what happen to him. Havent seen him in about eight years.

 

[PHXtaco]

Great blog!!!

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

such a great report, thanks for sharing it! it reminds me why it's worth taking the time out of a hectic life to do it

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

I used to work at a state park and I met that guy. He calls himself sunnyside. He beat up his truck with a sledge hammer so that it wouldnt get reposessed.

He told me that affirmative action was ruining his life because a small woman fire fighter couldnt hold a fire hose and he watched his house burn down. I bought his book- still have it kicking around. He was a riot.

Always wondered what happen to him. Havent seen him in about eight years.

Too Funny Linus!! He told me that exact same story about the affirmative action bit and his house burning down. He rambeled off so much crap there was no way I could have put it all in the blog.

I did get an email from him this morning:

"Gee, I guess you only listen to what your simple little mind wants to. It is obvious you went to my web-site but didn't even read anything before you posted complete twisted lies. But who reads your crap anyway? Did I tell you that we are breeding stupid people? You should have put that in there too. I got a stupid blog also. Good thing you are not driving my truck."

That was all it said???? Not sure what it means, but he must have gotten a few hits from my blog when I linked to his for him to even find me. I never gave him a card or told him my name as he talked non-stop and never even let me do anything other than laugh at anything he was spouting off.

While we were getting towed back into Cambria, I had asked the tow truck driver about him because we had seen his truck parked in Cambria while we drove through the little town.

The tow truck driver just lauhged and said something about staying away from him as he's a bit crazy.

Thanks for all the comments guys. It was a great time

 

[Linus Tremaine]

I always liked him

I think we got along pretty well. He talks alot but I think he is pretty smart. Did he tell you about his truck bed design?

Im glad to know he is still out there!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Yeah, he's told me all about it and has already sent me numerous emails, he calls it the Work Truck of the Future and says he's got the only one in igsistance

I wouldnt mind having a conversation with the guy, but he wouldnt even let me get a word in, and he was rambling on so bad, I was having trouble following what he was spewing out. All the Ted Turner stuff was making me laugh too hard

 

[TangoBlue]

Thanks for sharing your trip. It brings back lots of memories from when I lived in NORCAL and spent a lot of time going between the PCH coastline and the redwoods of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties with my then 2 small kids (now adults). West coast rules!