Kia ora, I think we will start this post like any good conversation… With a weather update… it has gone from hot, hot to cold! Like fresh snow all over the mountain tops and hail an inch thick on the ground. That is what we arrived to in Lake Tahoe. After picking up a couple of hitchhikers who were walking from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail and listening to their stories of their great walk we treated ourselves to a meal out. The chilly weather and frequent showers put a dampener on any sunbathing or swimming in the lake so we headed north through Truckee, which was very quaint, on our way to Lassen Volcanic National Park. This would be our 10th national park so we were very grateful for the free parks pass we received from the hairy vagabond of Nick’s brother.
We were now off the main drag and passing through small settlements in rural counties including the small clearing where the Donner party was meant to have survived a harsh winter and potentially become cannibals in order to survive the harsh Winter…. You could always spot the county boarder as the road surface changed, one side would be rough as hell and the other immaculate. To be honest many of these small places didn't have much to offer although we did enjoy a morning at Lake Almanor where the swimming was great.
Lassen was cool both literally and figuratively. We hiked to a nice mountain lake where we saw deer that looked perfect for the bbq before camping out the night. Getting up early to beat the clouds that had been coming in later in the day we hit the trail to the summit of mount Lassen at 8am summiting around 9am we were greeted with a white out, gale winds and about 4 degree temperatures. Trudging back down Lucy said that was the last time she was getting up early to climb a mountain as as we made it back to the car park the clouds burned off to reveal the summit! Oh well you can't win them all. The afternoon was spent walking down through Bumpass hell (named after Mr Bumpass) then a beautiful valley complete with flower filled meadows and small lakes.
Moving out of the mountains under clear skies (and views of Mt Lassen much to Nick’s chagrin) we were headed East for the Coast! A quick pit stop in Redding for a swim and supplies and it was off to Eureka. We had seen photos of this picturesque old fishing town however arriving at about 5pm on a Monday we were greeted with a virtual ghost town, there was no one around. A few photos of some cool old buildings and we gapped it out of creepyville, finding a nice spot overlooking the Pacific to camp – not that there was a sun to see setting.
The next stop on the itinerary was Humboldt State Park where fairies and elves live amongst the giant redwood trees. The trees and forest were awesome, we just wandered along for hours in awe of these grand trees. Once our necks are stiff from looking up we camped right on the river bed surrounded by this stunning forest. Reluctantly moving on we stumbled upon Fort Bragg and were pleasantly surprised to find the same old school style buildings as in Eureka but in contrast a bubbling community to go with it. We slipped into the local brew house and sampled some fine ales before cooking up a storm to eat as the sunset.
Mendocino was another very quaint seaside village that we explored before heading further South on our third to last day in flamingo. We covered a few miles, ate dinner at a rugged surf beach with seals and a cute wee grey fox before finding a spot to camp. For only the second time in the whole 5 weeks we were told to move on by the very well armed park ranger. He had a batten, pepper spray, taser, handcuffs and two automatic rifles between the front seats – only in America!
Having to have the van back in San Fran first thing in the morning we spent our last full day covering the final few miles and chilling at Stinson Beach. Walking through the dunes we got quite a surprise to see the beach chocker full. We saw more people taking selfies than we had seen in the last 10 days! The notorious San Fran fog stayed 500m offshore all day and we basked in the sun with no sunscreen and no sunburn (thanks to our Mexican looking tans). To our absolute delight the eagled eyed Prebs spotted whale spouts 200m offshore. What proceeded was a glorious display by a mother humpback, here calf and an adolescent feeding complete with breaches for over an hour. I wonder how many selfies have a whale breaching in the background while the photographer is completely oblivious?
Saturday was a sad morning as we bid farewell to flamingo. She had seen us right for 3500 miles and five very easy weeks of travel (we will let the brake issue slide for now). We toasted goodbye with a few quiet beers and a picnic with our great San Fran company. Always keen to try new things we consented to a morning yoga/dance session. What stared off with 25 people doing yoga slows turned into 200 very free spirited people dancing and grooving to a DJ who gradually upped the anti and pace of music. Fighting bouts of self-consciousness we got amongst the young and old dressed in lycra, knee pads and tie dye and had a blast.
The afternoon was spent in stark contrast with a tour of Alcatraz. The rock as it is often referred to was very enjoyable and informative and worth booking 6 weeks ago. The next available space being advertised was for August 17 so get in quick if you are planning on going! Our final night in the USA was spent eating crab chowder at Fishermans wharf before a quiet ale watching the sun set behind the golden gate.
We both are a little sad to be leaving the States and could easily have spent another 5 weeks in a van. We will miss the ease and flexibility of travel, peanut butter wraps, Country's top 40 and pink lemonade but the sweetened coconut, sugar coated raisins, rubbish tea and monster RV’s can stay behind.
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