June 12th
DAY 4:
On Wednesday morning we packed everything. When we woke up we noticed it had been and was still raining. Since we were going south today, along the coast, we’d expected a lot of fog.
A little after 9AM we headed for the Alamo (car rental) office. I was not supposed to pick up the car until 10 AM, but we decided to try anyway. When we got there, we weren’t the only ones! There was a long line of people and we stood there waiting for at least 40 minutes. I made reservations for a ‘compact’ car, but because they didn’t have these available anymore, we got an upgrade which is a ‘midsize’. It’s a Dodge Stratus with cruise control! I tell ya, after driving a couple of hundred miles (it is now Sunday 10.30 PM as I type) I am so happy it’s got cruise control.
Our destination for this day would be Pfeiffer State Park at Big Sur. We decided to go and visit a ‘Target’ first. It is a superstore and we decided to buy some camping gear here. We needed a camping stove and some propane for this stove and for the lantern. After this we went to a city called San Jose where we did some grocery shopping at Albertsons.
It’s somewhat different trying to shop for food when having to keep in mind that you’re going to be camping. No refrigerator, no freezer.
We continued on our way and had a stop in Carmel by the sea and stretched our legs. After this it was a long crooked road, going from left to right and right to left. I am normally prone to carsickness, when I’m not driving, but now I was the driver, and still got carsick!
Around 5 PM we arrived at the State Park and checked in for two nights.
That same night it rained again. I woke up and felt that everything around us was starting to get very wet. The pillows, the sleeping bags, everything.
In the morning we took everything out and hung it to dry. Which was kind of impossible, because it was still sort of raining. We decided to go on a hike. Put on sweaters, took the backpack and went up the mountain. It was very steep and we had a beautiful view.
This night we made our first dinner on the stove. Well, dinner, it was spaghetti and some spaghetti sauce. It was fun nonetheless. We went to the State Park store to look if they had some firewood so we could roast marshmallows. We bought one bag and looked for wooden sticks to stick the marshmallows on. Luckily, the campfire kept the annoying mosquitoes away!
DAY 6:
The next day, Friday, our destination would be ‘ Tracy ‘. It’s the town where Daniel lives and we were all invited to a graduation party on Saturday of Daniel’s sister, Rosie.
As we drove back, we had a stop again in San Jose. Daniel wanted to show the house he grew up in and we went to a library to go online and check our email. After this we continued on our trip. What I noticed in these first couple of days is that there are a lot of road accidents. Everytime there was a news update on the radio about the traffic they would mention some kind of road accident. This time, they mentioned some thing about a car flipping over a couple of times and then caught fire. A couple of miles after hearing this, we saw smoke on the opposite lane and when we had a closer look it was this very same car the guy on the news spoke about. Scary! I decided to stick to the speed limit :)
DAY 7:
On Saturday we had to be at the graduation ceremony at 9AM. 400 students were graduating and there were speeches. After this we were invited to a BBQ and a party.
We were told to bring our bathing suit. This was a good idea, because it promised to be a hot day! I got sun burnt real bad on my back and my nose, but I’m actually getting a tan too!
DAY 8:
Today it’s Sunday. Can’t believe it’s been a week since I arrived in San Francisco. Around 11AM we drove off and went to a grocery shop called ‘Safeway’. We bought some vegetables and rice for our ‘stir-fry stove’ dinner that evening. Our destination for today would be the KOA campground in Santa Margaritha. The distance from Tracy to there was 235 miles! We stopped every 60 miles or so at a rest area to stretch our legs. We got to the campground around 4 and they still had some sites available, lucky for us in the shade!
Tonight, as it was getting dark and I was reading the leaflet I had gotten from the campground office, it mentioned something about the ‘wilderness’ in the area. Skunks, squirrels and …. Black bears! Uh-oh. When I went to the toilets tonight I had an encounter with one of these, nope, no bear, just a skunk as it was running away from us. :)
And now I’m sitting here, ready to go to sleep. I wanted to write down what had happened in the last couple of days in case I forgot things. I have no idea when I will be able to upload this.
Goodnight…
On Wednesday morning we packed everything. When we woke up we noticed it had been and was still raining. Since we were going south today, along the coast, we’d expected a lot of fog.
A little after 9AM we headed for the Alamo (car rental) office. I was not supposed to pick up the car until 10 AM, but we decided to try anyway. When we got there, we weren’t the only ones! There was a long line of people and we stood there waiting for at least 40 minutes. I made reservations for a ‘compact’ car, but because they didn’t have these available anymore, we got an upgrade which is a ‘midsize’. It’s a Dodge Stratus with cruise control! I tell ya, after driving a couple of hundred miles (it is now Sunday 10.30 PM as I type) I am so happy it’s got cruise control.
Our destination for this day would be Pfeiffer State Park at Big Sur. We decided to go and visit a ‘Target’ first. It is a superstore and we decided to buy some camping gear here. We needed a camping stove and some propane for this stove and for the lantern. After this we went to a city called San Jose where we did some grocery shopping at Albertsons.
It’s somewhat different trying to shop for food when having to keep in mind that you’re going to be camping. No refrigerator, no freezer.
We continued on our way and had a stop in Carmel by the sea and stretched our legs. After this it was a long crooked road, going from left to right and right to left. I am normally prone to carsickness, when I’m not driving, but now I was the driver, and still got carsick!
Around 5 PM we arrived at the State Park and checked in for two nights.
That same night it rained again. I woke up and felt that everything around us was starting to get very wet. The pillows, the sleeping bags, everything.
In the morning we took everything out and hung it to dry. Which was kind of impossible, because it was still sort of raining. We decided to go on a hike. Put on sweaters, took the backpack and went up the mountain. It was very steep and we had a beautiful view.
This night we made our first dinner on the stove. Well, dinner, it was spaghetti and some spaghetti sauce. It was fun nonetheless. We went to the State Park store to look if they had some firewood so we could roast marshmallows. We bought one bag and looked for wooden sticks to stick the marshmallows on. Luckily, the campfire kept the annoying mosquitoes away!
DAY 6:
The next day, Friday, our destination would be ‘ Tracy ‘. It’s the town where Daniel lives and we were all invited to a graduation party on Saturday of Daniel’s sister, Rosie.
As we drove back, we had a stop again in San Jose. Daniel wanted to show the house he grew up in and we went to a library to go online and check our email. After this we continued on our trip. What I noticed in these first couple of days is that there are a lot of road accidents. Everytime there was a news update on the radio about the traffic they would mention some kind of road accident. This time, they mentioned some thing about a car flipping over a couple of times and then caught fire. A couple of miles after hearing this, we saw smoke on the opposite lane and when we had a closer look it was this very same car the guy on the news spoke about. Scary! I decided to stick to the speed limit :)
DAY 7:
On Saturday we had to be at the graduation ceremony at 9AM. 400 students were graduating and there were speeches. After this we were invited to a BBQ and a party.
We were told to bring our bathing suit. This was a good idea, because it promised to be a hot day! I got sun burnt real bad on my back and my nose, but I’m actually getting a tan too!
DAY 8:
Today it’s Sunday. Can’t believe it’s been a week since I arrived in San Francisco. Around 11AM we drove off and went to a grocery shop called ‘Safeway’. We bought some vegetables and rice for our ‘stir-fry stove’ dinner that evening. Our destination for today would be the KOA campground in Santa Margaritha. The distance from Tracy to there was 235 miles! We stopped every 60 miles or so at a rest area to stretch our legs. We got to the campground around 4 and they still had some sites available, lucky for us in the shade!
Tonight, as it was getting dark and I was reading the leaflet I had gotten from the campground office, it mentioned something about the ‘wilderness’ in the area. Skunks, squirrels and …. Black bears! Uh-oh. When I went to the toilets tonight I had an encounter with one of these, nope, no bear, just a skunk as it was running away from us. :)
And now I’m sitting here, ready to go to sleep. I wanted to write down what had happened in the last couple of days in case I forgot things. I have no idea when I will be able to upload this.
Goodnight…
posted by Linda at
7:10 PM
1 Comments:
Hoi Lin mooi lang verhaal alleen de foto's doen het niet!! enne smeren hé?? anders word je een gebraden kippetje!! lusten die beren je helemaal! nou veel plezier verder en pas goed op met rijden....groetjes van ons
Sonja, je vader en Shane en Katuscha
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Anonymous, at 7:23 PM
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