Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2011 Summer Travel Plans

In between getting ready to move and working, I've been busy planning my trips for this summer. I had posted an earlier version of a possible itinerary, but the plans below are now pretty well finalized.

Part 1: Southern Adventure (With a Side-Trip to the Bahamas!)
In which my mom & I will visit many splendorous, Southern cities, while pausing for a brief jaunt to the Bahamas.


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Part 2: Go West, Young Lady! (PA to CA)
In which I will travel across the country, via many, many National Parks, reaching Monterey, CA, where I will then follow the PCH to San Diego.


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Part 3: Homeward Bound (CA to PA)
In which, I will brave the heat of the Southwest in August and the flatness of the Great Plains during the height of tornado season to arrive safely back in PA in time for another scintillating school year.


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(Mountain) Lions, Racoons & Bears, Oh My!

There were a lot of things about California that were unexpected. I don't think fully realized how diverse the state is, from huge mountains to lush, coastal forests to golden beaches to desert. And I especially didn't realize how close to the ocean some of the more mountainous regions were.

As we left the 101 to head towards Santa Margarita, I slowly began to realize that not only was our elevation increasing, but the terrain was becoming more desert-like. Of course, in the pitch black, I couldn't tell for sure, but I had this sort of sense that mountain lions and other scary predators would be lurking in this country.

And they were. We pulled into our campground and picked up our ridiculously misleading map, as that map appeared to depict a typical, flat campground. In reality, the campground was terraced along two steep hills, with dusty, dirt roads and very little light. When we finally made it to our little shelf, it took forever to pitch the tent because I didn't have the appropriate stakes.

Then it was time to head to the bathroom. Across the valley and up the other hill. It was one a.m., so we took the car. (Lazy, yes, but it turned out to be a good choice). I finished my toothbrushing first and hiked back down the thirty or steps to the car. As I was waiting for Tasha to finish up, I saw a HUGE shape go skulking up the hill and around the back of the bathhouse. I honestly couldn't tell what it was, beyond the fact that it was huge and had glowing eyes. Bear? Not big enough. Raccoon? Too small. What they heck was it?

Tasha arrived back at the car, and I decided, rather futilely as it would turn out, not to mention what I had sort of spied with my little eye. We started edging our way back to the campsite, and all of a sudden, Tasha yells at me to stop the car. I did, but there was nothing to see. A few hundred feet later, she screams again for me to stop, and there, perfectly frozen in my headlights, is the huge, tawny body and mean little face of a mountain lion. I tried to tell Tasha it was just a house cat, but she wouldn't believe me. (I can't fathom why).

We caught another glimpse as we headed back up the hill to our campsite. Tasha insisted that we sleep in the car, although I was so tired and so longed for my air mattress that I (almost) didn't care that a mountain lion had been stalking us.

In the morning, we were relieved to finally be able to see our surroundings. The cheerful people who ran the campground told us not to worry, as bears, skunks, mountain lions and tons of other wild animals wandered through the campground all the time. That may very well be true, but a warning sign would have been nice.

 So this was our tiny little ledge. You can see how dusty the ground is!

 We drove through a relatively mountainous area and then across a huge plain.

 We stopped briefly in the town of McKittrick, where there were a lot of oil drills, before fueling up in Bakersfield for the remainder of our trek across the Mojave.

 We got a little lost and ended up taking a detour past Lake Isabella.

 This area is the southern part of Sequoyia National Forest.

 The Mojave was hot and windy. It was sort of like what I would imagine being in a blast furnace would feel like.

 We finally made our way back to I-15. Those mountains look imposing!

Despite a few detours, we finally arrived in Neveda, on our way to Las Vegas.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

San Francisco and the Pacific Coast Highway

After visiting the Redwood Forest, which was so amazing, we noticed that we were less than 100 miles from San Francisco. How, we decided, can you be that close to one of America's great cities, and not go? You can't and so we did!!

But first we had to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. I was a little terrified of this prospect, but in the end, traffic moving, the sky was crystal clear, and it wasn't so bad.


Here's the famous gate in San Francisco's Chinatown. We did a driving tour of the city because we didn't have that much time.


We stopped at Fisherman's Wharf for a little while, where I was proposed to by a busker. (Unfortunately, I don't have the picture of this momentous occasion). I was flattered, but I did have to turn him down.


San Francisco really does have hilly streets, as you can see. We also had a blast driving down twisty, curvy Lombard Street.


We also spent some time at Golden Gate Park, which is really beautiful.

We headed out of town on the Pacific Coast Highway, the length of which has long been a dream of mine to drive.


The amusement park in Santa Cruz, which was a totally cute beach town.


Around sunset, we arrived in Monterey, where I took this awesome shot of the wharf.


 We also drove down "Cannery Row," which, unlike in Steinbeck's day, is now basically a shopping mall.


We were able to watch the beginnings of the sunset in Monterey. Here's a shot looking across the Bay.


I was bitterly disappointed that it was too dark to drive the rest of the PCH through Big Sur, but a nice family we met on the beach (who captured this shot of Tasha & I) said that it wouldn't be worth it in the dark. We headed down the 101 instead, stopping at In-N-Out Burger (which so lived up to the hype!) before arriving in Santa Margarita, near San Luis Obispo.

Back In The Saddle (Er, On The Net) Again

I was talking to my dad recently, and he asked me if I had totally abandoned my blog. The answer is a resounding, "No!" even though it may seem as if I have. Work keeps me pretty busy-nothing like middle schoolers to run you ragged! I am also in the middle of moving, which, while being extremely exciting, is also very stressful.

But I'm going to get back to summarizing my trip from last summer before this summer starts!! Up next will be a post about our spontaneous adventure down the central Cali coast.