California – June 2010
01 – The Long Road
For weeks the prep work for this trip has been intense…
So much to do to get ready and the clock never stops…
Finally departure day arrives and it’s time to roll…
(above) The Motel Mercedes with the rolling shop never far behind…
(above) On the road south through central western Washington State and one of its signature green bridges…
(above) The final bridge in Washington turns into the first bridge in Oregon…
(above) The day was great for a drive south…
(above) Traffic like this most of the way through WA and OR…
(above) Central OR, late afternoon…
(above) Roadside human fuel pit…
(above) On the rocks…
(above) One God, one country is pretty big stuff in these parts…
(above) Sunset in the Siskiyou’s…
(above) A sign I was glad to see…A lot of miles to get here…
(above) Pulled into the first (or last) rest stop in Cal for the night…
(above) Spectacular Saturday sunrise near Mt. Shasta…
(above) Like something from "Close Encounters"…
(above) I was driving and taking pictures at the same time…
My eyes felt chameleon like at times…
(above) Nor Cal with a lot of miles still in front of the bumper…
(above) Only the base of Mt. Shasta was showing through the clouds…
(above) The land of volcanic cones…
(above) Nearing a summit on one of the passes, with trucks taking a breather before a brake testing descent…
(above) Into the great Central Valley of California…
(above) I love rest stops…
One of the few visible tax dollars at work benefits I seem to use…
In Cal about every other stop is closed…
Witness a State on the verge of going broke…
(above) Saw more than a few miles of this…
(above) These areas used to bore me until I went to France…
The Normandy region has such similar topography that my appreciation for the Central valley has changed forever, in a positive way…
(above) Hydro power from the mountains on the way to the Bay Area…
(above) Nearing the end of the big drive to my brother’s house…
How many lanes in just one direction…??..
(above) My big bro… Marc…
02 – Going Back
Sorry for taking so long to post this, but the days have been long and free time to compose these things has been scarce and once I got to where the workshop was, I parked and didn’t move ‘til it was over…
Alright, here’s where the story resumes…I had a really nice day and a half visit with my brother whom I haven’t seen in many years…Couch time watching Pebble Beach golf, World Cup kick ball and an occasional inning or two of Giants baseball was how we shared our time together and I really enjoyed the visit…My life has been running at 99.75% speed for too many weeks…
Instead of driving directly from the Alamo Valley to Half Moon Bay I decided to re-visit where I grew up…Hayward California…
(above) Classic East Bay grease…Back in the day I rode the Stingray several miles to get here and back…This burger place next to the Hayward Plunge is where I ate many, many burgers after many, many days swimming as a pre-teen…Life was so simple back then…
(above) Hayward and the East Bay has fallen on harder times…Lots of vacant buildings and decades of neglect show…
(above) My old school…
(above) Mt. Eden High…Somehow I remember it being nicer than this…
(above) 20461 Coronado Street…Our old house…I felt emotions rising just sitting there looking at it…
(above) From the old house, San Francisco Bay is only a few minutes away and soon I was on the bridge crossing towards Half Moon Bay…
(above) Half Moon Bay…A working fishing port…
(above) As I was just entering HMB I got a call from one of the guys setting things up in HMB, telling me that the warehouse that was to be the venue for the workshop was not available and the next best choice is this slab close by…Looking at it, I could see it fully exposed to the sun, but if the covered canopies that were available got put up I could see the workshop moving forward without a lot of problems…This turned out to be, oh, so wrong…
(above) The slab was a storage yard for a few different fishermen…Crab pots stacked deep and high…
(above) Content (for the time being) that the slab would be fine for the class, I moved down to the State Park campground…
(above) Yards from my campsite, this sandbar was providing some rides…
(above) Not too bad…
(above) A sunny afternoon, a bit of wind on it, but it looked fun…
(above) There were two guys out getting everything that was rideable and I thought a dawn patrol the next day would be my time to get wet…
(above) Ah, yeah, life is good…
The next day…
(above) Overnight the fog moved in and the accompanying wind put some real funk on the surf…So I went to the slab to do some set up…Unload the trailer and cut a few things…
Some guys came by with canopies and started to set up some cover…
(above) Midway through the set-up…
03 – The Half Moon Bay Workshop
Day 1
(above) Eleven guys were here to build boards…I doled out the materials and gave the basics of what to do and set them free…
(above) After the deck skins were taped together a minute or two of belt sanding evened things out…You can see that the sun is not shining…what the pictures don’t show is the misty fog that was coming and going…A horrible combination for thin wood exposed to those conditions…I was really hoping for the fog to just go away…
(above) After the decks were fiberglassed the guys moved onto assembling the frames…Ivan building this 9’6” came from Spain to be part of this workshop…
(above) Things were moving along well…The dampness of the fog was not being eliminated by the canopies…Look how the guys are dressed…Long pants and sweatshirts…
(above) Mid afternoon things were looking great…
(above) By the end of Day 1 all the frames were together and the deck skins were done…
Day 2
(above) Day two started with laying up and glassing the bottom skins…The clothing tells you all you need to know about the fog and moisture content…What you can’t see is the fog wind that had everyone cursing the cold…
(above) The frames had some final touches done on them…Progress was good, but I was still nervous about all the damp…
(above) Bottom skins laid out to cure…
(above) The guys were stoked how their boards were coming along…
(above) In a couple of days this will be ready to glass…
(above) I’d say he’s stoked…
Day 3
(above) Overnight, a Category 3 fogicane came though…The locals called it fog, but where I’m from we call it rain…I do know rain…The canopies leaked and even if they didn’t the wind would have still soaked everything…Standing water added to the problem…I was freaking pissed…Beyond pissed…Furious…When I was working out the details of holding the class here, I was assured that we would have warehouse space…With several warehouses as a fall back plan…As you can see, those options were not our reality…One of the organizers said a covered space over the hill was available, but the logistics of packing up and relocating were not a viable option…We would wait it out…Around 11 AM we swept away enough water to be safe and got back to work…Through the day, fog showers would come and go…Water would drip through holes in the covers and things got wet…Again, building fine wood surfboards in these conditions is nothing I would ever agree to, but this was my reality…
Today we attached the deck skins to the frames in what felt like a M.A.S.H. triage like conditions…No room to move under the canopies…Eleven guys working in a space that was tight for ten…The frames with all the dampness were like wet noodles…I envisioned disastrous results on every board…I used every trick I knew to get salvageable boards for these guys…Overall, one of the worst days of my life…
Day 4
(above) Morning fog came and went and the boards somehow, miraculously, were looking ok…A few hours of fine tuning the rail warps led to the lamination of the cork and plywood for the rails…
(above) Mid afternoon and things were getting warmer and the boards were about where I hoped they would be schedule wise…
Day 5
(above) The day dawned clear…Chris, one of the guys, is a featured surfer in an upcoming documentary about the surfing experience from a Black American point of view… One of the film creators stopped by and got to see what Chris was up to…
(above) Everyone was out from under cover and working in the sun…I still had apprehensions about exposing the wood to the elements… Something I NEVER do in any of the times I build my own boards or when I lead workshops…
(above) Short sleeve weather returned…
(above) The first board finished…A 5’7” mini-Simmons…
(above) Brian stands proud with is new 9’9” noserider…This design was created by Jeremy from last year’s class in France…nice board…
(above) I stepped in to help on a few rails…
(above) Experience does help in getting the rails even…
(above) Gary ready to go home and glass his 9’0”…
(above) Gary’s son Dan also built a 9’0”…
(above) Drew with is 7’5” pintail designed for O.B.S.F….The pink tape is a temporary hold until some glue sets up…
(above) Peter with his 9’0”…
(above) Chris built a 9’9”…Like all of these guys he had never built any kind of surfboard before…
(above) Jim with his 7’5” destined to slide some surf in Oregon…
(above) Justin was the slow poke, but making sure that his board was exactly as he wanted it…Here he fine tuned a rail…
(above) Ivan next to his 9’9” soon to be on its way back to Spain…
I really do not know how these boards all turned out so nice…I would say that all the boards turned out as good as if I had built them…On Day 3, I could have said that everyone would be entitled to a refund because things were going that bad…
The next day…
(above) Pam flew in from Seattle and we hung out at the campground…
(above) After a week of insane intensity, to sit down for a “home cooked” meal felt like a dinner at a five golden fork restaurant…
(above) Mmmmmmm…
(above) Another foggy Half Moon Bay afternoon…
04 – Santa Cruz
From Half Moon Bay we got on Hwy 1 south and headed towards Santa Cruz…
(above) Just outside of HMB…Agriculture ranging from flowers to pumpkins…
(above) The striped asphalt ribbon…Trees on the sides sometimes…
(above) More commonly looking like this…
(above) Designated driver…
(above) Looking inland, rolling hills without a lot of development…
(above) There are a lot of miles with ocean views like this…
(above) State Park beaches…Pretty empty on a weekday…
(above) Pigeon Point lighthouse stands above a field of artichokes…
(above) The coastal morning fog had thinned to be a sunny day…
(above) Every dozen miles you’ll see a homestead on the inland side of the highway…
(above) Santa Cruz county line…Waddell Creek…Good surf, better sailboarding, kina sharky…
(above) Average conditions for a late morning…
(above) We pulled over for a few minutes and reminisced about things we had done here decades ago…
(above) Back in the valley the temperatures are sure to be a lot hotter than down here on the coast…
(above) On down the road, another reef has a few guys getting some short rides…
(above) Get it direct from the grower…
(above) Hwy 1 turns into Mission Street in Santa Cruz…What used to be a small local grocery store has now gone corporate…Welcome to Santa Cruz…
(above) We drove though town and made our way to where Pam and I met…I lived in this house for about five years and Pam lived in cottage behind the house…
(above) One of those buildings with an intact roof is where Pam lived…In the decades since we lived here a lot has changed and a lot hasn’t…
(above) Upstairs Cayuga Street, where we lived together before and after we married…A ten minute walk to the beach…We parked the van and trailer, got the folding bikes out and went for a ride…
(above) No doubt about it, we are in Santa Cruz…
(above) You gotta be totally legal and sober to drive something like this…
(above) Just a two square foot detail of the “artistry”…
(above) Why paint when you can sticker…???...Yeah, we’re in Santa cruz…
(above) Must nice to have this kind of time…
(above) We rolled around a while, visited an old friend then went to the New Brighton State Beach campground for the night…
(above) Pam was definitely stoked to be away from the Washington State weather and into the sun…
The Next Day
(above) We got on the bikes and went for a day long ride…Capitola Pier…
(above) Who encourages these people…???...
(above) Up the road a few miles from Capitola…
(above) P.P… Glassy, kelpy and….
(above) …slow….
(above) Looks good, but pretty slow…
(above) This was the beach that we used to walk to every sunny weekend…Countless bags of chips and San Miguel Darks were consumed here…We were the typical beach lizards…
(above) Riding on…Art on a tree…
(above) The trestle over the San Lorenzo River to the Boardwalk…
(above) I have been…
(above) First turn, Giant Dipper…Fastest in the fog…I know…
(above) A tourist train now runs up to the redwoods…
(above) Same as it ever was…
(above) Out on the Wharf, the daily conditions are posted…
(above) A sun dock for the seals to bask, and a built in photo platform for the tourists…
(above) The only thing missing was the Kodak sign…
(above) That had to hurt..
(above) That more so…
(above) The world famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk…
(above) The beach where the Valley goes…
(above) Junior Lifeguards…
(above) Summertime at Cowells…The ultimate beginners spot…
(above) Barely breaking today…
(above) The iconic Lighthouse Point lighthouse…
(above) We rode out and around and stopped into the Haut Surfboards shop…
(above) Stopped and got some Mariannes Ice Cream and saw this sign…Dang, we can’t be there…
(above) We rolled into downtown and stopped into The Catalyst…Venue some of the greatest concerts I ever saw…Much has changed here and I was sorely disappointed in the way it is now…it used to be the gathering point for so many sections of adult society in Santa Cruz…Now it is just a bandstand and space for an audience…
(above) uh huh…
(above) Out on Pacific Garden Mall…Our steeds…mid 70’s vintage Raleigh Folders…
(above) Riding back to the campsite, we saw these dolphins doing dolphin things…
(above) After a long day riding around, we were back at our camping spot and ready to just chill baby, chill…
05 – Monterey
Starting at New Brighton State Park, we headed to Monterey.All captions today by Pam
(above) But first, some coffee, pancakes, strawberries and real maple syrup.
(above) More of that Santa Cruz County artistic expression.
(above) The dirty windshield needs cleaning.
(above) Paul says it’s “Sharky”.
(above) Timeless doesn’t change.
(above) Land at rest and at work.
(above) Man busy orchestrating.
(above) Mmmmm, we like artichokes.
(above) Ever wonder how much energy one artichoke takes?
(above) Life around an irrigation pond.
(above) Twenty years ago we rode bicycle 10 mile time trials along this road.
(above) Salinas River meets Monterey Bay.
(above) People working hard to have a better life.
(above) Saw this for years and still don’t know what it is.
(above) These seafood wheelbarrows have moved a lot of fish.
(above) Quiet waters shelter this old girl.
(above) Still some soul to be found on the working wharf.
(above) No glitz here.
(above) Sunshine and seals catch Pam’s attention.
(above) More boats than we remembered.
(above) Monterey preserves it’s early history.
(above) Monterey Customs House, circa early 1800’s.
(above) Guess that means Paul Jensen!
(above) Boat crossing lights?
(above) Relax, it’s only water, she’s driving, errr, riding.
(above) Pam’s here; salad replaces burgers.
The next day
(above) The Townhouses at Yerba Buena Court. Paul built them. One was our home for almost 5 years.
(above) The first kitty we had together stayed in Monterey.
(above) On Earth Day 1990 we planted these trees.
(above) This gable trim takes time and a nearly lost skill.
(above) 1880’s Pacific Grove cottage. Built by the daughter of a Donner Pass survivor.
(above) Can you say colorful? How about cute?
(above) As classic as a bride in white.
(above) Our faithful steeds. The best things we brought along.
(above) Cannery Row coffee break.
(above) Typical rocky Monterey Bay Coast.
(above) Lover’s Point clear water.
(above) Love at first sight at Lover’s Point.
(above) It’s all in the details. What’s inside?
(above) Blues over pink.
(above) Rocky Mountain High found a Monterey Bay Low…JD crashed here.
(above) Rest his soul out there, somewhere.
(above) Point Pinos lighthouse, and the affordable municipal golf course.
(above) Carmel by the Sea has not changed. No surprise there.
(above) Paul, by himself, spent close to a year remodeling this Carmel cottage.
(above) Late afternoon along the Carmel beach.
(above) We had forgotten how white the sand is.
(above) Sometimes it’s not about the fish.
(above) How appropriate.
(above) Just a chimney.
(above) After a long day riding around, we were back at our camping spot with our Safeway $5.99 a pound dinner. Can you say yummy? Paul can. And after the hot tub, ready to just chill baby, chill…
06 – Big Sur
(above) This is how these Trip Reports are put together…
(above) Another day, same road…CA Hwy 1 south…
(above) 1930 or 2010…???...
(above) Roadside erosion…
(above) Several typical summer patterns…Land, sea, sky…
(above) Without dispute, the most photographed thing on the Big Sur coast…
(above) No footprints on this beach…
(above) Point Sur…
(above) An OK summer swell, onshore winds and erratic sandbars…
(above) Only the hardy survive…
(above) 1965 or 2010…???...
(above) The typical coast side weather pattern, foggy directly on the coast clearing at the first hill…Guaranteed hot inland…
(above) Riverside campground…Our hangout for a couple of days…
(above) Big Sur River..
(above) The road across the river to the camp…
(above) Kids doing the timeless things kids do..
(above) Over the falls
(above) Home sweet home…
The next day…
Independence Day 2010
(above) Groundhog Day on the 4th of July…
(above) Beats Pop-Tarts…
(above) A Back To The Future morning……
(above) After a leisurely morning we headed to the beach…
(above) Across a river to….
(above) …the beach…
(above) Surf checking…
(above) Maybe on another coastline…
(above) So we did some beach walking…
(above) And took a few pictures…
(above) The board bag came off to do duty as a beach blanket…
(above) Nice day for a lot of things, surfing not being one of them…So we laid out and enjoyed a quiet beach…
(above) After a few hours of strolling and slumber we crossed over the river on our way back to the road…
(above) Walking along the side road, classic Central Cal scenery…
(above) I bet you think all those green patches are dope…Nope, turns out they’re just wildflowers…
(above) Yeah, it’s as warm as it looks…
(above) Back to civilization along Hwy 1, a power pole with some metal changing colors…
(above) More metal changing colors…Long may you run…
(above) How many artichokes has this Trusty Rusty brought to market…???...
(above) No fireworks permitted here, so these will suffice…
The next day
(above) Rollout time at the Riverside…
(above) One final obstacle before we hit the highway…The hanging footbridge over the river…Coming in, I had a 4 ½” thick board on and positioned the van to clear everything…
(above) This time through the racks made contact with one of the overly long bolts and set the bridge in motion, small motion, yet one overly hyper campers just started freaking out…Yelling and screaming like his pants were on fire…After I rolled through and making rear rack contact, he ran over and hyperventilated that I should’ve stopped and backed up (I would’ve been hitting the bolt again on the back-up there Einstein) …In the end Mr. Freakout went back to his riverfront beach chair shaking his head and we kept the progression south…Sheesh, I though Californians were mellow…
(above) Big Sur morning fog…
(above) As always, some kind of highway repairs are going on…
(above) Rocks falling from the ocean side…???...
(above) So much of the coastline is just like this…Rocky with cove beaches…
(above) Plenty of wildflowers still bursting out….
(above) One of the beaches known for surf…
(above) Also known for squirrels who dance for scraps…
(above) A south swell was hitting…
(above) No one out…???...Sure, too easy to get caught inside…This shifty peak would be good every ten minutes or so for one, maybe two waves…The rest of the time it was rolled over with whitewater…This place has power and deserves respect…Get one and you’re almost guaranteed to get beaten by a dozen…Not the formula for fun…
(above) The Big Sur spectacular coastline eases into flatter grassland on the south end…
(above) Next stop, San Simeon…
07 – San Simeon
After we left Big Sur, the territory becomes what used to be W.R. Hearst country…San Simeon…
(above) Along the beach we found these critters…
(above) “Dude, put the camera away, I wanna just take a siesta”…
(above) While in the water, scars to be coming soon…
(above) Settling a score about who got the biggest fish…
We made our way to our camping area, got set up, then went to the Hearst Castle…We had time set aside for an outdoor stroll around the grounds…
(above) I won’t go into the history, but will say, it has some…
(above) OK, some background info: Way up on a grassy hill/mountain…Five miles or so from the shoreline…Mucho effort to get stuff up here…Lesson over…
(above) Teak hand carved…Hundreds of feet of it…
(above) Nice to walk around without a ton of tourists (like me) carrying cameras (like me) and looking to get that one postcard shot (like me)…I like it like that…
(above) The place really is cool…The fog makes it that way…
(above) A pool of dreams…
(above) White and black marble…That ain’t no cement pond…
(above) The details make it so cool…Water gently cascades over to the pool below…
(above) Dozens of these hand carved stone light poles are all around…
(above) Back door to one of the guest houses…The tiles are beyond old…
(above) The gardens are alright, not great…I expected magnificent…
(above) Still there is plenty of color…
(above) Macro vision…
(above) One of two similar statues balance architecturally in front of another guest house…
(above) Crazy eyes…
(above) There are literally and figuratively tons of white marble sculpture around the grounds…99% of them are of nubile women…
(above) Looks like some hippy couple…I think they were selling tie die up in Big Sur last week…
(above) Pam was getting into the photog zone…
(above) Backside of the main building…Classic lines…
(above) An unfinished wall…Poured concrete awaiting a surface finish, be it stone or plaster or brick…
(above) Wires that held the wood boards that were the concrete forms…About 80 years since in use…
(above) Money buys dreams…
(above) The insides surpass the exteriors, they say…
(above) Back around the pool…What time does the party start…???...
(above) Modern sculpture in a niche by the pool…
(above) Tennis court above the indoor pool…Imagine who played here…American royalty and those they consider their peers…
(above) Contemporary low emission transpo…
(above) Yeah, it’s still growing…
(above) Art reflects real life…Bring out the sun…
(above) What can be said…???...
(above) Bring me a block of marble and a chisel, I found the perfect model…
(above) Your tour hosts thank you for joining us…
The next day
(above) San Simon State Park…
(above) Pam has the perfect pancakes dialed in…Me, I’m one happy camper…
(above) One of our neighbors thinks she’s a princess…The tent proves it…
(above) We had no plans for the day, so we cruised locally at a relaxed pace…The old store/post office at the Hearst wharf…
(above) Green neon confirmation that this is indeed is the P.O….
(above) Someone forgot to deliver these…
(above) What goes better with a Post Office than a winery…???...A becoming trend, I’m sure…
(above) Pam, after how many glasses…???...
(above) Cliché photo ops, I love ‘em…
(above) Beer cap closed sign, I like it…
(above) Pam tells me these are not edible…Whatever…
(above) Twin bells and a classic Old California archway…
(above) I’m thinking an old schoolhouse…
(above) 1921 or 2010…???...
(above) Plenty of days in the sun between the two…
(above) Wharf pilings…
(above) The never ending circle of kelp…Rare anywhere in the world but here…
(above) We went for a drive up (and I mean up) a dead end canyon road just to see what’s there…
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Wild turkey, check…
(above) I indulge myself in unique bark photos…Today’s edition…
(above) Deadwood and barbwire…
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Turtle on the road, check…
(above) Why get out of the car to just get a picture…???...
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Peacocks, check…
(above) Up the hill things were nice and warm and sunny…
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Double headed cattle, check…
(above) Me, not feeling the stress of the HMB class anymore…
(above) The native vegetation was wild…
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Bull # 6347, check…
(above) Seven miles up (and I do mean up) the single lane, first gear only, dirt road, we found a gate saying “go no more” and this classic barn…
(above) Heading down…
(above) Late afternoon, Hearst country…
(above) California still is timeless in a lot of places…
(above) Wildlife Checklist: Guinness fueled white woman, check…
08 – South Central Coast
(above) From Hearst Country we pointed the star of the Benz Bed & Breakfast south and rolled into a new day…
(above) The morning sky pattern is repeated…
(above) We passed miles of beaches similar to what was shown before, then headed into another State Park…Eucalyptus trees abound…
(above) In addition to the euc’s are nearly impenetrable rolling hills comprise of all kinds of scrub brush, poison oak and ticks…And those are the good things…
(above) A high point on the road gives a great overview of the Morro Bay lowlands and beaches...
(above) Zoomed into “The Rock”…
(above) Mid-day we dropped the rolling box, had lunch and set forth to see some of San Luis Obispo…
(above) Roadside marigold farm…
(above) Pretty intense color in person…
(above) Up a side road, more color over the dirt…
(above) Strong contrasts…
(above) We love taking the roads less traveled…It’s easier to just stop in the middle of the road and take a few pictures…
(above) Plenty of subtle color contrast built into the hills…Not bad for July…
(above) Rolling grassy hills punctuated with gnarly rocks…
(above) Look, up in the sky…
(above) One good windstorm away from being a pile…
(above) Central Cal as it’s always been…
(above) Bye bye blimp…
(above) Old home across the street from the SLO Mission… …
(above) Grapes growing overhead on the way into the Mission…
(above) Mission garden…
(above) A wall that has seen a lot of sun over the centuries…
(above) The middle one weighs close to 500 pounds…
(above) Comfort level = -3…
(above) Comfort level = +8…
(above) Pre 1900 tandem steered from the rear…That makes sense…???...
(above) Dog riding on the floor…Kayak riding on faith…
(above) Back at the Park…Dinner time…
(above) On the grill, herbed up summer squash and equally herbed up cibatta bread…
(above) Off the stove, spinner noodles, bottled sauce, local spicy pork sausage, bag cheese and some Central Cal cab-sav…
(above) …and fresh salad… Bon appetite’…
The next day
(above) Just like home systematic personal hygiene should be priority #1…
(above) We hopped on the bikes and roamed the camp and came across this exibit…
(above) Witness the mental stance of the owner…
(above) Style really is in the details…
(above) 1956, second owner…Garaged forever…In daily use currently…
(above) Owner details: Ray is a recently retired jet mechanic…Never married, no kids, two girlfriends…He’s solo on this journey…
(above) The rest of Ray’s story is on permanent display…
(above) Seems so…
(above) Oh yeah, something some of you can relate to…
After putting the State Park in the rear view mirror, we stayed local and visited a friend then went for a walk….
(above) Lo and behold, another classic trailer…Seems to be a trend…International readers take note…
(above) That is one twisted tree…
(above) The wires hold on and don’t let go…
(above) After lunch and some chit chat with my friend, we were heading south again…
(above) Still Ag-land-o-plenty around here…
(above) And thousands of acres of this…And they say California is crowded…
(above) About to formally cross into SoCal…
(above) Next stop…
(above) Been by here a few times…
We found our campsite, set-up a few things then took a much too-long-since-it-happened nap IN THE SUN…Oh yeah…After nappy we unfolded the bikes and went for a short ride…
(above) Still in the campground…The cool trailer thing continues…This specimen, home built on long nights…Good work but not great…Did I mention I feel like building one…???...
(above) Weak fenders…Points given for using purpleheart…Points deducted for less than creative veneer choice…Overall I rate it “Hmmmm…?”
(above) We rolled out the public pier and ‘they were on’…
(above) Mackerel we rolling over the railing like it was Deadliest Catch…This pull-up had four or five on line…
(above) And everyone was just rolling ‘em in…
(above) Some guys were working multiple rods…
(above) A half hour of dip time..
(above) Not good…Is it time for me to do the fully clothed pier to ocean swan dive and do the rescue…???...Again..
(above) A rumbling behind distracted me from jumping in and saving the sinker…The “You and Me” subsidized coastal passenger train rails on by…
(above) Oh Sh.t…Another one…!!!...Too much trouble…I hear a cold beer calling me…
(above) The coastline is soft slab rock…
(above) In places around here the eons have these rock slabs aligned just right for some better than average surf…Give this set of rocks a few thousand years and it might be world class…
(above) Mix with sea water and let age a long, long time, then harvest perfect surf…
(above) Over a hundred years old…
(above) Good designs work...
(above) Speaking of…These heavy steel frame, chrome fendered, wide tired puppies are a hoot AND a holler…
(above) I know, it looks like a clown bike…What else would be more fitting for me…???...
(above) We had a just-like-ten-year-old’s bike ride in the warm ocean breeze on a road with no cars…
(above) Back at camp, setting up for gourmet…
(above) As promised…
(above) Beef, it’s what’s for dinner…
09 – Santa Barbara
The morning found us moving at vacation pace, going through the requisite motions of life on the road…
(above) One step into grass at our campsite…Rattlesnake…
(above) We rolled out continuing south and witnessed one of the facts of life of in 2010…
(above) Typical passenger side view on this stretch of coastline…
(above) Into Santa Barbara, we followed the signs to The Mission…
(above) As impressive of all the missions I’ve seen…
(above) I can’t get the lyrics of ‘Hotel California’ out of my head the whole time I’m here…
(above) Welcome to the Mission Santa Barbara……
(above) Such a lovely place…
(above) Plenty of room at the Mission Santa Barbara…
(above) Any time of year, you can find it here…
(above) We are all just prisoners here…
(above) You can check out any time you like but you can never leave…
(above) Word…
(above) The chalkboards extend to the pavement…
(above) Fresh chalk over asphalt…is Pam missing her kitties…?...
(above) There are classics….
(above) …and then there are classics…
(above) Coincidental hair similarities with Jimi.. And another timeless classic…Such a lovely face…
(above) And a warm wind was blowing…
(above) Time slows down at places like this…
(above) We strolled over to the rose garden…
(above) Pam shooting rose photo #438…
(above) #529…
(above) Made in the shade…
(above) Barrel tile shadows…
(above) Walking the neighborhood…
(above) Beyond your wildest dreams of what nice is…
(above) Big & old…
(above) Bigger & better…
(above) On the street a nice custom Sprinter…
(above) I like ours, but this one might have some hidden advantages inside…
We left the Mission neighborhood and found our way to the beach…
(above) What do we have here…???...Another custom…???...
(above) Beyond insane…
(above) Back to reality…
(above) Lunch break view…
(above) North side of the trees…
(above) We got on the bikes in search of hand dipped ice cream…Did I mention we are on vacation…???...On the way we came across this stone sculpting studio…Old Santa Barbara all the way…
(above) Wall art…
(above) Back ally view…The side I prefer…No false façade, reality of the past and present…
(above) Out on a pier, the wind was up, but not cold…
(above) $14.00…
(above) Back on the road south…One of several oil well islands…
(above) There was a pretty rich Red Tide going on…Seals and birds were acting freaky a park ranger told us yesterday…
(above) Shoreline agriculture soil fumigation…
(above) Heading inland a bit and the temperature is rising…
(above) Guess where…???...
(above) Not typical, but in a way it is…
(above) Late afternoon, 55mph wind from the front…
(above) Looks like a Los Angeles July sunset…
(above) Adios amigo…
Our plans of where to stay the night fell through, so we rolled to back-up plan # 3… State Highway Rest Stop…
(above) Good morning everyone…Pam is out early and says there are 21 women in line for the washroom…Says the rest stop in-bound and out-bound traffic extends back to the freeway…
(above) Whatever…
10 – San Onofre
After overnighting at the rest stop, we were back on the road…
(above) Still a lot of ag happening…Tomatoes with a forest of poles lending support…
(above) Saturday morning at 15 mph……
(above) Off the highway into Oceanside…
(above) Let me guess what the décor is…???...
(above) California…Surfers & rebels…Same as it’s ever been…
(above) If it’s worth something, they will pay you…
(above) We made our way to the San Onofre State Park…Beach time…
(above) Cowabunga…
(above) What it is…
(above) I’m out there…
(above) First wave on the 10’5”…
(above) Stoked…
(above) Getting ready for the inside tube section...Uh huh…
(above) Heading back for more…
(above) Double arm paddle in’s…
(above) Hey, it’s a wave…
(above) Kick stall…
(above) Waiting for it to steepen a bit…
(above) Meanwhile down the beach…
(above) Knee paddle into one…
(above) Inside it gets a bit bowly…
(above) Then dies, but the board still glides on…
(above) Enough for today…
(above) The handle really helps…
(above) What, the surf demo is over…???...
(above) Pam now un-handcuffed from the camera celebrates freedom…
(above) Back up at the campsite…Yeah, the way it is…Miles of ‘the way it is’…
(above) We unfolded the bikes and got out onto the bike path…Empty like this for miles…
(above) Back after our ride…Dinner time…
(above) Beach cuisine at it’s finest…
11 – San Diego
From the San O’ park we were as you might guess on our way….…
(above) It’s 33 years since Pam’s been this far south…Things couldn’t have changed that much…
(above) Considering the 7+ offshore oil rigs and this nuclear plant, at least two thoughts: how dependent we are and how vulnerable as well…???...Just thinking out loud…
(above) Vulnerable…???... Ever heard of earthquakes…???...In California…?...
(above) Nice view from condo # 2,865 of I-5…. Was that a big truck rumbling by or just another earthquake…?...
(above) Such a super wide highway splitting into two bigger than average wide highways…
(above) Few cars at noon; one could almost land an airplane…Or a squadron…
(above) The fastest growing religion planet-wide, the LDS are remodeling and adding on to this only 10 year old structure...No further comment…
(above) We finally arrived at our host family’s quiet home 4 blocks from beach…
(above) Ah yes, a day at the beach uber California style…
(above) 63 “surfers” in the water…This was a set…
(above) Some kind of fun…???...
(above) Even with light fog and a breeze, still oh so pleasantly warm…
(above) As classic of a beach scene as it gets…
(above) This adobe seems out of place overlooking the Pacific Ocean…
(above) Exhibit # 372 of “You know you are in Caleeforneeeah when”…
(above) Along the bike path a one in a million+ random encounter with Lee, who Paul met through Swaylocks…
(above) This wharf was lined on both sides, beginning to end, with these tidy-whitey, trimmed in blue, cottages rented out…
(above) Another view north from Tidy-Whitey Wharf…More Sunday afternoon SD Style…
(above) Sorry man, I spent all my quarters on campground showers…
(above) Everyday, we are thoroughly entertained by our host’s two adorable sons…
(above) We shot more pictures but discovered the memory card had a crack in it and those pictures were lost…Anyway, here’s a sunset we watched over our dinner at our digs for the week…
12 – The San Diego Class
The main reason we are in San Diego is to teach a Hollow Surfboard Workshop…
(above) But first, a pre-workshop surf is in order…little was I aware of the dangers…!!!...
More Than 60 La Jolla Beachgoers Stung By Stingrays
POSTED: 4:20 pm July 14, 2010
SAN DIEGO -- Stingrays injured dozens of beachgoers in the surf along La Jolla Shores and the Torrey Pines area Wednesday, sending three of them to hospitals, authorities reported.At least 35 of the painful stings were reported through the day, with a rash of them coming in the mid-afternoon. Medics transported three patients -- who reported having trouble breathing after getting stabbed by rays' barbed tails -- to emergency rooms. The number of strikes was unusual, though not unprecedented.
Beachgoers were stung by stingrays similar to the California round ray, which can easily disguise themselves under the sand. They are only about four inches in diameter, but as many found on Wednesday, their barb packs a punch.
To avoid getting stung by a ray, swimmers and surfers are advised to shuffle their feet through the sand while walking in the surf instead of taking normal up-and-down steps, particularly if there have been recent reports of the flat-bodied, long-tailed venomous fish in the area.
A stingray's barb is sharp and has a serrated surface similar to a serrated dagger, very fine, jagged cut and covered in nasty toxin. Ninety percent of victims are stung in the leg or foot, and there have been very few instances in which humans were killed by stingrays. The most notable was the death of Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin, who died when he was stung in the chest.
(above) Onto the shop…For us, a one-week rental space…Near the Chargers stadium, across the street from a Home Depot, next door to auto repair and welding shops…Concrete block walls, un-insulated roof, big roll up door…
(above) Yeah, that way…
(above) Per usual, the decks are laid out, and Tom puts together a masterpiece…
(above) Paul gets his taped together…
(above) I custom cut the wood strips to fulfill Asley’s fantasy of the perfect board….
(above) Brad H is onto the next step of glassing the wood panels…
(above) Brad and Tom both point out the bookmatched grain of Brad’s basswood…
(above) Getting ready for some epoxy…
(above) The color of the woods really pop when they get wet-out…
(above) Everyone whistling happy work songs…
(above) Mike puts a little bit more resin, right…..there….
(above) The way it’s supposed to look…
(above) Next is assembling the frames…
(above) Then some hot glue to hold things together…
(above) A bit of belt sanding to even things out…
(above) Ikaika thinks that maybe he did a bit too much sanding on this edge…No worries, I got a fix for that…
(above) Near the end of the day Brad shows the stress of the workshop and has aged significantly…
(above) Asley came in this morning with coal black hair, now he looks like an old man…
(above) The next day was all about putting skins to frames…
(above) Just a bit more pressure right….here…
(above) Day four, the rails are put on…
(above) Pretty much an all day repetition…Brad S at the table on the left cuts some cork strips for the rail of his retro-rocket…
(above) The final day, some fine tuning of noses and tails…
(above) Then the shaping of rails…
(above) Cousins…
(above) Siblings…
(above) Well after the sun went down and all the dust had settled, it was time to call the party over…Hopefully to be continued again, but for now everyone heads off to a well deserved rest…
This class was tons of fun…New friendships were formed and the camaraderie was sincere…I had a great time and will always remember these guys and the time we shared…I think they feel the same…
13 – After The Class Is Over
(above) The day after the class was over, we went back to clean out the warehouse space…Ordinary and usual…But, next door to our space is a metal artist who we visited…This wipe board message is so true…
(above) Rust free custom made hammers…
(above) Each one is just a bit different…
(above) around the corner from our workspace is a car customiser… I’m thinking of doing the Benz doors like this…Pimp my ride out, bro..
(above) And next to the car place is a motor-sycle shop where custom is king…
(above) Time for a surf check…Big Rock…As tight of a take off zone as it gets…You will not paddle out and be welcomed with open arms…
(above) Set wave…
(above) The inside section…Inches deep over the rock shelf…
(above) To the north, Windansea had three guys on every wave slaloming through the gates……
(above) LJ Cove…This guy found a place just for hisself…
(above) Definition of a peak…It folded over and it was over…No wall…Looks nice though…
(above) We went to Coronado Island via this bridge…It’s said that if the bride collapsed, that the road sections float…Then what…???...
(above) Back on the folders for a few hours…
(above) They got golf on Coronado...Kind of expected that…
(above) Lots of REALLY NICE houses…
(above) …and some housing was not as aesthetically pleasing…
(above) Then there is the Hotel Del…Over 100 years old…Big and wood…Everyone says it’s a “must see”…
(above) Maybe you’ve seen it…
(above) Hallway rest stop…
(above) Iconic San Diego landmark…
(above) Back on the bikes…This mansion (yeah, I’m callin’ it that) was gargantuan…
(above) A courtyard of another real mansion (way bigger than a really, really big house)…
(above) Tip the gardener…
(above) This is more my style…Uproot it and drop it off at a waterfront lot in Washington State and give me the keys…Is that asking too much…???...
(above) Looking over to San Diego from Coronado…
(above) San Diego Bay beach life…
(above) We got back in the bus and drove around on auto pilot…No plan, just lookin’…
(above) This caught my attention…A 20 something guy with a mullet was behind the wheel…Note: restoration starts with rubber and rims…Rust and paint to follow after the sale of the comic book collection…
We went back to the Hayward’s and got ready to pull up the tent stakes and head north the next day…
14 – The Drive Back
After the Workshop and a bit of touristy San Diego time, the logical way home was north…
(above) See ya later Torrey Pines…
(above) We did a stop and go tour of the North County beach towns, then got on I-5 to get through LA as quick as possible…
(above) …but you just don’t get through LA that easy…Two hours of 4 MPH crawling finally got us out of the basin and on our way to wider spaces…
(above) By the time we hit the grade, the temp was rising…Air conditioner now off, we rolled down the windows and relived the way we used to road trip as kids, hands out the windows doing the air snake at 55MPH…
(above) Now over the pass and into the Great Central Valley…Hot…
(above) Some things seem to never change…1961 or 2010…???...
(above) Valley ag…Grapes…
(above) Hydro power from the north keeps the lights in LA on…
(above) Really varied crop colors…
(above) 10’ corn…
(above) We were just flying along, then a highway closure forced the flow to grind to a stop…
(above) Detour time…
(above) Moon out and 98 degrees…
(above) Five miles on this county road, turn left…
(above) …and five miles this way…After another couple of turns we were back on the 5 and looking for a place to spend the night after a long hot day on the seats…
(above) Sunset for us was at a rest stop along I-5…A hot evening led to a very warm night…Just the way it is around here this time of year…
The Next Day
(above) We hit the highway early with hopes to escape the valley well before the day really heated up…And we did…
(above) Climbing up Altamont Pass…
(above) Serious mega-wattage being generated…
(above) Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …
(above) Heading into the Bay Area we drove by where I lived from age 6 through 13…Barely visible on the left side is our old apartment… Those crosses, before they were stood up, were my football goal posts as a kid…
(above) Heading into The City over the Bay Bridge…
(above) Typical San Francisco summer day…Fog and sun…
(above) We chose to drive through The City to get to the GG Bridge…
(above) Near the bridge we stopped for lunch as these Segway riders use too much technology to do what we will soon do on bicycles…
(above) Our view during lunch…
(above) We rolled over to the Palace Of Fine Arts…Nice place, eh…???..
(above) I remember these as a kid…Nice to see they are still around…
(above) Count the pilings…Multiply by the pier being 100’ wide…Factor in a half dozen piers along this stretch…What is your answer…???...
(above) Steel…What is it…???...I know…
(above) Pam and I once did the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon…After the swim we had to run about a mile, going around this “thing” to get to our bikes…
(above) If you wear a helmet while fishing, it goes beyond just being fun…
(above) Nicely cantilevered steps…
(above) How’s your Roman Numerals these days…
(above) Front lit, full color…
(above) Back lit, B&W…
(above) Set the mood for nostalgia…
(above) Pirate Checklist…Hook, check…Peg-leg, check, Sword, check…Clothes like Prince or Michael Jackson, check…
(above) Northbound over the Golden Gate…
(above) A last look at The Bridge…
(above) We drove into Marin, rolled up Mont Tam and found a quiet park to rest for the night…While setting the van up for the night we had a visitor…A wild turkey…Pam verified the rumor that they will not leave if you continually feed them granola…
(above) I set up the propane fired camp shower (hanging on the right) lit it up and washed away two days of road weariness…Note the steam …Yeah, it felt great…Pam agrees…
14 – The North Coast
After a much cooler and quieter night than the night before, we found ourselves repeating the morning routine…Boil water, make beverages, food, pack things away and get ready to roll…
(above) No parking zone…???...What no parking zone…???...
(above) The turkey returns…”Where’s that granola lady…???...”
(above) Recipe for a great picture: Redwoods, morning fog and a low sun…
(above) Look at the guy spot lit on the far right…Pretty cool, eh…???...
(above) Back on the road…This time one of the windy ones of Marin County…
(above) It really is a gorgeous wooded area with a huge variety of different trees each a different shade of green…
(above) Looking down at Stinson Beach…We used to run these hills…Looks exactly the same as it did twenty years ago…
(above) Looking down at some fabulous toe paint…Nice shot there, Pam…
(above) Down along Bolinas Bay…Just a quiet mid-week morning…
(above) Seals awaiting a tide to float them away…Not really, but it could happen…
(above) Dairy is still a reality around here…
(above) Kodak moment…!!!...
(above) The Sonoma Coast is my all time most favorite drive on the West Coast of the USA…A twisty ribbon of asphalt with spectacular views the whole way…
(above) …plus it takes you through Dogtown…Look close at the population updates on the sign…
(above) This is so typical of the Sonoma Coast drive…Old Eucalyptus trees lining the road…
(above) Boarded up with a new roof…Bet it has more stories to be lived within the walls…
(above) Driving along, the whole time you are anticipating what’s around the next bend…
(above) And little towns pop up every few miles…
(above) I’m sure it will look about the same in a couple of decades…
(above) Mid morning, fog thinning, lots of wide open space…Sonoma County…
(above) We would stop and walk around every twenty minutes or so and take pictures at speeds of less than 35 MPH…
(above) I love the way this tree is claiming the roof…
(above) Plenty of little rivers feed the bays and ocean…
(above) I could easily live around here…
(above) Thank God I have an automatic…
(above) Oh yeah, more than a few of these too…
(above) Looks like it’s gonna be a beautiful afternoon…
(above) Should be a double sided sign…
(above) Not a horrible looking concrete retaining wall…
(above) Typical traffic mid-week, mid-afternoon…
(above) I’m betting that inside there are hippie beads at all the doorways…
(above) Planted a long, long time ago…
(above) That’s dedication…
(above) Old water towers or new hot tubs…???... Mendocino…
(above) Rural defined…
(above) Tunnel of trees…
(above) The abandoned old coast road…
(above) Creosote guard rail post …
(above) We were looking for a place to spend the night and found one with an ocean view…
(above) Glad we travel self contained…
(above) Speaking of…
(above) Dinner, as simple as it gets…
16 – NorCal to Home
One more day on the road then we are home sweet home…
(above) Another foggy morning on the way north…Dashboard reflection on the windshield…
(above) Don’t see too may of these…Plenty of 15’s, more 20’s…
(above) Northern light at the end of the tunnel…
(above) I prefer the real…
(above) Just follow the arrows…
(above) We stopped for fuel, saw this parachute sun shade and put the camera on the ground for view…
(above) Rolling north, one less bridge to cross on our way home…
(above) A long way from San Diego…
(above) Not worth the price of admission…
(above) Not legend…Truth…
(above) Witness an actual Bigfoot footprint…No further proof needed…
(above) Off the main highway is The Avenue Of The Giants…Note car approaching…
(above) Kind of hard to really describe the sense of enormity…
(above) We stopped for lunch and some photos…
(above) For a sense of scale check out the nose of the car on the right…
(above) Coastal Redwoods…
(above) Gnarly bark… (above) Silent giants…
(above) Mercedes calendar candidate…
(above) Some B&W… (above) One happy guy…
(above) Back to the road and one clear river…
(above) Not a lot of traffic even on a weekend…
(above) Large fiberglass equals = tourist $$$...
(above) At times all the green was just a blur…
(above) We stopped for some vehicle and human fuel…Free wi-fi gives Pam a chance to get current on what’s new on ilovemykitties.com….
(above) After we ate we wandered around, and saw this old brick wall…
(above) The only shop open at the time was an antique store…Usually good for a few giggles…This would almost fit over our fireplace, dang…
(above) Asking $12.00 each…
(above) One of the things I used to say every night while kneeling at our bed…
(above) “Pam, look what I found…!!!...Trifecta…!!!...”
(above) Only $1,500…???...
(above) Pam has been looking for an autographed, winking, semi-celebrity photo for years…SCORE…!!!...
(above) Based on what I saw, I know we can print this to 36” x 72” and we can sell it to the shop owner for $2,400 and he can mark it up to $4,000…Everyone wins…
(above) Back on the road…It has been our pleasure…
(above) Crossing over the mighty Columbia, Mt. Hood to the east…
(above) Washington State steel & sky…
(above) Southwest Washington…July afternoon…Temps in the high 80’s…
(above) After the hay baler has passed…
(above) Getting close to home, Pam reflects on a great time we had on this trip….
(above) On final stop before we get home and I get privilege of posing American Gothic in front of my dream vehicle…
Alright, this is it, the end of this California Trip Report…I hope you’ve been able to feel like you were along for the ride and enjoyed sharing in our experiences…As you can tell, we like to have fun and I again hope you’ve had a smile or two while reading this…
I would love to hear from you what part of this Trip Report you liked the best…
Paul & Pam
Coming in September: Back to Japan & Australia…Stay tuned…