Date:         Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:07:40 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Eddiehintz@aol.com
Subject:      Trip Report: Bay area and beyond

Hey now,
     I write from Stillwater Cove campground, a Sonoma Co. Campground about 4
miles north of Fort Ross on the Pacific Coast Highway. It is 9:45 PM on 15
July, the temprature is around 50, and a chilly breeze blows through. I'm
beside the campfire, on my trusty Macintosh, with Indra (our dog) at my feet.
We are on the picturesque northern California coast, where the multitudes of
trees wind lazily down to the ocean cliffs, while the surf beats at the
shore. The setting almost makes the trials of getting here seem like a dream.
But not quite...
     We left Kings Canyon at about 10 am on sunday the 14th-having shot
nearly 4 rolls of 24 exposure film. In 2 days.  Beautiful place. Rolled on up
and out and down to Fresno, then onto the 99 north with the intention of
getting a motel up around Modesto somewhere. Our original plan called for
staying with friends of the family in San Carlos (the SF bay area), but we
called from Kings Canyon to confirm and found there had been a death in the
family. So the revised plan was to just get a cheap motel and then hit the
bay area in the morning. However, the valley was hot. So we decided instead
to head out on 152 into Gilroy, then catch the 101 north and get a motel out
there somewhere. So we got to the 101 and it was packed. Bigtime traffic jam,
just like LA. No es muy bueno. At which point we decided to heck with it,
we'll hit the coast, and continued on 152 out to Watsonville and PCH. Figured
we'd pay more for a motel, but wanted to check out the coast anyway. 
     Now anyone familiar with PCH is undoubtably laughing at our ignorance at
this point, as they already know that "motel" and "PCH" don't go in the same
paragraph together. At least not in Northern California. Can you say bed and
breakfast??? Onward we went, up to Half Moon Bay, still no motels. Getting
close to SF now, must be something soon. All the way to the 280 now, there's
gotta be something around here. After a couple of failed side streets we went
back to the 280. Neither of us had actually looked at a map yet, so when we
decided to head for San Jose on the 280, we had no clue that we were going
parallel to the 101-where I knew there would be motels. We hit San Jose and
turned north on the 101, and found lots of motels that don't take dogs. 
    And one hotel that does. $80 a night. Phone deposit. $75 dog deposit.
About one weeks worth of budget on this crazy trip.
     We found a Denny's at the 92 and 101 in San Mateo, and got dinner. And
got tired. And crashed out in the parking lot-I like having a westy interior.

     This morning we had breakfast at Denny's-it was rather convenient...
 Then we headed on up into the city, got a kite at Pier 39-a specific request
for a friend back in Austin. Headed on up across the Golden Gate, and tried
to find PCH. Found the Golden Gate National Recreation area instead. And
Sausalito. Finally found PCH. Lost it again in Mill Valley. Turned around and
found it agian. 
     Here follows several hours of winding mountain style driving-PCH is a
bit more hectic than I thought. Made my arms tired from westleing the bus
around all those hairpin turns. Extremely scenic though. 
     Found the campground here-with showers which were so badly needed after
3 days in Sequioa/Kings Canyon, and the failed bay area motel escapade. Yuck.
Ahh, the pleasures of roadtrips...
     Tomorrow morning we will head up PCH again, likely camping again, after
sending off these trip reports. The camp hosts, Mr. and Mrs.    have
generously agreed to let us use the ranger's telephone to connect to AOL and
send all this, as well as get 4 days worth of back email. That'll take a
while to wade through...
Peace,
Eddie