Santa Cruz Island

Continuing the maritime theme, we went by boat to spend the day on Santa Cruz Island. This is one of the self-referential Santa Barbara Channel Islands - unlike our Channel Islands there would be no channel without them. They are uninhabited apart from some Rangers who live here on rotation.











This is the bay where we landed by climbing up a ladder while the boat pushed against the jetty - definitely not 'accessible', i.e. Wheelchair friendly! The island is lovely, but it was very windy and we had a very......exhilarating trip back in the 65' long boat.






After recent rain it looks a lot like the Lakeland fells.






There used to be a working sheep ranch on the island but it was taken over as part of a National Park in the eighties and is being gradually being re-naturalised. This is one of many relics of the ranching period.






We went for a hike with the local volunteer who knew everything about the plants and wildlife.






David and Rose ahead of me as usual!


I'm just resting!




This is an island fox, smaller than ours and unique to this island.





Then we had to come back. Very, very windy, so we bounced up and down a lot which is an understatement! Just getting onto the boat was a challenge having to descend the ladder onto the boat deck as it was moving up and down. I began to wonder if James knows where our wills are kept!

Location: Santa Barbara Channel Islands

Whales and Banks

We spent this morning on a very successful three-hour whale-watching trip.
This was a relief from trying to open a US bank account in Carolyn's name. We are now experts on this and could answer questions on Mastermind! The same is not true of the employees of at least two local banks.
The first obstacle was that a US passport is not sufficient ID. We overcame this by dint of Jean from Rushwick sending Carolyn's Social Security Card to Jeanne, who forwarded it to Rose. Then we needed an official document linking Carolyn to her official US address, such as a letter from the bank we were trying to open an account at. Unfortunately that beat us; we no longer have enough time for this to happen but at least we now what to do next time.
The good news is that the bank let Carolyn pay an endorsed cheque into Rose's account, which she used to do routinely but which we were told was no longer possible! This was very frustrating and wasted a lot of valuable 'tourist' time!
So, whale watching. We really lucked out with our trip as we followed two greys on their mission to get back up north to their feeding grounds. They won't have eaten anything since leaving the Bering Sea in the Arctic back in December. They migrate down here to mate and then turn round and go back.....quite a journey when you think about it. Here are a couple of photos. They're not brilliant as you're never quite sure where they will surface!




This is a whale going down for a longer period, probably to escape the attentions of whale watchers!

They swim so slowly that barnacles grow on their skin. One theory is that they breach to dislodge some of them. We did see a pair breaching in sync but not in time to snap them - honest!

Location:Ventura

Solvang

On the way to Rose's we diverted to Solvang, a town founded by Danish 'educators' whatever that means. It used to be dominated by people of Danish descent but now is full of Chinese tourists.






It certainly looks different from most towns in these parts as these photos show. Many of the shops had Danish names like Rasmussen.





This is Copenhagen street.


We had a very nice lunch of half a reuben each (salt beef, sauerkraut and cheese sandwich)helpfully served on two plates with no extra charge. Afterwards Carolyn had the inevitable ice cream!

Carmel, Hearst Castle and the coastal road

Leaving Monterey we headed down the scenic Route 1, a sometimes hairy route along the coast, but first we drove through Carmel-on-the-sea (Clint Eastwood used to be Mayor).










We came across the Carmel Mission by accident and stopped to have a look, but there was a service going on so we didn't see inside. 18th century adobe and very Spanish looking.










These are some scenic views along the coast.




















From memory I think there was a 'Xanadu' in the film 'Citizen Kane' which was supposed to be about W. Randolph Hearst, a sort of Thirties version of Rupert Murdoch. Anyway, Hearst Castle is the real thing. We arrived in the rain to find that the 'restrooms' (toilets) were closed because of the drought. The place itself was amazing, full of Flemish tapestries and Italian carved wood misericords (choir stalls). Think Portmeirion only grander.




















Sunset over the Pacific-just good timing!



We've been in Pismo Beach for two days in an excellent Best Western hotel. This is the view from our balcony. Tonight we finally had a relatively cheap meal in a pizza joint. No frills-just nice wine and good pizza. This is an expensive area generally, so it was nice to find a restaurant that was more our sort of place.
Carolyn is enjoying the view from the balcony one last time.









We went to the other Monarch Butterfly grove this afternoon. Here they join up in 'clusters' occasionally. They look like a bunch of brown leaves!

Monterey Bay Area

We have spent the last couple of days touring Monterey and its environs. Actually they were nearly the last days of the trip. We decided to walk to a local restaurant for supper this evening. This involved crossing the access roads to coastal highway route 1 and under the road itself. On the way back a car lost control on one of these roads, flashed across the sidewalk/pavement in front of us and came to rest on the grass verge. Not only was it on the edge of a watercourse, it had narrowly missed a tree, a steel post, and US! If we had been ten yards further on we would have been right in its path. A sobering thought!




This is the longest continuously operating lighthouse in California, having been in service since 1854. It is low down like the one at Point Reyes for the same reason, to be visible below high level fog.




We saw this bird sitting on a fence just outside the lighthouse. Friend Doraleen has identified it as a 'red shouldered hawk'.




Carolyn visited an antique shop and couldn't resist this display of salt 'n pepper shakers. Apparently these are only a small portion of what the owner has at home!




This is the house where John Steinbeck was born, grew up and wrote some of his books. It was built in 1899 and is now a restaurant.




We had a good long hike around Point Lobos State Reserve near Carmel and saw more sea lions lounging about on the beach. We were also fortunate to see a gray whale on its journey south.








The Reserve has one of two Monterey cypress groves which are the only place in the world where they grow wild. The other grove is up the road in Pebble Beach.

Giant Sequoias

The first two parts of California to become protected were the Yosemite Valley which we 'did' yesterday and the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias which we saw to-day. The route from the lodge went through the present Yosemite National Park and over a road that went up to over 5,000 feet.




The pictures speak for themselves really.









'Grizzly Giant' is the biggest in the grove with a circumference of 96' and an age of over 2000 years.







The tunnel was carved deliberately - no longer the 'done thing'.

Location:Mariposa Grove

Yosemite is awesome!

Our day in Yosemite National Park was wonderful. The sky was blue, it was mild and there was no wind at all. Best of all there weren't many people about. The few photos we've put in do not do the park justice, but they do give a hint of the grandeur of the place.




After we left Jeanne in Marin County we went through built-up areas and miles and miles of almond trees before we arrived in the outskirts of the Yosemite National Park.




Here is Carolyn on our balcony overlooking the 'wild and scenic' Merced River.
We stayed in a hotel just outside the Park in case there was a problem with snow, but California is having an unusually warm winter it seems. No snow to be seen, and the warnings of ice on the roads were unnecessary!








This is the lower half of Yosemite Falls, the highest in North America and the fifth highest in the world. Yosemite is full of superlatives and deservedly so! David climbed up far enough to put a hand in the pool at the bottom and feel the spray.




This is El Capitan, 3,500 feet of him. The air was so clear that every detail was visible from over a third of a mile away.




This is another view. It was starting to get chilly as evening drew on.




A notice for the collection....

Last day in Marin County

We spent our last day with Jeanne driving to the slightly eccentric community of Bolinas. Apparently the locals used to be so anxious not to be found that they removed the road signs. Unfortunately for them that doesn't work on the age of satNavs and we found it anyway.


We drove over a mountain pass to get there (sorry Jeanne!) and went through the sea mist that you can see rolling in across the estuary.


This is one of the older vehicles.


And this is Smiley's, the oldest pub in Marin supposedly. Needless to say we went in for a beer.


Another notice for Susan.


This is the three of us across the road from Jeanne's house. She wore the Jennings sweatshirt specially!

Elephant Seals at Point Reyes Lighthouse

Having driven the length of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (house numbers go up to the tens of thousands!) we arrived at Point Reyes beach. Amazingly this public beach is a popular hauling out place for elephant seals.


Not the most beautiful of God's creatures - homely at best - but apparently they can dive to 5,000 feet and stay under for two hours. Not agile on land though! This one could only move about 2 metres and then had to rest.


This is a group containing a male, a female and a pup, not a family apparently according to one of the 'docents' (guides to us Brits). The pup is lovely!


This is another beach further round the coast which is covered with them. Sadly the overlook point was downwind and you could tell!





This is Point Reyes lighthouse at the bottom of 300 steps (which only one of us did....). It's not at the top of the cliff to avoid being obscured by fog which often forms higher up. But to be on the safe side the US Coastguard leave the foghorn sounding periodically all the time. It was the same at Alcatraz, despite it being a beautifully clear day with several miles visibility.





Slight mishap when Jeanne was pointing out an historic ranch and drove over a ditch dislodging a wheel trim! We recovered it on the way back and David put it back on thank goodness.