From the Atlantic to the Pacific!

Thursday, June 14th

     I feel like one of the pioneers.  I made it all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific!!  And how different those two oceans are.  The Pacific is so big or so it seems.  I don't know why - is the horizon further out:), is south and north further apart?, does the Pacific coast line curve outward more than the Atlantic coast line so you can see farther? or am I just impressed because it's so different.

    Anyway, we weren't on the road long before we realized we weren't on the road

 or the right road anyway and these guys were thinking the same thing but it's all about the journey, isn't it, not the destination!
     Went back a few miles and found where we'd missed Rt 46 as it joins with 101 for a ways and then were once again on our way to the Pacific Ocean and US 1.  I shortly had to engage my "tow load" button to get over the mountains and down to the ocean.  Fog started creeping in and stayed with us all day but still it was a beautiful ride up US 1 with mountains easily capable of land slides on one side and wild Pacific Ocean rolling in at the the bottom of the cliffs on the other side.

Well, this was down at "sea level" but the only time all day.

      We stopped to spend time with the elephant seals all napping on the Piedras Blancas beach, flipping sand on to their backs, scratching their heads with their flippers, stretching and occasionally rearing up for a roar or a protest of a buddy getting a little too close and hogging all the sand.  These teen-age males are here for 4-6 weeks to molt and fast and believe me some of them needed to as they were about 2000 pounds.

They were so fun to watch - could have stayed for hours.  There were "Friends of the Elephant Seal" volunteers around to answer questions and educate.  It was chilly out and I kept thinking they should have a blanket on them instead of sand.  We had sweats and scarfs and hoods on and I think I would have even like someone to throw a blanket around my shoulders.

     We drove slowly along the coast with several "pull-offs".  It was hard to know which way to look because of course the ocean views were "oh wows" but so were the canyon views.  Maybe it's just this time of the year but the foliage colors blanketing the mountains were just amazing - from chartreuse to deep forest to sage greens and bright yellows for accents.  I can't decide now if I still want that log cabin on Glacier Point Road or a glass house in this valley over looking the ocean.  Decisions, decisions.

"Look to the Right!"

"Look on the Left!"

     We found a campsite at the Kirk Creek campground in the Las Padras National Forest.  There are several National Forest campgrounds on this stretch of the road but they were mostly all filled and we just lucked out with a bridal party who was switching sites.

This was the view out the front of Rhoda

This was the view out of Rhoda

There was a whole flock of birds who came swooping in when we arrived.
I think they were use to being feed crumbs.

     And we saw our first Pacific sunset even though as I mentioned it was a little foggy all day but none-the-less, it was lovely:

 DATA:

Pacific  ><  Atlantic

mileage:  99                      gas:  $67                              camp:  $22