Departing Vegas we decided to backtrack to San Francisco, having missed it the first time around. We drove west into the sunset past the world’s largest thermometer, back into California and stayed in a cheap hotel in Barstow where the Indian owner was more than impressed to have an Australian and a Kiwi as guests as it meant he could discuss the cricket, not that we could give him any real conversation other than smiling and nodding and agreeing that it is a good game (well, I think it’s a good game, Hayden will beg to differ). It was a pleasant stay despite the small earthquake that occurred around 10pm, shaking things up a bit. In the morning we hit the road north, driving through orchard after orchard, eventually settling in a campground run by the US Marine Engineering Corps on the shores of Lake Success. The next few days consisted of much the same – small towns, orchards, and campsites by lakes and rivers. On the day we headed into San Francisco we got a true taste of what people mean when they say ‘California drivers’. They are fast, unforgiving, don’t often use their indicators, and some literally must have their wires crossed- indicating left and moving to the right! We eventually made it through and straight to a Land Rover enthusiast (as you do). Maggie was having a couple of issues that Hayden couldn’t quite figure out, perhaps something to do with the fact that it was us two amateurs rebuilding a gearbox in Mongolia and maybe something wasn’t quite right. We were keen to sort this out in the comfort of an English speaking country before heading to Mexico and beyond. The French chap who owned the workshop was very kind and interested in our journey, but didn’t really seem to have any answers for us. Leaving a little frustrated we drove away in attempt to temporarily forget about Maggie and enjoy the city for a few days. We drove through Golden Gate Park and sat on the beach watching the sunset (still a sight that impresses an east coast girl), gawked at the weirdos on Haight street, had coffee at Fishermans Wharf (it was too early to sample the famous clam chowder), walked up crooked lane and had a picnic lunch with the Painted Ladies, all whilst remembering to park Maggie with the wheels chocked in the correct direction on a hill not only to avoid a parking ticket but for her own safety and that of passers by! It was sometime in these few days that we came to the conclusion that the best place to fully check Maggie out was up in Oregon at Pangolin 4×4 where we would have access to specialist Land Rover knowledge, but also instant access to pretty much any parts we needed. That decided we planned our route along the coast.
The road was hilly and windy, but the scenery spectacular! Quaint little surfing towns (although we are yet to see anyone actually surfing, at this stage we believe it to be a total Californian myth), cliff top houses and cattle grazing on prime real estate. The only letdown was that a lot of the time you had to pay for beach access. Yep, anywhere between $5-$10. Considering that most of the time we only wanted to stop for a picnic lunch this seemed a little crazy, especially when you grew up with the beach being the best free activity going around. We wound our way up the coast, the view never ceasing to amaze even the most snobbiest of coastal snobs until we found ourselves all the way back at the Oregon border.
California Part 2
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