Paradise 2 Pavement

[volcomsurfer]

Update #16: California coast

I left La Jolla early to get through L.A. before the traffic started. My first stop was malibu.

Wouldn't ya know, a cars and coffee. So I stopped to check out a few things. I had some time to kill before neptune's net opened anyway.

I don't really fit in lol I did get one thumbs up though.

Hit up Neptune's, then started making my way north towards Jalama beach

Saw a tracking station...

Jalama Beach. A few kiteboarders out and some nice wind. Managed to get a spot right on the beach too.

Dogs allowed on the beach too which was nice.

 

[volcomsurfer]

Cool train that rolls through every now and then

And they have a "world famous" burger. It was pretty damn good imo..

After a couple nights there I started making my way towards big sur for a few nights.

Leaving Jalama

Well that looks like an expensive day....

Stopped at Morro for a minute to check the surf. Blown out..

Elephant seals

Getting closer to Big Sur. Looks like fog in the distance.

It starts getting a bit more hazy.

I stopped to let the dog out and it looked like it was snowing. Then it finally hit me, there's a fire lol I had absolutely no idea that big sur was on fire right now. Apparently it's pretty huge too. Everything is closed down so I ended up just driving through and staying in Monterey for the night. This was the first time I almost ran out of gas too. I thought I was good with the mileage according to the next gas station signs, but none had diesel. Furthermore, I didn't fill up the spare container since I had to empty it crossing the border. I made it to the diesel stop north of big sur with about a half gallon to spare.

I made it through and looked back; holy ****!

 

[volcomsurfer]

I made it to Monterey and checked out the town a bit the next day before I went to Santa Cruz.

Cannery Row

Clam chowder bread bowl..

Steamer Lane

The nearby redwoods

Heading towards San Fran

 

[Sierra Valley]

Nice dude good see you back out and about. If you come through Reno NV hit me up we can go ride some bikes and show you around.

 

[volcomsurfer]

Update #17: Norcal and Oregon

Wow so it's been a long time since an update. Things have been kind of stagnant lately. I made it up to San Fran and went through Yosemite to Salt Lake. I had to link back up with my girlfriend and fly out to Philly for a wedding. After we got back to Utah I convinced her to come with me back to SF and meet up with some of my friends from Antigua. We drove up to Oregon and had to shoot back to Utah for another trip. I'm back in Salt Lake and I'll most likely remain here for the winter to make some cash for the rest of the trip. Here's some pics from that adventure.

It was a straight shot from Santa Cruz to SF.. I got in at night at stayed at Baker's beach. It's a dog beach with a big parking lot, toilets, and a dumpster; what more could you ask for.

So Tigua was sniffing around some seaweed and it looked like he got a hold of something. As he was about to start chewing I grabbed what he had in his mouth. Thank god I was paying attention. That could've been really bad.

After that I drove across the bridge to check out the other side.

It was PACKED!!!

After that I drove around the city checking it out. Stopped in at Tommy's Joynt for lunch. Pretty decent corned beef sammy's. Any place with hot mustard standard on the bar is a good place for me.

Then I went to Amoeba music to check out what they had.

After that I went down hippy hill and took tigua for a walk in the park. I eventually linked up with a friend from florida and went to a food truck setup. Killer grassy area with a view of the bridge (kinda).

I was on a time schedule to catch a flight out of Utah so I bailed on SF and went west towards Yosemite. I was so excited to go there and see El Capitan and some other things. The second I got there I wanted to leave. HOLY S@#T it was PACKED. It took almost an hour and a half just to get anywhere near the village area. I was going to check to see if there were any campsites available and you could only do that at the office. Once I was in the traffic there was no real turning back. I stopped in to grab a sticker and left. I can't stand crowds. I decided I'd try to find a spot outside the north exit for the night. The drive out of Yosemite was amazing! I ended up stopping at a creek for a swim before I left though. Never pass up a free shower

 

[volcomsurfer]

There was a killer lake right on the main road. I almost stopped to SUP, but it was getting late. You couldn't camp in the park and I hate finding a spot at night, so I just stopped for a little moment and carried on.

Found a pretty good spot for the night.

So I open everything up and start cooking breakfast. While stuff is warming up I took the dog for a walk down the beach a bit. When I get back this knucklehead was parked RIGHT there. ******? This whole wide open parking area and THAT's where you park? Some people just make me question how they get on in their day to day life.

So I figured I'd put off breakfast and just get on the road towards Utah.

It wasn't long before I found a killer spot for breakfast.

Along the way I ran across these guys..

Damn they looked fun.

Made it to Nevada. Now it's time to cross the desert. It was hot long and boring. I almost ran out of gas on one of the stretches too. Always do your math kids.

Clicked over 250k..

A pretty uneventful drive. SUPER hot, a real test of your vehicle.

Found a nice spot for lunch.

I ended up connecting with the highway right at the bonneville salt flats. Being someone that's into cars, it was definitely going to check it out. Now I didn't expect much, just a salt flat, but when I got there I saw a bunch of RV's and trailers. Yup! Speedweek!! Good thing I left Yosemite early. I had a day to kill and check out the scene. It was amazing. It was their first time racing in 3 years too so the turnout was nice. I didn't get any pics of the cars or anything though I thought I was coming back the next day, but we ended up having to do a bunch of stuff before we left for philly.

 

[volcomsurfer]

So, to Philly then back to SLC. When I got back we went mountain biking and took the dogs for a little hike.

So after a little bit of arm twisting, I convinced my gf to come back to SF with me. A friend from Antigua was doing a little road trip up the coast and hitting spots I haven't been to yet so I figured what better time to link up. So off we went back to SF. Since I went the southern way through Yosemite on the way back, I wanted to go the northern route and hit Lake Tahoe.

It's been raining so there was water on the flats this time. Pretty cool reflection shots. A lot of people were stopped to take pics along the way, but we were anxious to make some good time.

We would have gotten into SF at night at the rate we were going and I hate driving when it's dark. My thought is that part of this trip is just seeing the different parts of the country. You miss a lot driving at night. So we found a spot on Pyramid lake for the night. Heard tons of coyotes that sounded like they were right next to the van. It was probably one of the fastest pisses I ever took in the middle of the night.

Stopped in Reno for a minute, because why not.

And made our way to South Lake Tahoe. We met up with a couple of my gf's friends for the day then made our way to SF.

I took her up the scenic drive this time to see if the visibility was any better. Nope, worse lol. But the fog was lower so it still made a pretty cool shot.

We met up with our friends and did the tourist thing around town. Pier 39.

Lombard street. I was thinking of driving down it, but it was so busy I didn't feel like it was worth it.

Alcatraz

The full house, house.

I wanted to hit a baseball game when I was here before but they were playing away. This time I lucked out and had someone to go with! I love checking out new sports stadiums.

There's a cool garden bar in outter field.

#vanlife lol The best thing about the van is sporting events. Screw waiting in traffic. Pop the doors, have a snack and wait for traffic to clear. It's not like I have anywhere to go anyway....

We went north to Stinson Beach for the night to wake up fresh and out of the city to head north. There's a killer little bar called Smileys. They had a little folk band playing and it's dog friendly.

 

[volcomsurfer]

So onward north. I stopped to take a leak at this place and a pic. Right after this I almost ruined the van. I thought I was clear on both directions and made sure to wait a bit in case someone was in the blind spot of the trees. I was 110% sure I could go. As soon as I got the front wheels on the pavement some lady came flying around the corner. Thank god she had a quick reaction and swerved out of the way. We barely missed each other. There was a black blemish on her car but it rubbed right out. I'm not sure how my bumper would've done that. Even grazing the side of a car it would do more damage I think. Everyone was okay and I got my adrenaline for the day. To think what damage that would have caused, her t-boning me right in the driverside quarter. Ugh, trip over, injuries for sure.

Driving up the coast was everything I expected. Gorgeous, barely any traffic/people, gloomy but beautiful weather....

Now we're starting to head inland...

co-pilot!

These trees are huge!

Tigua blends right in...

More tourist things

It's cool to see the stickers starting to take over the rear box.

Found a killer spot in Oregon to camp for the night.

I even managed to find some free internet in a town of less than 150 to watch the gator game!

On our way to Bend.

Met up with my friend again (No Candy Off Road) in Bend. Spent the weekend there with him and checked out an art festival in downtown. It was sunday too so lots of pro football action going on.

You end up taking a lot more showers than you normally would when you travel with a female. My friend brought up this place in a conversation and after about 3 minutes of research we booked a day pass and off we went. I highly suggest doing some google'ing of these places if you're in the oregon/washington area. They convert old buildings into ************ hotels; this one for instance, was a school at one point. For 5 bucks we got access to their hot tub and showers. They also had a chill little bar we hit up afterwards to watch the Steelers game with some shuffleboard tables.

 

[volcomsurfer]

Obviously I didn't take my camera into the pool area, but this is the google shot of it.

We shot up to Portland to meet back up with our friends and immediately left lol. I can't stand city congestion. We made our way out to hood and hit the waterfalls along the way.

We spent the night in Bend then had to head back to SLC. We went over the Bend bridge and took the north route. COMPLETELY worth it. You cruise along the hood river but on the less congested side and way better view imo.

East Oregon, blahhh....

You can really cover some ground with 2 drivers. It's pretty nice to pass off the wheel when you feel even the least bit drowsy. It's also nice to have a bed when that time comes too.

So that's it, back in Utah. I plan on staying here for the winter. Get a job for a bit and snowboard all season. Do some work to the van and catch up on some bills before we head out east. I think the plan is to wait for the snow to melt and head to seattle/vancouver island; then east through canada to Maine, then down the coast. I think I've pretty much covered the west. However, the knowledge I gained of the area will make the second time through exponentially better.

So that's it. I won't have any updates since I'll be stagnant. I'll start posting updates again once the snow melts and I'm back on the road. Hope you guys enjoyed the first half of the trip. Thanks for all the kind words and support. It was great meeting everyone along the way. I hope to meet a lot more and reconnect with some of the people I've met so far.

 

[SDSteve]

Thanks for the update! Great stuff!

 

[zb39]

Awesome trip!!!!!! thanks for posting.

 

[colierar]

Man, you barely touched WA. Get your *** up here when that snow melts! Awesome trip report, been following this thread the whole time.

 

[Happycamper]

Top brew that!

Ninkasi

 

[MarkRW]

Fabulous trip!!!!

 

[Leftear35]

I've been following your thread for a while now, I love your photo coverage! I'm newer to overland, but when you end up in NC we should get together and mountain bike. I know a few good trails!