Nareesa's very happy; the sun is shining, the air is warm and the rain is a distant memory. 24ºC in the shade and a beautiful old town to wander round in. Even a swimming pool at our hotel, although we haven't actually braved that yet. Maybe later? This is the city park, right in the middle.
It even has superb public conveniences. Brighton & Hove City councillors, could you please come and take a look at how it could be done!
Highlight of the day - amongst many highlights - maybe the lovely welcome from Don and Terry at the Paso Robles (pronounced Robuls, of course I've been saying it wrongly!) Carnegie Library and Museum. What a fabulous place, lots of history of the town and two old men just proud of their old town, volunteering to greet visitors and show them round. One of those magical moments you simply cannot plan for.
And while I am here ... Andrew Carnegie. What a philanthropist and promotor of education. A nineteenth century steel magnate, he used his fortune for considerable public good, offering any city that basically agreed to upkeep the buildings, a fully paid for and built library. He paid for the building of 1,679 of them, they remain one of the most common building types in the United States. Now don't get me wrong, with my principles, I would prefer progressive taxation to the random philanthropic generosity of the super rich but I can't deny he was a pretty good guy! And thanks to Don and Terry for showing us round. Moments like this are the ones that stick in the memory and make a trip such as this stand out from a more standard holiday.
As it happens we arrived in Paso Robles just about on the anniversary of my dad's passing two years ago (and one day) to find the perfect place to drink to his memory. Scotch tastes even better in a bar called McGregor's and on a date to be forever remembered for the mad old scotsman that was my dad. He lived his life to the full and certainly inspired my sense of adventure. Here's to you dad!
Paso Robles is a gorgeous little town in the central Californian valley, known for its wineries and originally its hot spring. A prettier place is hard to imagine in this part of the world and as usual each bar or restaurant we went in (no, not that many, honest), greeted us with a friendly welcome, good food and decent beer/wine. Not looking at the credit card bill just yet!
We've decided to spend 3 whole nights here, to recharge our batteries, do some laundry, and prepare ourselves for the journey back inland, staying warm as long as possible before we have to make the inevitable second left turn and head north again to the cold. No fixed route yet so just looking to see what the temperature is in places that look inviting. So Death Valley it is!
Yesterday we woke to a lovely sunny day in Monterey, at the northern end of Big Sur, the iconic California Number 1 highway along the coast broadly between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We are only travelling a bit of it - but its the best bit, Big Sur included. We've clocked up over 2500km already so it's time to stop going south. Too many fabulous views to record and its surprising how long it can take to cover 100 miles on this type of road - partly down to the meandering nature of it and partly down to the number of times you just have to stop to take in yet another gobsmacking vista. Here's a few but they don't really do it justice.
We had stopped in the North Face Outlet Shop in Berkeley. Of course I bought the orange one!
One of the many stops.
Elephant seals. They don't seem to move a lot!
The bridge at Big Creek
Iconic Bixby Creek Bridge (Yes, I cheated, I didn't take this picture, we forgot, but we did drive over it)
Monterey is lovely, having seen the seals frolicking in the ocean the night before I took out the big gun camera, and of course they didn't come out to play. I'm guessing here, but I am suspecting they were all out to sea gobbling lunch before they return to the shores to show off to the visitors. Well, can't hang around for a seal all day and in any case there are more down the coast as we discovered.
Cannery Row, a bit like Steveston, is an historical site where canning of fish brought prosperity and employment, but this time for sardines, not salmon. The industry only lasted 50 years apparently before they ran out of sardines. We never learn do we!
Of course now its retail heaven ... or hell, depending on your viewpoint.
Note to self, must read John Steinbeck's book, Cannery Row, while I am in the vicinity. Probably not uplifting though as like most (all?) of his books it is about the Great Depression but set in the Monterey. But I love to read book based in the place I am. Recommendations welcome. Saw lots of divers while in Monterey - cold water diving apparently, roughly 10ºC - so lots of dry suits. Quite fancy diving with seals, but no time just now. Noted the memorial to the divers who had maintained the pipes through which they brought the sardines to shore, two of whom died in service. Reminder that it is a dangerous activity.
And so it was when we reached the first turning after Big Sur (there aren't many - well none really) we turned left and east. Having found the warmth we are keen to hang onto it as long as possible, so it might mean a trundle east for as long as we can, then a mad dash north again to Canada in early May. We also realised we will have to pick our route over the Rockies carefully - getting snowed in is still possible at this time of year - gulp! Last few pics...
Pair of eejets on a windswept headland near Big Sur
More stunning coastal scenery (without the eejets)
An essential stop just before we turned left!
This is it. Time to stop going south!
Having been to the US a few times, but never to the West Coast, I am feeling like it is a "must do trip" at some point! It looks fabulous.