Across Country: Cross Country Day 5: The coast came after the mountains

We departed Valencia as early as possible, somewhere around 7am or 8am, I think. We loaded the car up like the experts we were, bungee cords crisscrossing everything. It was perfectly warm out, no sweaters required, not too hot. We thought our trip had been so beautiful and awesome, we had no idea what the long day would hold.

We had a route planned for the day. It involved driving along the coastal highway until San Francisco (middle of the coast), and then taking Highway 101 until Eureka (near the top). We had this part down, it would be really easy. However, getting to the coast was a bit more tricky to plan. Most routes would either take way too long or miss way too much of the coast. I can't remember how we finally decided on a way to take, but we ended up driving through some really huge mountains.

The whole morning and a little bit if the afternoon was spent hugging cliffs and climbing up steep mountain side. While our GPS estimated a reasonable driving time for this route, it took much longer than we thought, due to the curvaceous roads. The signs may have said 55mph, but we never broke 40. At our highest point we were about 6700 feet above sea level. That's really high! We stopped to get out once we reached the top. We could see until our eyes would not see anymore. My camera couldn't see as far as we could. It was spectacular. The air was so still and clean at that elevation. The sun was bright and we were closer to it than we had ever been. It is one of my Top 3 Mountain Experiences ever. And then we drove down off the mountain, dropping a few thousand feet very quickly. We landed in a valley, a tiny farming town far from everywhere. It was lush and cool. We kept to the valleys for the rest of the drive to the coast.

And then suddenly, just like the first time, it appeared. It just poked it's big blue face up over the side of the road. Hello! We were taken by surprise. We hopped on the coastal highway, stopped for lunch, and stopped to play on the beaches. It was windy and the ocean was mighty. It raged upon the cliffs that butted up to it. The mountains on the right side of us, and the ocean on the left. It was a beautiful ride.

At the end of our coastal drive came San Francisco and the setting sun. The highway somehow took us right through the surface streets in the middle of the city. It was my turn to drive, and I was not so enthusiastic. We actually got to experience the ridiculously steep streets for which the city is known. Spike (our car) did not like these streets. Fearful that our luggage was going to fall off of the roof like in Vacation, I was happy to see the Golden Gate Bridge, signifying the end of San Francisco. The last bit of sun fell on the house boats of Sausalito.

On any other day, we would almost be to our next hotel. Not today. Our plans had failed. We had over estimated our driving skills. Our typical 14 hour drive time was not going to get us where we needed to be tonight. We would need more like 17 hours. And remember, there were two cats in the crowded back seat who could only hold it for so long. We had a good three and a half hours of nighttime mountain forest driving ahead of us. And Tim was the man to finish it all up. I recall dozing off for a bit only to wake up to see us speeding towards a GIANT redwood tree. This being my first redwood I had ever seen, I was very scared and excited at the same time. After a bit of a scream and a cringe of death came over me, Tim told me that we had been driving like this for miles. In deep, dark, old forests full of big trees on a highway with a 55mph speed limit. It seemed way too fast for the mountainous curvy redwood filled roads, but at this point, we just wanted to get to the hotel.

We were so close when it happened. Only like 15 minutes away. Driving through the stinky city of Eureka, California, at a little past midnight. After 17 hours on the road, the cats could take it no longer. Their meows grew angry, then sad. Then, with the hotel just blocks away, they both could hold it no longer. They let loose simultaneously. I recall crying a little, then being over taken by the smell. We rolled the windows down, and pulled into a biker filled hotel (apparently it was Bike Week in Eureka) and (never stay at a Red Lion, worst hotel ever). We were at the hotel, but still had at least an hour of "cleaning" ahead of us. We felt so bad for the kitties. They felt bad. It was a bad night in a bad hotel in a bad city.

However, even with all of this terrible badness, before we went to bed, we concluded that this was by far the best day of our road trip, and that we would definitely live in California. It was a wonderful state. The next day we would be at our destination, but not before we played in a redwood forest.