West Coast Trip 4 - The Final Leg

Manchester was bereft of breakfast, so out on the road again we considered the exotic



And time was moving on and given that I normally eat breakfast straightaway P was in danger of losing his right leg. So we stopped here



Guided to the Ansel Adams room, bear in mind we had not stopped in Mendocino because the B & B's were how much! Suspiciously we settled down to complimentary fresh orange the compliment being

"Cool understated tracksuit top... with distressed shorts - rock chick wealth"

and then it was too late when the menu came along %&^*&*&(*&^&^%%$%$%$

I selected chef's home made meusli which came in an egg cup. P called his investment banker to check the eggs were a goer.

Tucking into my egg cup... we were approached by a woman announcing

"It's not often we hear English voices so I thought I would come over. I am the general manager and I come originally from Newcastle then Somerset. I would check that we had a room for you to stay but I believe with the wives of the G20 summit here for a high end Ann Summers "pamper" party I know we are full."


So I made the last sentence up.....

PHEW bloody PHEW that mini breakfast was almost the same price as the rooms we had been staying in and not to forget the tip and we were amongst big tippers!!!!

And since when has meusli been HOT????? And I had to ask for toast which got me a dirty look since apparently croissant are de rigeur.

I think at the hotel ultimately you were paying for the view obscured by meterological conditions which even these residents couldn't control.

Chic Shabby Shed would you say???







Being the last full day we had a specific quest. The weather chopped and changed.




After a longer journey than anticipated we had one of those episodes which typifies our experience throughout the US, you can never be quite sure what you are going to get; sometimes you have a view in your mind and all the imagery affirms it and then it is

Point Reyes lighthouse. This to be fair has happened rarely but on this occasion; well look, even when we got down the steps P could almost touch the top and it wasn't even painted red and white!



But I now know everything there is to know about Frenelle lenses which disproved my theory that to spot the light based on the lighthouse height you would have to be within spitting distance of the coast and therefore already on the rocks or gripping to the fallen mast.



Anti climax over time to relax in our country dacha?!?!?



Oh OK accommodation just outside San Francisco population 808,976, bill $61.

This makes me sound churlish but I hope that the last 3 blogs shows that we had had enough amazement to make a vertically challenged person explode so it was probably a good idea to have a relatively quiet end not to forget the culinary high in Sausalito where I had the most exquisite pudding of limoncello and organic strawberry "isa creem" nestled in a cross between panetonne and sponge.

Even San Francisco bridge was muted in the .....MIST



But as the postcard would say wish you were here.
x

West Coast Trip Part 3 - Meeting Milk Tray on the Boy Scout Trail

Giant Redwoods Northern California

A humbling experience. This is so you get the perspective.








It is difficult to do them justice









There was other "stuff".

I didn't take this first one...








We frolicked a bit too:





Four hours later and double this distance, Coyote Pack Leader and Mini HaHa emerged



to the call of the sea



The journey was briefly interrupted to capture these on film




You have to marvel at the US's capacity to unashamedly drop tack into the middle of natural splendour



I didn't realise we had travelled so far ....Trinidad.




Population 311, hotel bill $70. The additional cost was for the electric to used to pipe the Twin Peaks music perpetually.



The proprietor asked us if we would join them all in the bar later his left eye winking wildly..but I don't think he could help that.

Dinner in a Gordon blue restaurant and another sunset



Twin Peaks music heightened in volume and what with the dark, I made P enter the premises first not knowing if he'd be ripped to shreds. By the way we occupied the left half of this building.



Next morning Eureka...no I mean the place for breakfast



We whizzed in land temporarily, literally.



Then we were here but I can't remember where it was.




Furnished with sandwiches and rocket fuel coffee from here, where it paid not to look down near the sandwich counter or the bins juxtaposed to the nuclear coffee machine



It was time to hit the beach for some swimming...well it is California



I kept my vest on and that is the bravest smile ever as my feet were being amputated using cryogenic type techniques, there is none of me left where that picture ends.



Right that's enough let's just look at the sea






Milk Tray Man



Milk Tray Man about to dive in



To save a stranded seal pup



Milk Tray Man Fanzine observing........the lighthouse



The seaweed here is huge and the impact it has on the flow of the sea makes it quite creepy



We ended the day in Manchester population 361, hotel bill $62. And this being the motel it didn't look that promising and the mist rolling in AGAIN..



But then we wandered down a road to the sea and came across a little restaurant where you could sit on the deck and eating fish and chips and bread and butter pudding with the locals and this view.





Tomorrow we go upmarket.