Category: California & The Pacific Highway

San Francisco here we come, then watch out ya’all on the freeways and roads as the Operator has control of a Ford Mustang (his request) convertible (my request).  We are going to be cruising the state for a couple of weeks and will keep you posted along the way.

Our largest city was fair pumping!  What a happy feeling good time vibe Auckland was exuding when we arrived.  Personally, Rosie have never seen Auckland so busy, New Zealand turned on the fine -ish weather and started the party of our lifetime that everyone cant help but be into.  The Rugby World Cup was in town, flags were flying from cars and hung in every shop, the fanzone on the waterfront was pumping and people walked the streets with a ready greeting and colourful shirts showing every nationality and allegiance.

Picked up the rental from the airport today…  Buuuut it iRosie was chuffed, upgraded our Mustang Convertible to her dream car, a 2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible……we just upgraded our Ford to a Holden in layman’s terms, go GM!  After only one hour of being on the road Rosie asked if it actually had suspension….the Operator said ‘yes, in the seat’ and all the rattles, limited visibility and challenging luggage contortions simply added to the character…..Rosie and the Operator swore they would never complain about their BMW again. But its red, and it is a convertible and looks pretty mean!

We are in wine country, the difference between Napa and Sonoma is night and day, country mouse vs city mouse…..yet only a ridge separates the valleys.  Napa has the perfect light and the perfect climate, it is developed and slick, it is a competition of who has the biggest and produces the most.  We cruised the Napa and it was like the Vegas of the wine country, themed vineyards pulling you in with their attractions and their monuments to ego….

Rosie and The Operator sat on the deck till sunset, smelling the sweet aroma of jasmine wafting in from the garden, listening to the surf crash and watching hummingbirds sip nectar from the flowers ( verified sighting as well ) whilst we sipped an icy cold Sav Blanc and feasting on organic deli delights (I keep saying, this is California, everything seems to be organic).  Was a beauty  of a day, one to be remembered for a long time.

This is a beautiful scenic road, off the main highway nicely meandering for 16 miles through gigantic ancient forests.  The light filters down dimly to the forest floor which is covered in red leaf litter, the peace, quiet and tranquility was amazing.  We seemed to be the only ones there, the forest itself is silent, the trees stand patiently as they have for thousands of years, it was quite a moving place.

We carried on drinking and chatting, Lloyd had over 58 guns up at his place, he BBQd sides of pig that he prepared himself from his farm, the bears are feeding for winter, they smell the pigs and come for them, I have shot 6 bears already this season, OK…..he wanted The Operator to come up to his place and shoot some of his more rarer guns, then they would prepare a pig and he would show us how a real American BBQd followed by a hunting session, Rosie was welcome to sit on the porch and sample his home brew and pat his mule while the men did men things….

There were 117 saloons in its heyday….half a dozen of them still stand in the town, one is called the Bucket of Blood, it was the roughest bawdiest of all the saloons and every morning when the floors were mopped the bucket would be full of bloody water from the previous night fights…hence the name.  That place was pumping!  It was packed full of people in country and western gear, a band was just starting and everyone was stomping their feet, the first song they played….you are not going to believe it…was….dum da da dum da da dum da da dum Bon aaan zaaa.  True, the crowd went wild, it certainly put a smile on Rosie’s face.

The silence was deep and intense, the air was crisp, Rosie closed her eyes and almost had a zen like moment…then The Operator started tapping her on the shoulder..off in the bushes the most beautiful Blue Jay had landed, its back and wings were the colour of the lake, it came closer  and closer and just watched.  So much for not feeding the animals in the park, this critter new what a sandwich was…it didn’t know that Rosie don’t share her food…no matter how cute you are.   Another rustle alerted the Operator to a little grey squirrel, which came and sat by us, it too was looking for scraps.  This quite excited the Operator as the park handout the ranger gave us said there bears and bobcats in the vicinity as well…he was feeling pretty hopeful of a big animal sighting.

Sharlene our waitress said they were messy wee critters to eat and came back to the table with plastic man bibs….Rosie looked around to see if this was just a ‘take the piss out of the tourist’ joke…but men were sitting at the bar sucking the juice out of the Craws head and talking politics ….wearing man bibs, we tied them on, and waited.

We have made it to Sin City…..after remaining indoors for most of the day touring casinos….it is growing dark…hence cooler, and, like vampires, Rosie and The Operator are about to venture forth into the city that never sleeps…..will keep you posted.

We walked home down the strip and called into a couple of bars, the night sky is black above your head but with all of the neon and lights its like daytime.  Hundreds of people are swarming around you, holding giant novelty glasses full of Margarita’s or else holding their giant platform shoes with smeared lipstick on their faces as they wander barefoot with glazed eyes to the next bar….what happens in Vegas….

we took a taxi out to Fremont Street, this is the old Vegas or Downtown, known as Glitter Gulch.  The smoky low ceiling casinos are the city’s oldest and they have changed little since the 50’s…which is the whole point, this area of town is quieter, has less people and exudes Rat Pack hip.  These ‘carpet joints’, so called as they were a step up from the sawdust floor which covered early gambling halls, just rock with their retro vibe…plus the drinks are about $4 bucks a bottle cheaper than the strip!

We were in Arizona, this is cowboy country, the landscape you see in every TV Western, the ground was rocky, there were rocky canyons and rocky lookout pinnacles and Route 66 was a winding, cracking, bumpy snake..it was a beautiful road….how could you opt for an 8 lane interstate?  Rosie did utter that statement without a trace of cynicism!

Gleaming and shining in the morning sun was a weird forest of bottles….we hopped out of the car and Rosie wasn’t sure if we were allowed into the yard…The Operator said the gate was open so in we went.  It was like walking in a surreal dream bordering on creepy nightmare, yet you had your mouth open in amazement.  The sun was glinting off the bottles, squeaks and squeals of rusting machinery moving in the gentle breeze, hanging garden tools dangling in the air in front of you and you walked deeper and deeper into the garden.

Enormous Egyptian sets were constructed on the sand and because of there size, when filming finished to save costs they were left…and buried.  Decades passed and the exact location of the sets were forgotten, in 1983 archaeologists started looking for the ‘Lost City’, several artifacts have been found and the exact location of the large sets pin pointed.

We breezed through the first 2 hours and then we hit the stretch of Highway known as Big Sur…el pais grande del sur…the big country to the south.  Its craggy and rocky and more of a state of mind rather than a geographical place you could pinpoint on a map…technically there is no ‘place’ on the map.  There was only one small part of the road that had a clump of resorts and cafes, other than that the road was purist au natral. 

The response was in true Californian style, everyone seems to be too chilled and laid back…the stale smell of marijuana or incense seems to permeate everyone here, young and old, no one hurries, they wander, they talk slow, think slow and are soooo, happy, yet they all walk around with huge silver thermos cups of coffee in their hands, the caffeine should jump start everyone a little surely, then again decaf seems the more popular choice.  Does coffee taste that nice you would forgo the benefits of the effects of caffeine…

Rosie and The Operator have come full circle, we drove back into San Francisco this morning with out a hitch and handed our rental back at the airport.  It was a great road trip  and we enjoyed every minute of it, the sights, the people and the culture, it was a brilliant experience!