June Trip-part 5

Day 8 - California

The plan originally called for leaving this morning, meeting Peter and then driving down the Pacific Coast Highway for a ways to see if we preferred that over driving straighter inland roads. Unfortunately, due to the mixup the night before, we were now at an unfamiliar place and I didn't realize at the time that we still could of taken a coastal highway route from where we were. Just some of the casualties from using GPS for navigation instead of good ol' maps!


So, we once again found ourselves southbound on Hwy 101, headed towards San Luis Obispo. We saw many sights along the way, perhaps the most interesting were the many migrant workers in the fields picking strawberries and harvesting other crops as well. The rest of this part of the journey was uneventful with the exception of the beautiful California landscapes.

Once we arrived at San Luis Obispo, we took a look around, but no one wanted to explore further so we continued on down to our destination for the night, Santa Maria. The trip down took us back to the coast and we all got a good look at the Pacific ocean. Once we arrived at our destination, we located a room for the night and had a nice meal at the IHOP before returning to the hotel for a good night's rest.

Day 9 - California (Los Angeles)


There were many places to visit and sights to see on this day, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills to name just a few. Melody and Kathy took time to dip their toes in the ocean while we were at the beach. And once that was done, we continued on with the primary reason for this trip. To see a lady named June, who was Melody's namesake (Melody June) and friend of the family in their younger days. She lived in a large mobile home park which was located in the LA suburb of Mira Loma.

The Hollywood Sign

Santa Monica beach

Shopping on Rodeo Drive

Santa Monica

Capitol Records Tower

Jim & Melody on the beach

After our visit, we continued on to our destination for the evening, Victorville, where we quickly located a room for the night.

June Trip-part 4

Day 7 - California (San Francisco)

It was decided early on in the planning of this trip that we should spend two days in the San Francisco area, due to all the sights there are here to see. So early in the morning, we got up, dressed and headed into the city on Hwy 101. This route takes in one of the most spectacular sights of the city, the Golden Gate bridge. Ever since I walked across the Brooklyn bridge during our New York City trip, I had a desire to do the same on this equally famous bridge.

We figured the best way to see the city was on one of those double-decker tour buses that can be found in most major cities. San Francisco was no different and we decided on a bus with the most stops and places visited for the money. For this we made our way to the Union Square parking garage to await our bus, only to find a number of competing tours at the same location. We finally were able to determine which bus was ours and once it arrived we were on our way.

I had read extensively on weather conditions in this city as I wanted to be sure I had the proper clothes to keep me warm. My attire for the day included a pair of thermal underwear, a pair of jeans and warm long-sleeved shirt. A heavy jacket and my Nike cap, complete with ear flaps!  I may have looked strange on the open topped bus, but at least I was warm.

It was decided early on that we would ride the complete tour first and then make a determination on which way we needed to proceed. Unfortunately, the bus tour took longer than we thought and so we decided to move the car to a parking lot closer to the pier where we would catch the shuttle to Alcatraz later that afternoon. Once we got back to Union Square, we paid the parking fee there and went off in search of a more suitable lot.

Our search eventually led us to a parking lot directly across from the Alcatraz boarding pier and as luck would have it someone was leaving the full lot as we drove in. We parked the car and a lady came up to Jim and told him it was his lucky day. She gave him the paid daily $30 parking sticker to use and so we got to park close by for free!

We decided to make our way to the Fisherman's wharf, where we could have lunch and the girls could shop a bit. We located a suitable place to dine and after lunch the girls went off to shop while Jim and I took in the sights, including the sea lions at the right. Not being used to walking I had to stop every now and then at a bench for awhile, but eventually we made our way near the sight where we would catch the shuttle ferry to Alcatraz. The location we chose was positioned so that we could see the girls when they made there way there. Sure enough, shortly thereafter, we saw the girls headed our way.

After we arrived at the Alcatraz dock, we were able to sit and wait a short time for the 3:55 PM tour, which had been booked in advance, and so the actual standing in line waiting time was very short. Once we boarded the ferry boat, the ride over took about 15-20 minutes and was fairly pleasant because I could once again sit. Once at the island, we listened to the the welcome speech given by the rangers before everyone was turned loose to explore the island at their own pace.

 My pace was very slow, I found a suitable bench (indicated by the red arrow at the right), and waited there for the others to explore on their own. Just making it to the island was enough for me, I can read more about what happened there on the net than any tour will ever show me, so that is all I needed. The time went by quickly, people watching is far more interesting anyway. And there was every kind of person you can imagine on this tiny island in the San Francisco bay. Among others, I distinctly heard people speaking german, english (british), french, spanish, japanese, chinese, arabic, and possibly korean. Yep, no shortage of international visitors here!

Once the call was given for the last ferry boat back to the city, I finally saw my companions coming down the hill. Once reunited we made our way back onto the ferry and as the water slowly churned we headed back to the city. The trip was pleasant again as I was sitting, and once we docked we quickly made our way back to the car and began what had become the nightly ritual to find a suitable hotel room for the night.

Here are a few other pictures of interesting stuff in San Francisco, the colorful historic trolley cars which run along the Embarcadero, as well as the famous cable cars which traverse the hills of the city.

One of the sights I most wanted to get is the beautiful 4 tower bay bridge, but it's mostly impossible to get a picture of the entire span from San Francisco. At the left is the best I could do, with a picture of the entire bridge taken from the island at the right which I found on the web.

The plan called for us to stay in south San Francisco (near the airport), but due to the lack of inexpensive rooms, we decided to press on a bit further in hopes of finding a place to sleep. I even called my friend Peter, who we were supposed to meet the next day for brunch, to see if he could recommend a place. Unfortunately he didn't answer, so we continued on southward. On south we went, past the place we were supposed to meet him at and even further where we finally found a place in a small town called Watsonville. I decided that the meeting would not take place being as we were so far south and Peter had not answered.

The need for sleep was evident as we decided not to get up quite so early the next morning being as we had nowhere to be at any given time. A good nights rest after a big day in the city was just what the doctor ordered, zzzzzzzz.

June Trip-part 3

Day 5 - Idaho, Nevada

Got another early start this morning as we needed to cover some extra ground due to the previous day's extended activities. It was also decided to bypass yet another scheduled stop, the Bonneville Salt Flats, and go directly to Reno, Nevada, our next stop for the night. This decision allowed us to get back on our schedule, which was needed at this point in our journey.

Originally, our trip called for travel through Utah, but this latest plan deleted that state altogether and substituted Idaho in it's place. There really wasn't any reason to stop this time around and the pictures that we took were all taken from the car as we rode along. Once we made our way to I-80 in Wells, Nevada, we only stopped once for food, gas and a restroom break.


On our way through northern Nevada on US 93, we encountered the coldest temps of the entire trip. With the mercury dipping all the way down to the freezing mark. We even had a bit of the white stuff as the rain froze and turned to snow. I believe it only got up to 40 degrees when we finally hit Reno later that day. A long ride for sure, but worth it to catch back up.

Jim had previously arranged for a free stay at the Harrah's casino, so we quickly made our way there to get settled in. Once checked in, we went across the street to one of the many restaurants and had a delightful meal before Kathy and I returned to the room while Melody and Jim played the slots for awhile before calling it a night. The picture at the left is our view from the hotel room.


Day 6 - Nevada, California

Only a couple of stops to make on this leg of the journey, but if previous days were any indication, we knew we were in for another long day. With Reno just 20 miles or so from California, our first stop came quickly at the Donner Memorial state park in Truckee. We didn't spend too much time here, but managed to get a few pictures of the monument which had been erected to honor the ill fated party.

The next part of our journey was a departure from our normal travel pattern of sticking to interstate highways and such as we cut across the state in order to get to our next destination, bypassing Sacramento in the process. In addition to saving time, we also got to experience more of the hilly, twisty roads with beautiful photo opportunities such as the picture below.

Once we got by all of the twisty roads, we found ourselves on iconic Hwy 101, making our way north to Leggett, California. This is one of the few places left where you can really experience the giant redwood trees, so big you can actually drive through it! This attraction was not on the original agenda, but was added at the last moment once I discovered a day with a very short driving time. The addition of this site fulfilled two needs. 1) to make an 8 hour travel day and 2) to fill the desire of our pilot, Jim.

And our last portion of the drive for this day was a short jaunt down Hwy 101 to Santa Rosa, where we found a suitable hotel in which to spend the night.

June Trip-part 2

Day 3 - South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana

On the morning of day 3, I figured we were a little ahead of schedule being as we had already been down to Mount Rushmore and seen the sights there. That activity had originally been scheduled for the morning of day 3, so I felt good as we left the hotel early that morning headed west on I-90. In a very short time, we got off to visit our next scheduled attraction, Sturgis, South Dakota.

It was my belief that this would be a brief picture taking stop, but I was mistaken. It seems Jim, Melody and Kathy were all fans of the Full Throttle Saloon reality show on TruTV. So again I sat in the car while they explored every inch of the place. Not alone mind you, I did have some company while I sat there. It seems the mascot of the show, Emmit the donkey had taken notice of whatever it was that I was eating at the time and decided to check me out. It didn't take too long for the lady who runs the bar to come out and retrieve the wayward jack ass.

Eventually we made our way to the next stop which is basically across I-90 on the south side, Deadwood, South Dakota. This old west town is a great place to visit and see the sights. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to spend there as we stayed too long in Sturgis. We did get to eat lunch at Mustang Sally's and went into the Saloon number 10, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed. Unfortunately, this was not the original site of the murder as that establishment burned down in 1879. It is still a very interesting town and I hope to go back some day for a more detailed visit.

Once all the sight seeing and shopping was complete in Deadwood, we made our way back towards I-90 and were once again westbound. Our next scheduled stop was supposed to be Devil's Tower, but the consensus was that it was getting late and no one really wanted another detour from our route of travel. Just as Mount Rushmore, I had already seen this sight, up close and personal, so no objection from me.

We did make a couple more stops, once at Buffalo Ridge, South Dakota and again to stop and see the prairie dogs at the prairie dog ranch. The latter was something I had not experienced on my previous trip out west so it was very interesting for me as well as the others in our group. Even though the ranch was closed, we saw many of the little creatures poking their heads out in search of a handout from the tourists.

We decided to forego our next scheduled stop at the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn due to the late hour, so we continued on into Montana. We stopped and had supper at a DQ in Billings and ultimately ended up at a Super 8 in Columbus, Montana. We were originally supposed to stop in Big Timber, but a mix up with the GPS put us here for the night.

Day 4 - Montana, Wyoming, Idaho

After another restful night, we once again continued our journey fairly early. We quickly discovered the GPS error on the way when we passed by Big Timber, but the distance was not that great and in no time at all we crossed back into Wyoming and found ourselves at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. After a brief bathroom and ice cream break, along with a few pictures taken, we were on our way to the main attraction of this park, Old Faithful geyser.

Of course you know how it is with plans, they never seem to work out the way they should. There were simply too many picture taking opportunities along the route, from the wildlife (Elk and Buffalo), to the mountains and streams so breathtaking to behold. We did eventually find our way to the geyser and had a rest while we waited for it's eruption.

Took about 45 minutes, but it finally went off. Once that occurred and the pictures and video were captured, we decided to quickly make our way to the south entrance as we had spent far too much time (6 hours) in Yellowstone. But as usual, you can only go as fast as traffic patterns allow and we quickly found ourselves behind a line of cars near the south entrance. We noticed many people out taking pictures and were quickly informed there was a grizzly bear near the side of the road.

The correct and safe thing to do in this case is to roll up the windows and stay in the car until the crowd  is either eaten or gets back into their vehicles, but that was not the case with my companions, who were quickly out of the car as well leaving me there to fend for myself. The last time this happened I was quickly discovered by the local wildlife (Emmit), and I hoped I didn't meet the same fate this time as no one had bothered to roll up their windows.

Luckily, that was not the case, and pretty soon Jim came back to the car announcing that the bear was getting angry so he decided to come back to the car. Of course Melody and Kathy didn't sense the eminent danger and continued to take photos until the last possible moment. But all good things must come to an end and soon they too were back in the safe confines of the car.

Soon afterwards we found ourselves out of Yellowstone and into Grand Teton National Park, where many more pictures were taken on our way to Jackson, Wyoming. The trip went by quickly and we stopped in Jackson to have a bite to eat at a Wendy's there. Once we ate, we stopped nearby to fill up with gas and I made a horrible discovery. I had lost my phone. So we quickly went back to the restaurant to search through the garbage. Long story short, Jim found my phone in a dumpster out back. Thanks Jim, I really appreciate your fast action and disregard for getting icky stuff all over you while digging through the trash.

Once back on the road again, we realized that we were not going to make our scheduled destination of Ogden, Utah, so I quickly reprogrammed the GPS for the quickest route to our next day destination of Reno, Nevada, in hopes that we could split the time lost over two days and hopefully get back on schedule the next day. With the GPS reprogrammed, we found ourselves on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, not uncommon in Wyoming. Eventually we made our way to Idaho Falls and ended up staying in Chubbuck, Idaho for the night.