Out to Sea

8^th August

For our final day in Yosemite we headed to the south and the giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove.   Whilst these trees are not the tallest or oldest in the world, they are the largest species of tree by volume and it was claimed, the largest living thing on the planet.

 

The grove includes the famous California tunnel tree, which was carved out in 1895 to allow horse drawn carriages to drive through.

We left the park and headed west to the Monterey.  Whilst there was a fairly simple route we entered the destination into our sat nav and were slightly nervous when it instructed us to take smaller side roads.  However as we were going in the right direction, we were pleased to be off the main highway and found ourselves driving through acres and acres of mainly pistachio tree fields.

A few further side roads and we approached a bank of cloud and dropped down into Monterey and the familiar Victorian Inn in Foam Street.

9th August

We first came here in December 2006, primarily to go whale watching and it was for the same reason we were returning now.   In 2006, we hadn't seen any whales and were given rain checks.  These were honored today as we headed out again in search of Humpback.  The fairly small boat was thrown around a bit and after two hours we did see in the mid distance a couple of humpback whales.  However, we were disappointed as we were in a ring of boats and the experience was not quite as we had anticipated.  Moreover, the blue whales had left, apparently heading south.   Whilst we were also heading that way in a day or so, it was looking increasingly unlikely that we would see them.

Later that evening we came across a fantastic sushi restaurant called Crystal Fish where Jo proclaimed the tempura California roll was the one of the best things she'd ever eaten in her life, ever.

10th August

From Monterey, we headed south on Highway 1 via 17 mile drive which winds along the coast past many famous golf courses.  It was strange to actually see Pebble Beach where Jo had beaten me so many times on Tiger Woods Golf PGA Tour for the PS3.  As I took photographs Jo was hurriedly noting down wind speed and direction on the 8th Hole.

We drove south hugging the coast along Highway 1 and reversing the journey we had taken in 2006.   We arrived in Santa Barbara and our apartment for the next 8 days.

11th - 18th August

Lazy days in Santa Barbara.  Our apartment came with bicycles which we used every day.  The early morning fog here, known locally as the June Gloom, seemed to have overstayed its welcome and persisted for the majority of our stay.  The weather forecasters didn't have a clue what was going on so planning beach trips was a bit difficult.   It was normally all gone in the afternoon to reveal beautiful blue skies.    

We decided to go on another whale trip, this time on a modern catamaran which glided across the water at three time the speed of our previous vessel.  This meant we could get out to sea quicker and further.   

We expected to see dolphins and my previous experience was the odd one or two alongside one boat or another on holiday.  It really is something quite different when pods of hundreds appear in the distance distorting the ocean  at the horizon and when we caught up with them, the speed at which they darted around the boat was thrilling.   

The captain estimated we saw around three thousand all together.  As we went further out to sea, we began to see the tell tale spouts and before long were beside half a dozen humpback whales swimming, trumpeting and diving around the boat. 

 

We were the only boat, the engine was off, and everyone was respectfully quiet.  It was just us and the Humpbacks and it was finally what we tried so hard to achieve for many years.    

Of course, we didn't know then that it was about to get a whole lot better.  

Because there were so many humpbacks; a further six showed up, and there were taking an interest  in us, we stayed in the one spot for quite a while.  However, the captain did take us out further, and we had a small idea what he may be looking for.   

When we saw the Blue whales, the most striking thing was actually just how blue they were.   Despite the grey overcast day, their skin was like deeply glazed ceramic.  We were lucky enough to encounter a mother and calf and whilst our time was limited, it was such a privilege to see what is the largest known animal to have ever existed.

Our final glimpse was of them diving, flukes out of the water.  As they often stay under for up to an hour, we finally headed back.  

We visited Ventura,  a laid back surfing town just south of Santa Barbara for an afternoon on the beach and the first and only time we really got into the ocean, like head under in. 

A 25 mile bike ride led us through the Santa Barbara University campus and around vineyards and  residential areas which allowed us an interesting perspective we would not have got in our car. There are cycle lanes everywhere in Santa Barbara which made it really safe and fun to get around, though some of the hills were a little challenging on a single speed bike.  

It was in Santa Barbara that I discovered the Cold Stone Creamery, and ice cream shop where they mix up artery clogging concoctions which are simply and literally to die for.    

Even having to ask for 'The Pie Who Loved Me'  or  'Dough't You Want Some' couldn't embarrass me out drooling these names to staff who promptly mixed a series of nice things on a 'Cold' marble slab, deposited them into a semi-giant tub and gave it all to me.

I returned several times.

19th August 

We left Santa Barbara and headed for our final destination of Venice beach.  On the way we drove around Beverly Hills to the ubiquitous sound of leaf blowers and other gardening equipment. 

  

Our final hotel was the Venice on the Beach, a really nice place at the quiet end of Venice Beach away from the freaks a few blocks north.   

We took a stroll along the boardwalk to muscle beach and beyond to watch skateboarders.  

As the sun began to go down, we headed back and sat on the beach watching the final sunset of our trip.   

Whilst we were looking forward to going home,  it was sad that this fantastic trip we had spent so long looking forward to, was soon to be in the past.  Everything had gone exactly as planned, and as I voiced this  Jo warned me that I may have jinxed us. 

I didn't believe her until the next day when we were refused boarding to our flight. Several bouts of shock, running, bribing, crying and nausea later, found us escorted through a special government security screening to finally board our plane wondering what the hell had just happened. 

The Curse of Bodie

7^th August

I first visited Yosemite in November 2006, and whilst I planned to leave the park east via the Tioga Pass, it was closed to traffic for the winter just the night before I was due to leave.

It was for this reason that I was excited to be finally travelling the Tioga Pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into Yosemite.  The entrance was just 12 miles from our accommodation in Lee Vining which overlooked Mono lake. 

  

The Tioga Pass wound through the mountains and into the park which we immediately noticed was far busier than any of the parks we had visited. The roads seemed slightly narrower and this was exacerbated by the forest edge being directly beside the road.  This meant that clearings or larger open spaces often appeared very quickly with little time to make a decision on whether to stop or not.   The pace here was very different, not helped by a fast 45mph speed limit, and the obvious dangers of near visibility and speed was horribly illustrated to us when moments later, we passed two rangers bending over a Black Bear which had just been hit and killed by a car.    We were suddenly very aware of our own presence in these beautiful and wild places and found ourselves questioning what impact we were actually making.   The rangers place a “Speed Kills Bears” sign where bears have been killed and we saw at least half a dozen others during our visit.  Apparently around 15 are killed every year.   I understand the need to keep traffic moving through the park, but with the much larger Yellowstone having a speed limit of 35mph and only 10% fewer visitors, I feel there is argument to cut the current 45mph speed limit.

Despite this sad start, we enjoyed the rest of our day in the park.  From several miles along the valley we saw climbers on Half Dome, just tiny dots in the distance. We also hiked to Vernal Falls, a steep and rocky trail up to a waterfall.  Again tragically, we saw signs for three missing people whom had last been seen “going over” the falls.  This was no theme park and danger seemingly hid around every corner.  Despite this, we stayed safe and Jo enjoyed looking for bodies along the river banks.

8^th August

We started today visiting Mono lake, a million year old body of water within a volcanic landscape.  The lake has dropped several metres in the last 70 years since water was diverted to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles.  This drop has revealed giant tufa towers originally formed underwater and they emerge quite eerily from the motionless lake.

It was a reasonably short drive to our next destination, the ghost town of Bodie.  The town grew up from a small mining camp in 1859 to a large settlement of between 5-7,000 inhabitants.  Other booms in nearby towns drew people away and the town began to decline, first being labelled a ‘ghost town’ in 1915.

After driving down a small side road which eventually became unpaved, we arrived at Bodie.  The town boasts nearly 150 existing buildings which are described as being kept in a state of ‘arrested decay’.

Looking through the windows, we saw evidence of previous occupants in the shape of old shoes, clothes, bottles, and peeling wallpaper.  The town remained significantly occupied until the 1940s.

As we wandered around Jo spotted a small piece of pottery on the ground which she picked up.  We debated taking it home for a souvenir  but knew it was wrong, so decided to put it back on the ground where we found it   Later we  visited the small museum and visitors centre and I came across a large, a very large folder of letters written by people who had taken artefacts from Bodie and were returning them with unrelenting tales of misfortune.  These ranged from twisted ankles to the sudden death of close relatives.  Jo and I looked at eachother and imagined we'd just had a very lucky escape.

10 minutes later we couldn’t decide whether we were lucky or unlucky as after three hours walking around Bodie we returned to our car to find both offside doors wide open.  On the back seat was Jo’s handbag where she left it with her purse almost comically poking out of the top.  My wallet was on an open shelf on the dashboard.  All our other possessions were dotted around include two full suitcases in the boot.  Nothing was missing but we wondered if this was just a warning.  

A little shaken we headed out and back along the Tioga Pass to Yosemite.  We had a picnic at Tuolumne Meadows, and headed up to Glacier Point for an incredible view across the valley as the sun began to set. 

The road up was slow and winding, so we left before sunset to beat the rush.   On the way back as it slowly began to get dark, Jo had a strong feeling about us seeing a bear. 

Less than one minute later, I spotted something in a clearing as we drove past.  I turned the car around as soon as I could to return to the clearing, and to our delight, there was a Black bear, alive and well and in clear view.   We jumped out of the car and were immediately set upon by mosquitoes but it didn’t matter because here was a real life wild Black bear.  It didn’t stay around long but again this was a fantastic end to the day and we headed out the western entrance and our next motel in El Portal.  Our accommodation was a double room with spa, which we assumed was the spa attached to the hotel.  Oddly, it turned out to be a giant whirlpool hot tub in the middle of our bedroom.