World Trip 2011

The drive through the northern coast of California was fairly uneventful.  Having avoided a speeding fine for a warning instead, we were relieved and adamant about sticking to the speed limit. We detoured slightly off highway 101 for the spectacular scenery along the Avenue of the Giants.  Looking up at all those massive redwood trees really does make one feel insignificant.  We even camped amongst the forest along the Eel river and enjoyed a relaxed evening with beers around the campfire.  The next destination was Point Reyes, along the coast.  We decided to take "scenic route 1..." naive to what was in store for us.  We nearly doubled our driving time down the coast as this scenic highway weaved along the steep rugged cliffs overlooking the Pacific ocean.  Well into the evening, we finally arrived at our destination.  We went in search of surf the next morning with disappointing results.  Much of the coast is either inaccessible or very wind affected.  We continued down to San Francisco and made it to our next hostel located at Fort Mason along the waterfront.  We hired bikes on one day and did a full tour of San Fransisco including the Golden Gate bridge, Park and city. We had a fairly mellow couple of nights, the highlight being that we watched the Vancouver Canucks move on to the Stanley cup finals in a bar full of Americans.  We had to start the next day's journey with little sleep thanks to the vicious backpacker stink that filled the dorm and the guy on my left who was snoring like a chainsaw...I think he was the only one out of the 20 or so backpackers who managed any sleep that night. Cookie surfed Ocean beach that morning then we followed the compass south... and so the journey continues.