March 5 - 10 Los Angeles, California to Oregon

Thursday, March 5
After spending the night in Los Angeles we used mapquest to locate Agape International in Culver City, home to the famed Michael Beckwith, from ‘The Secret’. We both enjoyed browsing the bookstore and selecting several treasures.
Traversing LA, we checked out several of the famed beaches. On a right turn whim, we were delighted to discover the Getty Villa. Unfortunately, since it was late in the afternoon, and we had no reservations, we thought we might be lucky enough to see the outside. The woman at the gate most graciously gave us tour tickets and free parking.
Oil tycoon and avid art collector J. Paul Getty opened the Getty Villa as his second museum in a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, incorporating additional details from several other ancient sites. The Getty Villa holds Greek and Roman sculptures. The Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities are arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater and Stories of the Trojan War, housed within Roman-inspired architecture and surrounded by Roman-style gardens. We were impressed by the marble floors and walls. The number of levels and layout is representative of an archaeological dig.
There has been controversy surrounding the Greek and Italian governments' claim that objects in the collection were looted and should be repatriated. In 2006 the Getty returned or promised to return four looted objects to Greece: a stele (grave marker), a marble relief, a gold funerary wreath, and a marble statue. In 2007, the Getty signed an agreement to return 40 looted items to Italy. It is unfortunate that Paul Getty never lived to see this museum which he dedicated to the public free of charge in order to share his love of art with everyone.
We travelled on through Malibu drooling at the sight of the magnificent homes hanging off the cliffs and wondering at the tenacity of the kite water skiers. We also enjoyed a few chuckles over some of the signage like:
- “to be honest....I just want a beer’ panhandler sign
- A ‘do not give to panhandlers’ sign
- And on a more serious note a Tsunami warning sign!
For a relatively low fee for a state park, an Oceanside campsite just north of Malibu hosted us for the night.

Friday, March 6
There was a lovely couple, owners of two friendly black labs, who joined us for conversation while we enjoyed our morning brew. Heading north along the coast we passed both air and naval bases near Port Huenema. Some of the planes we saw were responsible for national security as they are equipped with specialized radar equipment to identify any type of ship or airplane. Workers were diligently tending the vast strawberry fields near the Channel Islands Air Guard Base. An employee of U-haul in Oxnard replaced our faulty hitch for the bike rack – what a relief! We continued on through rolling hills with the Santa Ynez Mountains on one side and the Santa Barbara Channel on the other, enjoying the cattle grazing and counting the multiple oil rigs in blueberry country. We laughed at the name of a park we passed – ‘Nojoqui’! and we decided not to stop in Buelton, home of split pea soup and Pork Palace where pigs are sold. The driving became a little gruelling as we passed through rockslide areas. There was a distinct change in vegetation as we drove through horse ranch and vineyard country near Los Alomos. We passed Camp San Louis Obispo which is the original home to the National Guard.
Arriving just before dark at Hearst Castle, we were transported back in time to the 1930’s when Hearst invited such notables as Churchill, President Teddy Roosevelt and the new cinema notables like Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Bob Hope.
Hearst Castle is the palatial estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It is located near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This National Historic Landmark was formally named "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill"), but Hearst usually just called it "the ranch".
Hearst Castle was built on a 40,000 acre (160 km²) ranch that William Randolph Hearst's father, George Hearst, originally purchased in 1865. The younger Hearst grew fond of this site over many childhood family camping trips. He inherited the ranch, which had grown to 250,000 acres (1,000 km²), from his mother, Phoebe, upon her death in 1919. Construction began that same year and continued through 1947, when he stopped living at the estate due to ill health. San Francisco architect Julia Morgan designed most of the buildings. Hearst was an inveterate tinkerer, and would tear down structures and rebuild them at a whim. For example, the opulent Neptune Pool was rebuilt three times before Hearst was satisfied. As a consequence of Hearst's persistent design changes, the estate was never completed in his lifetime.
The estate is a mix of historic architectural styles that Hearst admired in his travels around Europe. Hearst Castle features 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres (0.51 km2) of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and a movie theatre. Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and '30s.
Friday night karaoke at the local San Simeon Beach Bar and Grill enticed us to stay for a moonlight Oceanside walk and campfire with the company and marvellous wit of a self proclaimed California cowboy/school teacher. We certainly can find kindred spirits everywhere.

Saturday, March 7
At the pier near Hearst Castle we walked out to the end of it, noting that the tide was out. We stopped at a lookout where elephant seals were sunning themselves on the beach. What massive creatures – the adult male can weigh more than 2 tonnes! Just after Point Piedras Blanca Lighthouse we bought the most expensive gas of our journey at $3.34 per gallon.
On the recommendation of the Irish California Cowboy we stopped for dinner and the view at Nepenthe in Big Sur. The Nepenthe restaurant has been serving visitors since 1949. There is also the Phoenix Shop and Cafe Kevah at the same location. The word nepenthe means ‘no sorrow’ and true to its meaning it is a place invoking a feeling of serenity as you overlook the cliffs, the trees and the vast ocean.
The Cowboy also cautioned us to beware of the Big Sur crazy wildmen – saw a few by the side of the road but we decided to keep on truckin’.
The evening hours found us driving through more winding, steep rocky coast through forest toward Carmel, home of Mayor Clint Eastwood.

Sunday, March 8
After spending a quiet evening in Monteray, we took pleasure in the sight of scuba divers and a man hang gliding over the sand dunes just north of this resort area. The historic El Camino Real highway brought us through rolling hills farmland. We found an RV friendly site called `The Garlic Farm` in Gilroy and a recommended outlet mall where we, of course, went shopping for Patsy’s nephews shoes. Acknowledging that there was no rainy day in the near future, we finally did our laundry – only nine loads.

Monday, March 9
As we travelled into San Francisco we were surprised to see the rows upon rows of markers in cemetaries dedicated to soldiers. The Highway 280 honours America`s military. Housing architecture changed dramatically to an eclectic mix with flat roofs dominating the skyline. We fell in love with San Francisco, did everything short of wearing flowers in our hair. Pier 39`s sea lions amused us as did the fire eater and wandering minstrels. The hunk of milk chocolate with almonds from Chocolate Heaven was scrumptious. The city`s scenic drive signs guided us to the Bay Bridge, Fisherman`s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, and Baker`s Beach. Haight-Ashbury wowed us with shopping `60`s style and we drove by 710 Ashbury, early home to the members of San Francisco’s most beloved band the Grateful Dead.

Tuesday, March 10
After a great rest roadside we drove through evergreen forests – starting to look like Canada. Rounded a corner and were awed by a white capped mountain in the distance. Turned out to be Mount Shasta which has an elevation of 14, 162’. Stopped for an RV lunch in Yreka surrounded by mountains then headed north on Highway 5 toward Oregon.
Late afternoon we crossed into Oregon, where bikers are cautioned to wear helmets and motorists told via signage to ‘Click-it or Ticket’. Our ears were popping as we climbed to 4,000 feet above sea level. We thought Texas was long at over 880 miles across but never imagined that California from south to north would be over 796 miles.

Wednesday March 4 Oceanside, Los Angeles

We left the rest area north of Oceanside on I-5 and drove by Camp Pendleton manoeuvres which included a war ship just off the coast and helicopters and a Hercules dropping loads of supplies, just like in the movie ‘Mash’. The US Customs and border patrol and some sort of power station were all part of the scenery as we sped along under beautiful cumulous clouds. We turned onto I-1 toward the ‘Beach Cities’. Oops, then we took an incorrect exit. Marilyn, the navigator, was not fully functional yet, but yeck, we got a great photo of the flowers and tall ships in the harbour at a giant yacht club in Dana Point. Further along Hwy 1 there were more than six offshore oil rigs as well as tankers, barges and pumps that went on for several miles not far from Huntington Beach.

Our first glimpse of downtown LA was pretty hazy. Shopping resulted in gluten free bread for Marilyn and yummy sushi for us and a picnic by the sea at a marina in Long Beach. It was interesting to see the “Queen Mary” ship, now a hotel, right alongside a Russian submarine! We found Grauman’s Chinese theatre and took pics of some of the imprints left by famous actors even Shirley Temple! Our day ended with a bit of shopping on Hollywood Blvd and Beverley Hills and camping out Chez Wal-Mart in Culver City.

Tuesday March 3 San Diego and Coronado Island

After driving through San Diego to Coronado Island we stopped at the Hotel del Coronado. “The Del” was built in 1888 and is still one of the largest wooden hotel structures with one of America’s finest family beaches. So today we visited the hotel and walked the beach and ate at Chez Patsy’s seafood travelling bistro. Price was right and reservations weren’t required.

We travelled along the coastline past the amphibious naval base near the Silverstrand State beach. One wrong turn and ten minutes and we would have been visiting Tijuana Mexico.
Instead we raced chasing the sunset to traverse San Diego via a very busy I-5 to Oceanside Pier. This 2000 foot wooden Pier is longest wooden pier structure in America. It sure has one of the best red and pink sunsets we have yet seen over the Pacific Ocean.

Monday March 2 South Carlsbad State Park and Beach

Patsy started the day with breakfast outside with the squirrels and then later her mood changed to a little bit of ire at the unforgiving park volunteers who proceeded to remind us 3 times that it was actually 3 minutes past twelve. Oh my God, check out time was noon, imagine! The parks was at least 80% empty.

After finally leaving this State Institution, we proceeded to a parking lot next to a very popular surfing location where nobody harassed us and the cost was zero. In Del Mar parking lots surfers actually change into their wet suits holding up only little towels. There was also many other attractions such as guitar playing and tight rope practice between the trees. Flocks of Pelicans dazzled us with their synchronized flights along the cliffs and through the waiting surfers.

We proceeded along the coast until we reached La Jolla Cove. There below a very large Life Guard lookout station many families of seals were basking in the sand and trying to bed down for the night. Some with attitude and a very difficult baby seal who was determined to be nocturnal and stay in the sea returned to the sea but got nudged repeatedly back to shore by an anxious Mom. This performance was showcased against the setting pinks and reds of the sun and the crashing waves of the Pacific.

Sunday March 1 San Bernadino (ugh stinky) Valley to South Carlsbad State Park

We both were affected by the quality of the air in San Bernadino so we travelled directly to South Carlsbad State Park. We decided on a small camping spot on the ocean cliffs while Patsy climbed out from the “flue abyss”. Marilyn wandered the beaches admiring surfers, speaking to locals, and observing squirrel colonies that inhabit the very fragile sand cliffs. Earlier the next day our sightings of black fins close to the surfers was a little disturbing until we realized that they were probably whales not sharks!

Saturday February 28 Las Vegas to California.

We travelled most of the day through Mojave Desert to California and their Agriculture Inspection station. Later at Peggy Sue’s Diner near Barstow we noted across the road in a large fenced in army facility many army tanks being unloaded from flat bed train trailers. Occasionally, just occasionally we are reminded this is a country at war.

Peggy Sue’s Diner is all 50s and juke boxes, penny candy and Marilyn had an old fashion milkshake. Patsy may have started the flue with their hot dogs that were on display on Peggy Sue’s counter.

Thank goodness Marilyn drove to Lake Elsinore in California where we slept that night.

Friday February 27 2008 Las Vegas The Orleans Casino

Have you ever listened to the music of Kenny Wayne Sheperd. Give it a try! I think it could repair a whole in anyone's soul.

We felt privileged to spend the evening at a Kenny Wayne Sheperd concert in The Orleans Showroom. This performer is without a doubt the most accomplished guitarist of our age. We were very tempted to stay in Los Vegas and attend the next two shows with most of his loyal fans! During the show Kenny was accompanied by a superb band but an unexpected guest, the drummer from Wings, Paul McCartney's band, also got on stage to share a few tunes.

After the show Patsy did a little gambling while Marilyn enjoyed a little Zydeco in one of the lounges.