CapeBuild's Cross Country Travel Log

[twisted lines]

Twisty turny roads of route 50!
Must have been Tahoe to Sac; never done that.
The 5 Lb tanks are nice

[RJ Howell]

Tuesday Oct 11

Left Lake Tahoe area yesterday. Needed auto fuel and could not believe the price of gas

I was surprised as well when there back in Feb! Gas was cheaper in Baja!!! We just returned from Canada and paid less without exchange involved!
We didn't venture very far into California when there.. 1/2 a tank deep! LOL

If you run the northern route on the way back and wish to try the run through Canada I mentioned to you, both crossings were back to the days of old!

Safe Travels!

[Capebuild]

Saturday, Oct 15

We've been hanging out in the Samuel Taylor Campground since (I kind of forget when we arrived, to be honest)...like maybe last Monday. The redwoods here are amazing. It's nice to be at sea level again although it still feels kind of dry out (according to my chapped lips). We've been riding bikes and taking some walks and visiting some family. Went to the beach at PT. Reyes visiting with the Pacific Ocean seeing how it compares with our Atlantic.

At the campground we are hovered over by these enormously tall trees so getting very little solar. Our state of charge is down to 26%. Good to have a lithium battery but needed to take some action. So now hanging out at the handicapped rest room where there's a plug to charge up a bit. So since last Monday, till now (Saturday), the battery has kept us going with power.


John

[rjgimp]

We've been hanging out in the Samuel Taylor Campground since (I kind of forget when we arrived, to be honest)...like maybe last Monday.

Isn't it great when you get in the groove and you're having such a good time you lose track of the entire calendar?

...visiting with the Pacific Ocean seeing how it compares with our Atlantic.

It's all the same enormous pot of water, just a slightly different location.

At the campground we are hovered over by these enormously tall trees so getting very little solar. Our state of charge is down to 26%. Good to have a lithium battery but needed to take some action. So now hanging out at the handicapped rest room where there's a plug to charge up a bit. So since last Monday, till now (Saturday), the battery has kept us going with power.

Now THAT'S how you solve a problem. I think this might be my favorite post so far this week!
Just git-er-done!!!

[western traveler]

Great John!
Either north or south from there are fun things to see. The coastal redwoods north, or Carmel, Monterrey (with their awesome aquarium) and Big Sur south. Hopefully you have plans for both. It was just a few months ago I did that coastline. Can’t say there was a particular standout but crossing the Golden gate Bridge was enough of that city for me.

[halfdome, Danny]

John, If you go down the California coast, The Hearst Castle in San Simon is a great destination attraction.
Danny

[western traveler]

Unfortunately Hearst Castle is still closed since the road in washed away. Scheduled to open again in May. So many coastal communities to visit down the coast though.

[Capebuild]

Wednesday Oct 26

I feel like its been a while since connecting with updates here. We had pulled out of SamTaylorState Park a week ago on Tuesday and made our way up to the Napa hills area for my son's wedding ( the main destination for our epic adventure across the country). The wedding was held outside at my son's wife's family home way up in the hills. The travels up here to their beautiful home and grounds was an adventure in itself going up and down 12% grades with incredibly sharp turns. Many warnings on the road discouraging cars "towing anything" to reconsider their travel plans. Took my time with the trailer passing by many grape vine fields and wineries. We stayed in the house for the past week giving the trailer a rest from us.


So tomorrow (thursday the 27th) we are departing here, back on the road for our return trip. Our plan right now is to travel down the Pacific Coast Highway with our first stop in a state park in Big Sur and then on to the Malibu area. We're trying NOT to make any reservations so we have some flexibility with our travels in case we decide to stay more than one night or more in any one particular place (for instance, Joshua Tree will require more than 1 night). We will basically be taking Route 10 trying to stay at some lower (and, hopefully, warmer) altitudes and then somewhere in New Mexico hopping up to Interstate 40 to travel through to the Oklahoma City area. That's as far as our planning has taken us. We're not in so much of a hurry to get back to the Cape, but we're not dilly dallying either.
We may choose to stay for a few nights in any particular place..... flexibility is a good thing.


Will get back to posting updates as we get on the road. Been traveling now for almost 6 weeks. 5,500 miles and many tanks of gas. Had the oil changed in the Outback last week.

Here's some pics of the wedding venue and grape fields.

John

[Tom&Shelly]

I-10 will be your more comfortable choice. Heard there was snow in Albuquerque the other day!

(Meanwhile, in Upstate NY, I was in a short sleeve tee-shirt and shorts today; go figure!)

Tom

[RJ Howell]

I-10

I've run across the gulf using I-10 as my guide and slipping lower when I could. Personally I'd take it back into Florida then northward. But that's me..
I-10 through AZ is a great route going through some area of interest. We have friends in Tucson so it's a stop over as well. Nice run through NM as well. In AZ a side run to Chiricahua National Monument is well worth it. One of those not as visited kind of places and free camp in the Coronado National Forest. In NM White Sands National is part of a loop over I-10 and leads into Carlsbad Cavern National and south then back to I-10 across Texas.

If you jump I-40 in NM then you may still get a chance at Bandelier National Monument and Santa Fe (we really liked Santa Fe).

We ran Texas much further south chasing the border. Next time across I'll use I-10 and add Austin to the list (just north of I-10) with hopes of catching a show! If you've never, San Antonio and the Mission Trail is worth staying around a couple days for.

Of course I-10 goes through New Orleans as well! Again if you've never.. We tend to run just off the Interstates to catch some true flavor of an area. Still plenty to do & see running I-10 and making road-time as well. Bucket list for us is to drive down the southern part of the swamp (south of NOLA) and stay at Grand Isle State Park. Way out of your way, yet thought I'd mention it. You could also confirm if it's swamp or bayou..

There's more but I'd rather hear your story!

As you see, I also like I-10 better than I-40

[Onajourney]

That sound like a great run RJ!

[Tom&Shelly]

I-10

I've run across the gulf using I-10 as my guide and slipping lower when I could. Personally I'd take it back into Florida then northward. But that's me..

Not to hijack John's log, but we're planning sort of an inverse of this trip in a few weeks, so thank you for the ideas RJ!

Tom

[twisted lines]

My experience through Arkansas / Oklahoma on I 40
Someone on a roller stopped and started to much?
Road construction slows to 65 ? with no added space to the white line =
White knuckles on crappy roads

[Capebuild]

Not to hijack John's log, but we're planning sort of an inverse of this trip in a few weeks, so thank you for the ideas RJ!
Tom

No problem, Tom. I would have thought you would have started back to the west by now.... but glad to hear you're still in tee shirts up there. Not so glad to hear about snow in Albuquerque though


Thanks for your travel thoughts, RJ. We've been to Bandolier years ago. Another great spot.

Saturday, October 29
We left Napa on Thursday and made our way to Route 1 also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. I had traveled this way may years ago in my college days from LA up to the Stamford area. This time traveling the opposite direction we found ourselves hugging the double yellow line on the cliff side. Quite the adrenaline rush at certain points…. But providing very incredible vistas. Made our way to Kirk Creek State Park in the Big Sur area hoping for a first come first serve site. We lucked out with a great site for one night’s stay. Had a great sunset and then sliver of a moon evening overlooking the Pacific. Around 7pm when it started turning dark with the sun down we heard quite a ruckus coming from the site across from ours. The guy there was using a rake to beat off the invading and very adventurous raccoons that attacked his site. One by one for a total of 6 the raccoons came racing down the path, passing our site. Down the hill we could hear the tenters screaming a laughing trying to shoo away the marauding wolf pack of bad boy critters. We went to bed and later in the night I could hear “something” outside our rig. When I got up and went looking for the source of the racket I could see little muddy footprints all over our tongue box making their way up to our roof, all over the Thule carrier, the front windshield and all over the car’s hood. Pretty much of a party for those raccoons.

The next day, Friday, we took off with hearty goodbyes to our furry friends making our way towards the Malibu area. We stopped at a viewing site for elephant seals which was pretty cool. Wound up at the Malibu State Park for one night and on our way this morning to Joshua Tree.

[twisted lines]

Not sure about the seal's that far south but the ones to the north,
I found Salmon as a good bait for playing with them, found they always win.
Had one pose with my bait for a but wasn't fast enough!

And the Racoons are much cuter than Skunk's