Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, Worlds Tallest Trees and Volunteering at a Makerfarm!
We are on a 7,000 mile Great American Road trip. You can catch up on our last post: Morro Bay, California – Cooler temps, Ancient volcanos and Maritime Fun! here.
Pacific Coast Cruisin’
Winding our way up from Morro Bay along highway 1, we took the “Scenic” Route along the coast line. Towing a travel trailer on this route is a bit of a chore. Many recommend to skip it, but then you miss the whole point of driving the PCH. Go for it, I say.
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Driving North from about Cambria to Carmel-By-the-Sea near Pfeiffer Big Sur State park the road is filled with switch backs, narrow roads and cliffside driving. But the views, the views are absolutely amazing.
Gasoline King
In Carmel, we stopped for even MORE expensive gasoline than the MOST EXPENSIVE GASOLINE (in Los Angeles). At a whopping $6.59 per gallon, this gas station can be crowned as the absolute top!
Golden Gate Bridge
Reaching San Francisco, we came in the south route along the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the highlight of the drive, as one of Lincoln’s top goals of the trip was to see the Golden Gate Bridge. All were excited in anticipation of the crossing.
Muir Woods
Taking advantage of the close proximity of Muir Woods to San Francisco we headed up for the morning. Muir Woods is on a reservation system now, so make sure you book in advance. We easily found a reservation the day before.
Muir Woods is a rare protected old growth Redwood forest. Early settlers logged much of the redwood in the area. This area is protected by a bit of luck and will power of the people who formerly owned the property.
Canopy View Trail
With a 3 and 6 year old, I typically would not recommend this 3 mile trail. The Boys spotted a smaller child up the trail, and got very enthusiastic, so we went for it. To our surprise, the boys kept a brisk pace and high energy the whole time. Most welcomed.
Muir Woods is crested by large Redwood Trees. Redwood Trees are the tallest trees in the world. Although the older ones are younger, they are taller than Sequoias. A large band Redwood Trees runs up the entire Northwest Coast of California.
(entire tree could still not be captured)
Trees can reach as high as a 30 story building. The trees are so tall that the root systems themselves can’t alone supply the tree with enough water. They supplement the root water with fog mist absorbed through the bark. Ancient trees can live up to 1,800 years old.
Story of Many National and State Parks…?
Having now traveled to many of National Park, the story seems very similar:
- Utopia – Native Americans inhabited the area, lived in harmony with the land.
- Displacement – Europeans came, battled with the Natives and spread disease, killing or displacing them.
- Overuse – Europeans pillaged the land for it’s natural resources by logging, developing it, mining, farming, or cattle grazing.
- Conservation – A few people had the foresight to preserve the land. They formed a movement or were owners of the land. They bequeathed or lobbied for preservation of the land. Land now exists as a National/State Park.
What do you think? How can we preserve more of this land for future generations?
Bay Area Makerfarm
After rest from a morning at Muir Woods, we headed to the Bay Area Makerfarm to meet up with an old friend Glen. The Makerfarm land is leased as a whole unit and many people lease parts of it for various uses: Repairing Bikes, Building Burning Man Art Cars, Gardening, Building Tiny Houses, or really anything. Goats, Pigs and Chickens also inhabit the farm.
When you live in a big city like San Francisco and don’t have the luxury of a back yard, maker spaces are a great way to get the space to work on your home projects.
Every Wednesday night is Volunteer night. Our contributions consisted of helping Glen reinforce the fence for the garden to prevent Goats from coming in. And picking peaches from a peach tree that had been crushed under the weight of it’s own fruit – a very odd sight.
Marin RV Park
Marin RV Park is city camping at about it’s best. Located just off the 101 North of San Francisco in the town of Larkspur, California next to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal.
The park boasts all the amenities of a typical RV Park with a Pool, Laundry, Wi-fi, Full Hookups and close together spaces. And is among the highest priced parks we stayed at. Not a surprise given we were in San Francisco.
With another day, we easily could have have ferried into the city for additional sight seeing. Alas, the Journey must continue and we yearn for a more rural setting.
So with flowers in our hair, we keep the trek North towards Redwood Valley!
