Roadus Terminus Llegada

Yikes, has it really been a week since I last blogged? I suppose it has.

Anyway, we left Yuma and headed north on 95. Our first stop was at the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Didn't really know what to expect, except more, yet to our surpise we came upon a really cool ghost town--Crystal Dome mining town. Now, it was not entirely deserted. In fact, it had been mined within the past 30 years or so. But the buildings and relics made it seem like we'd stepped back in time for just a bit.




Then we headed on up the desert to California and Blythe, the home of the famous Intaglios (very large petroglyphs made on the ground). Not quite as intriguing as we'd hoped (tough to see the full extent of the glyphs without a plane), but we found some really cool rocks and so loaded up our overloaded car and headed on.

That night we stayed in Palm Springs, CA--the former home of Sonny Bono and lots of over watered lawns. The motel we stayed in was surrounded by beautiful snow peaked mountains. Not much more to report here, expect that their collection of wind farms looks like the back lot of Star Wars movie. On we go...

Next day, we take an unintended side trip into Los Angeles and Hollywood. We do the typical touristy thing and drive down Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Drive, go over the Graumanns Theater where--behold--Mathew gets his picture taken with Darth Vader and a storm trooper. This was quite the event because Mathew discovered Star Wars on this trip. But, no time for gawking we have to push on. And after a very nice lunch at the Natural Cafe in Simi Valley, we have our one and only traffic situation of the trip where we're almost killed by a an out of control driver on the highway. We still don't know what happened, but fate was with us and we avoided any contact. We continue our drive up US 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway and stay in Santa Maria, CA in what has to be the worst hotel of the stay (barring Pasgagoula, MS).

The next day is our last of this trip. We leave Santa Maria, head up the coast, stop in Pismo Beach to see the Butterflies (Pismo is an overwintering site for Monarch butterflies because of its micro-climate), we stop in San Simeon and see elephant seals and sea lions arriving for mating season--we were fortunate to see a baby seal that was born the night before. After San Simeon, we continued again up the coast into the rugged picturesque coastline of Big Sur. This took a bit longer but was well worth it because it was a gorgeous day and we had never been there. Take note - only do this drive during daylight and besides it's the view you are there for. Stopped in Santa Cruz for a quick bite and then by night fall we landed in San Francisco and put a close to a nearly 7000 mile journey (we were four miles short) that brought us to places we'd never been to, places we've loved, and places we'll come back to (and even a few we won't).

We'll continue the blog (though less frequently) as California offers so much to do and see, I'm sure we'll have more than our share just getting out and exploring. So, thanks for sticking with us and check in from time to time to see where the Biltonens have been today!

Cheers, Have a safe and happy 2009!!