| The Golden Gate bridge
has toll booths for traffic coming south ($6), it is free going north.
Contrary to its name, it isn't actually golden but more of a Forth rail
bridge red. |  |
 |
.We finally get a complete view of the bridge. There is still a little mist
but it isn't foggy like it usually is. |
| It is quite an impressive
feat of engineering. The main span is 4200ft. Each cable is 7650ft long and
36in diameter and is made up of 27,572 wires. Over 80000 miles of
cable were used and they weigh over 24500tons. |  |
 |
Even on a clear day like today you can see the mist. The bridge carries
US101, a major north-south artery. |
| It is high enough for
major ships to pass safely underneath. |  |
 |
We went to the ocean on the west side of the city. There had been an
international surfing competition the previous weekend. |
| It is a magnificent beach
several miles long. But the sea is very cold. You need a wet suit. |  |
 |
We headed south on the coast road. The beach soon gives way to mountains and
a rocky shoreline. |
| There are still beaches
in the first few miles but they are very difficult to get to and are empty
at this time of year. |  |
 |
The road soon settles down and becomes much smaller with less traffic and
starts to twist and turn as it will for the next 200 miles. |
| We didn't go that far but
turned inland at Santa Cruz, stopping at this site nestling among the
redwoods. As you can see the trees are enormous. This was not an easy place
to get to because the logical route is impassable to RVs. |  |
 |
We are nestling in the trees on the right. It rained most of the time we
were here. |
| Who's a cutie then??? |  |
 |
We headed south to a campsite just north of Monterey but it was full so we
had to go on to Carmel. The site here was hidden in the valley about 10
miles from the coast. |
It is also where we hit trouble. The entrance was just past a
very narrow bridge barely wide enough for an RV. We paused to one side to let a
car come the opposite way and I just clipped the steps on a high concrete curb
at the start of the bridge. It badly damaged the stairwell which collapsed with
the stairs onto the roadway. It took me a couple of hours at the roadside to
dismantle the wreckage enough that we could move the RV. At the campsite I
managed to repair the stairwell enough for us to carry on although the steps
(which weren't damaged) will have to remain off until I can get back to
somewhere with a proper workshop (probably Scottsdale). A moment's
misjudgement..... |