Road Trip - Day 3 - San Francisco to Eureka, CA (part 2)

As you drive up the 101 things are very pretty, but mostly mundane until the 101 and US 1 merge. At this point the roadside attractions start to get really fun.

This first stop in the land of the Redwoods is the Chandelier tree in Leggett, CA. Here you can see Andy the Explorer driving through his first Redwood tree! It was a very tight fit and we had to bring in the mirrors but he made it through with flying colors. While we were here a Corvette club cruised through and we got to watch 6 modern Corvettes come rolling up and through the tree. It was a lot of fun. This stop also has a great pond behind their giftshop. I showed the kids how to spot and sneak up on bullfrogs.

Confusion hill is easily one of the most bizarre roadside attractions I've ever stopped at. They have the gravity house and all sorts of kooky stuff. It's well worth having a few bucks weasled out of you. The signs for it remind me of the ones for "The Thing!" out in southern Arizona. The above photo is of the longest single piece totem pole ever carved.

The redwood themed attractions are all over the place up here. There's just too many to stop at all of them. This is one of my favorites, the one log house.

Our travels for the day finished up in Eureka, CA. We met a Triumph friend of mine Doug (saw his TR6 and MGB GT) who took us out to the Samoa Cookhouse, which is a must eat place, and then for an impromptu tour of the old part of Eureka. There are some absolutely beautiful victorian houses there and an old "main drag" that's been mostly restored. I could easily spend a few days just wandering around this part of town. We finished the night by staying out in the garage until it was very late swapping car stories.

After having driven through this upper segment of the state I really start to see why California is considered to be so beautiful.

Road Trip - Day 3 - San Francisco to Eureka, CA (part 1)

The day started simply enough. Pack everything up, get dressed, go down for breakfast and then check out of the hotel. When we went to go retrieve the car the valet came running back up from the garage telling me that there was "a problem." It turns out that somewhere along the end of our drive I'd picked up a very large staple in one of the tires. It was flat as a pancake and had to be changed. No big deal. Got the car jacked up, tire changed, and we were ready to go. Below you can see our saviour, the full sized spare.



Since we had a full size spare there was no reason to immediately find a tire shop. Luckily we'd made sure all the tires (including the spare) were properly inflated before leaving Phoenix. We opted to drive until lunchtime and hope we found a tire shop and good eats in proximity.



Here we are on the far side of the Golden Gate Bridge looking back at San Francisco. This spot was pretty windy and cold, but excellent for a photo. The morning fog was really heavy.



Here you can see "The Menacing Goblins." It's a strange piece of yard art that we discovered via RoadsideAmerica.com. This was out in someone's yard down a dirt road in Santa Rosa.

Here is the Cyclovisk, a giant obelisk made from old bicycle parts. Again Santa Rosa shared with us it's wierd Americana. There were more bits here in this town, but we rapidly realized that stopping for all of them would mean a ground cover rate of 5 miles per hour!

So, discretion being the better part of valour we soldiered on passing up some of the other roadside gems. We did stop and gaze at this view in Hopland, CA. There was a farm stand selling the most amazing cherries. We happily nommed them until we reached Willits where we found a tire shop that fixed the tire and mounted it on the car in 15 minutes! A quick lunch at the oldest restauraunt in town and we were back in business!

(Continued in Part 2)

Road Trip - Day 2 - San Francisco

After having arrived in San Francisco and checked in to the hotel we opted to try and wander Fisherman's Warf in search of food. Keep in mind that we hadn't slept much from the drive, and were rather shell shocked by the vast numbers of people in the area. It was a total mob scene.

We failed at the first few attempts to find food. Then we managed to find a family place with proper seating. After chomping down the requisite bread bowl of chowder and being completely overwhelmed by the volumes of people we retreated back to the hotel for a nap. Well, Jensen and my nap turned into an 18 hour snooze fest that didn't end until the next morning. The women fared better than we did and snuck off for a little adventure while we were out cold. They say they just went to Wallgreen's, but with those two who knows. :)

The following morning, having stuffed ourselves on the continental breakfast we walked back down to Pier 33 and boarded the boat to Alcatraz. The Warf was much quieter in the morning. This was Jensen's first boat ride and he excitedly exclaimed "Water!" for the whole ride out there (it's his latest new word, and he's obsessed with it).

We were all suprised at Alcatraz. I've always had pictures in my head of the prison part, but the actual prison building is only a small part of the island. It has been all sorts of different things over the years. Today it's a giant bird sanctuary and filled with chicks running around. The other big suprise was the gardens! We never expected to see such beautiful gardens. We explored every inch of the island. It took us until 4 in the afternoon. If you visit, the return boat trip is your best bet for taking full island photos.

My cell phone was dead, so I don't have any photos to share today, but we'll have a pile once we're home from our trip.

That evening we made full use of the expensive, but totally worth it, babysitting services. If you indend to do this, keep in mind that it's certainly not cheap at ~75.00 for a night out, but the romantic seaside dinner with SWMBO was well worth it.

We watched the sun go down over the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from Neptune's Palace. If you want the good tables here you *must* make your reservations in advance (even if only a few hours). The food was really good, the desserts even better and the service was excellent. SWMBO had a "Cable Car" and I proceeded to watch her giggle her way through supper, so they must be pretty potent. :)

We finished the night with a nice walk along the Embarcadero. Definitely take the time to walk it in the evening, but make sure you're dressed warm!

Road Trip - Night 1 - Phoenix to San Francisco

The Great American Road Trip (night 1):

The goal of the first night of driving was to reach San Francisco, the real starting point of our adventure. By the time we reached the hotel on Fisherman's Warf we'd traveled approximately 850 miles and driven about 12 hours. The route took us westward from Phoenix to the outskirts of Los Angeles where we turned northward.

The immediate item we learned was that children who traditionally fall asleep at the drop of a hat in the car will not fall asleep on this initial overnight drive due to excitement. Needless to say my initial plan for a quiet night's driving was dashed. Jensen, our two year old decided that waking up and screaming the moment that the navigator was about to get some sleep was a fantastic idea.

The stretch of I-10 coming into L.A. as well as stretches of the 5 leaving were under serious construction. We were very grateful to not be passing through them during the daytime. I can only imagine the impact to commuters that occurs each morning! I have to admit I cannot understand why anyone lives witin the greater Los Angeles area. We drove through between midnight and two am. The amount of light pollution at those hours was so great I could have easily driven without headlights. I suppose it never really gets dark in L.A. unless there's a power outage. The air quality is a bit much as well. We were all sniffling and coughing within a half hour.

Outside of L.A. we transitioned drivers for the first time in Santa Clarita. Alas, SWMBO took the wheel just as we started into a serious set of curves and mountainous grades as we climbed out of the L.A. basin. Needless to say SWMBO was not amused. I am certain I will hear about this for a long time to come. The 5 travels north though the center of California. We got to watch the sun rise and change the colors of the land finally seeing the stretches of farmland with mountains to the west. It was a beautiful area. The 5 seems straight as an arrow, it's tough to maintain concentration because of how little you need to do. We joked about being able to tie off the steering wheel, putting a brick on the accellerator, and taking a nap.

We stopped for breakfast at a roadside restaurant called The Apricot Tree. The greasy spoon breakfast we has was the best meal ever! Basically, once you've been awake and driving for ten hours I believe rocks would be the best meal ever. What we found really fun about the place is their extensive vintage lunchbox collection. We sat in the Western section and had a view of the Bonanza, Rifleman, Roy Rogers and others.

Refilled with breakfast and coffee and ready to take on the world we headed out to finish the last leg of the night's journey. On the outskirts of San Francisco is a small automotive museum which I had been told by a number of fellow car folks that I couldn't miss. The Blackhawk Museum has to be one of the seven automotive wonders of the world. I do not believe there is any description I can provide that will impress upon you how amazing this collection is.

We had the opportunity to spend a couple hours in each of the car galleries wandering among the cars. I simply have never seen anything like the gathering of vehicles. I took two quick cellphone pictures as they request no commercial photography.


If you come within a 100 miles of this place you have no excuse to not stop in!



After the museum we finished our drive in to San Francisco. I have no idea if it's normal Saturday traffic, but the Bay Bridge was a nightmare. Even with 5 lanes it was backed up so far that we spent twice as long waiting to get on it than it took to get across. Driving in downtown trying to get to the hotel is always a challenge. Thankfully the printed google map route was dead on, and short of nearly getting attacked by a killer Winnebago we had arrived!

Road Trips with Children

I remember the road trips of my early 20's with fondness. A bunch of friends or that special girl jumping into the car at a moment's notice and driving wherever the roads led us. All of these trips being made in questionable cars on questionable tires, we never cared too much and if we didn't return the story would be even bigger! Those were wild and fun times!

Fast forward a decade or so and you're travelling with your kids and the world has changed completely. The one thing I remmebre about my last road trips with my family as a teenager is how much of a non-vacation it was for my parents. But there's no reason we have to suffer the same way!

First things first, find a point in the trip that you can be away from the kids. You love them, but that doesn't mean you don't want to strangle them. Visiting family members is good for this. Usually they haven't seen the little jerks.. err.. darlings in a long enough period of time to agree to babysitting for a date night. If they have good memories, or you're not visiting family, look for hotels with a bonded child sitting service. It's worth it's weight in gold. Also, if budgets permit, suite style arrangements are a nice touch, and help romance out a lot.

Now that we've got a date and possible nookie out of the way, the rest of the trip you need to keep them from either rebelling or eating you. We keep a small cooler and a snack box in the car. I've found it's really hard to complain if you've got a mouth full of food and something to drink. Of course, now that you've fed and watered the troops expect at least one person to need a bathroom every 100 miles.

In our car we have two almost extremes: a two and 1/2 year old and a tween. I fully expect screaming from the first and angst from the second. Remember those old doodle pads? The ones that were a sheet of plastic, and once you lifted it everything dissapeared? Those work brilliantly on 2.5 year olds until they eat them. Consumption rate is roughly 200 miles. Pack accordingly. Rubber snakes make a good stand in.

Now older children are a challenge. They are just smart enough to realize their surroundings are changing but not old enough to realize this is worth being in the car. There are a million techno do-dads to keep them occupied. I don't know what they're called now, but when I was a kid they were called a "window" and if you were a rich kid you had a "walkman." If you've given them a cell phone at this point then you're a bad parent, and deserve the whining you get. Otherwise, if it beeps, boops, bleeps or makes other noises make sure the kids have headphones or that it mutes. Muting is best, headphones are a second choice. If they have iPods, etc, establish a radio control schedule. Yes, their music may suck, but this is a great chance to determine what they are listening to, ask intelligent questions about it, and secretly create a list of CD's to be accidentally scratched or files that get "wiped out by that virus." Worst case scenario, you actually like the music they listen to. It could be worse, they could listen to the music that your parents tormented you with as a child in the car.

For many road trips mean sleeping in the car or camping. Hotels are just too danged expensive. If you're a parent the local authorities generally frown on the sleeping in the car tactic. This means you either have a fancy RV or it's time for some camping. Road Trip Camping is unlike any other camping you've ever done. Basically, you're only there for the night, it's a roadside KOA type affair, and you don't need to worry about trekking gear. If space permits have a parent's tent and children's tent. Other than that it's pillows, sleeping bags and a flashlight. If you are planning on cooking, gather fast food condiment packages. They are much easier to deal with. Additionally keep meals simple and use disposable plates. The time you spend is in cooking the food and then cleaning. If you can be smart about the cooking you minimize the cleaning.

Finally have fun! Remember that the savages will grow up into responsible adults so long as the penal system doesn't catch up with them first. Patience goes a long way, benadryl and dramamine go further. The greatest joys will be in showing your children the world. It just takes a few years of processing before you remember it fondly.

Preparing for a Road Trip

Road tripping can be one of the most fun things you can do. It's a chance to explore the world around you, where the voyage is as important as the destination itself. Here at TheyMightBeRacing.com we do a number of road trips a year, some as short as a day adventure simply driving down a new road, to other longer and more epic adventures. Earlier this year my wife and I got the chance to drive about Scotland. This summer we're doing the great American summer vacation: piling the kids in the car and driving a few thousand miles just for the heck of it.

Now, some trips are "pick a compass direction and drive" and others are "what is the fastest route between point A and Point B". While some of my favorite trips are based on the former, my most boring trips are based on the latter. Our example trip is my family's summer vacation for this year. It's a little of both with an emphasis on the road less taken.

Before you leave on your trip there's planning involved. You need to figure out where you're going and how you're going to get there. So what's the best way to do it? When we plan out a road trip we start with a good physical road atlas.

You'll note that there's no computer involved here. Basically, computer screens were not designed for following maps. They work, but not when you're just wanting to easily browse. Another great feature of these books is the mileage between city charts. You'll want to spend a lot of time with these. In our example we're travelling from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington. The goal of the trip is to visit family and see parts of the country we've never seen before.

My first step is to plot out the basic trip, making the necessary descisions on route based on whether we want to see the world or cover ground. The city to city charts give us a good idea of how long it will take to get from place to place. Using this information you can then figure out how many miles you need to cover each day to complete your trip. In our case, we're pretty lucky. I knew we wanted to explore from San Franciso northwards, so I calculated the fastest way there, and planned the rest of the days accordingly. As this is going to be a sightseeing trip and we have young children, the idea isn't to cover miles as much as it is to see the country. We settled on the rough level of 5 driving hours a day. That gives us at least 5 hours to explore as we go.

Now we introduce the technology. With my stopping points roughly mapped out we fed the data into Google Maps. Then, based on the estimated driving times we adjusted end points as best as possible to meet the daily driving requirements. We plan on driving up the western coastline, but then come south through Idaho and Utah. The data from our maps combined with Google maps gave us the following final routes:

Northwards: Phoenix to Seattle with a Canada sidetrack.

What is important to note on the northern route is that we're covering ground to get to San Francisco. There's no exploring time there. But once we reach that point, the route is entirely about seeing what there is to see and not about covering miles.

Southwards: Via Oregon, Idaho and Utah.

On the Southern trip it is also uncharted territory. We want to see all there is to see. There's a funny dogleg where we reenter Arizona. That's the route down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's embarrasing to admit, but after 15 years in Arizona I've still not visited there!

Now that you have your route maps based from the Road Atlas and verified through Google maps you're in good shape. Depending on your technical bent you can either print out the Google maps or sent them to your GPS device.

If this sounds like too much effort you can order similar items from AAA provided you're a member. They are called Tryptych's. When I was a kid those things were worth their weight in gold. You couldn't produce anything better. With the days of the internet you can make better, but only with a fair bit of work.

Once I knew our route I met my greatest point of frustration: what to see as we went. I tried the many road trip web sites out there but they just didn't give me the information I wanted. I simply wasn't interested in packaged driving trips nor was I interested in redoing someone else's trip that had little relevance to my own. Then, by random, I stumbled across Roadside America This site links information about interesting American roadside attractions to Google maps! I followed my route on their site and came up with a million ridiculous places to stop along the way. The only thing that could have made this better was an option in Google Maps to add this data to my route (take note Google or Roadside America folks!).

With this data in hand we have our routes planned, we know where and how we're going and what opportunities there are along the way for sightseeing. The only remaining bit is to find places to stay. If you're an AAA Member they have services and discounts to help with motels and campgrounds. Otherwise you can use the travel site of your choice to do this. For an extra bit of excitement you can use your computer while you travel to book these sorts of sites as you go!

With this, you've got your trip planned. Now you need to pack, plan, and check the car!

Jody

Upcoming articles

Thanks to computer issues, getting the kids through the end of the school years, honey-do's and a involuntary bathroom remodel thanks to a water leak at Casa de TheyMightBeRacing we've had boxes and boxes of parts stack up awaiting installation in various projects. Here's a list of what you'll see incomin weeks:

• The Great American Road Trip




• How to prepare for a road trip


• Road trip coverage




• 2002 Ford F-150 (a new vehicle at TheyMightBeRacing)




• vehicle initial assessment


• Catching up on maintenance


• Necessary repairs




• 2002 Ford Explorer




• Replacing the radiator


• Replacing the fuel filter


• Replacing the spark plugs


• Changing the oil (video)




• 1981 Triumph TR-8




• Replacing the power steering unit


• Refreshing the brake system




• 1974 Jensen Healey




• Developing and implementing a crank fired ignition


• Developing and implementing a fuel injection system


• Developing a custom dash based on the Jensen GT dash


• Restoring the rear brakes


• Restoring the differential


• Restoring the rear suspension


• Restoring the Center console

Wow, now that we've written all that down the list itself is exhausting. I think we'll need a nap before getting started!

Jody