California! (continued)

Hi y'all! (Genghis Khan, 2001)

I (Frans) shall continue the story at that wet and rainy day, called the day after the Redwood hike. It was a Friday as I recall and we left, after two skype sessions, one for Sander and me and one for Jasper, our dear old highway 101 to stay close to the ocean on highway 1. As the rain continued to batter on the Hoff this nice little highway started winding up and down towards the coast. With a mean velocity of 25 mph (40 k/h) for miles and miles our stomachs (except the drivers) started to disagree. As we finally reached the coast, the weather was too bad to enjoy the beautiful view of worlds biggest ocean. As dusk already showed itself we finally got a camping spot in a desolated forest.

Without the expected bears around our van we brushed our teeth in a cloudy though dry Saturday morning and we let Jack hit the road again. After an hour or so the sun had found a way through the clouds and we enjoyed the scenic ragged formations resisting the incoming waves. At the end of the day, in weather at least 10 degrees warmer compared to Friday, we parked the Hoff in a nice and relaxed small town some 100 km north of San Francisco to enjoy a fresh cookie in a open bar with, of course, free wifi. The overnight camping spot was at the Home Depot in Windsor after having a great omelet in the park downtown.

With a lot of excitement and nerves we drove the Hoff over the good old 101 towards the south. Our first major benchmark was in sight! San Francisco! City of Hippies, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. A city built on an astonishing 43 hills! Yes, that's rigth 43! And above all, our dear Jasper 'Open-minded' van Bruchem would finally meet his equals in San 'Open-Minded' Francisco. The Golden Gate bridge was beautiful, its northern red pillar shining in the sun while the southern one was hardly visible from the viewpoint. Other landmarks like Alcatraz and the Bay bridge contributed to our happy mood as we drove over worlds most famous bridge toward a mist-hidden San Francisco.

The Hoff immediately met a challenge, driving up one of the steep roads, and fulfilled his task with ease and honour. Without knowing it, we parked near the famous winding road, a small road which winds down one block in 3 whole S-shapes. At this touristy hotspot we took pictures of people taking pictures of people taking pictures! Soon after this historical pictographic event one of the typical trams full of people taking pictures came clinging down the street. We recorded it on picture.

As we had no clue where to go, a Starbucks café helped us out finding downtown SanFran. After having a skype session with our girlfriends we were rudely interrupted, while viewing the city hall, by a cheerful parade. Some of us still believe it was a parade quickly set up to celebrate our unexpected arrival. After searching for a book store way out of downtown, chilling out in the Mac and buying a second phone we decided we were bad city trippers and left the peninsula over the Bay Bridge. That evening we camped at Walmart in Manteca.

It is unknown if it is Walmarts influence or if our brains are decaying but we managed to cook a simple meal in 3.5 hours time, in the process destroying our frying pan. At night the Walmart employees started to vacuum the whole parking lot, which left me (and not my companions) wishing for the nice silence of the interstate next to the parking lot.

Monday morning, a sunny morning I may say, we got on the road again towards Yosemite. Fully packed with enough food to feed Africa we took a scenic highway into the foothills and later on the mountains of the Sierra. Along the way into the Yosemite Valley we were served with some astonishing views of the granite domes. Yosemite Valley itself though is a funpark-like touristy place. We found ourself a nice camping spot, without shower though, where Sander and me witnessed the heroic battle of Jasper versus the river in which he lost his dirt but also one of his just-bought flipflops. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have planned a dayhike in Yosemite before we will travel toward Seqoiua NP. The higher areas in both parks are inaccessible due to heavy snowfall.

PS: Poor Jasper, we just found hot showers.