Sunday 15th April 2012……heading north!!!

This post starts yesterday……….

Yet another good sleep and yet again awoke to cold and cloudy skies but it did get sunny and bright later but still cool….enough complaining!!!

Heading north and closer to home and the roads today were hugging the ocean on Highway 1.

My first stop was in Santa Cruz home of one of the oldest Boardwalks in the States!!!

I read that it cost $25 dollars to park an RV at the parking lot so I parked in a shopping center lot about a mile away and walked down by the side of the river

to the

There was no charge to enter but all the rides were cash and I enjoyed walking through……  the smells of fattening food and hearing the screams was a delight!!!

The Boardwalk is located right on the beach!!

I know two young girls in San Miguel who would have loved this morning!!!!

I have known about this store but not shopped there until today and I really like the blueberry scones and Pauline put me onto the great Lavender soap, so I stocked up on both!!!

Back on the road and this was my lunch stop today!!!!

Do you know what is growing here??

Yes Artichokes!!!

Back on the road still very beautiful…

Soon I was approaching

I have been to San Fran a couple of times the first time way back when I lived in Bermuda and we came here on a soccer tour…I remember that is where I saw John Denver in concert!!!  So I decided to head straight over the bridge….. nice to see this sign after all those tolls I paid in Mexico!!!

I was now looking for directions to another waterfall I want to search for tomorrow so I was now onto tiny twisty back roads

and I did find the right turn offs!

I knew I needed to fill up my fresh water tank and I did stop at two gas stations but neither had an outside tap….so as my luck would have it on the road to the trail head I saw a Fire Station and I pulled in there and spoke to one of the fireman and asked if I could fill up and was told for sure and next to the station is a huge parking lot and asked if I could stay there the night and  again I was told yes.

So I am in a tiny town called Bolinas and about 3 miles from the trail head and the hike tomorrow is about 9 miles to another supposed to be wonderful water fall!!

So I am fed, showered and now about to settle down with tea and perhaps a cookie or two and going to watch a Red Box movie I picked up this morning……life is good!!!

It was a very good sleep so quiet!!!!

So headed out for the trail head at 8.15am it was a bit foggy and a bit cool but a good morning for a hike that is listed at 9 miles return!!!

The trail was easy and the views awesome!!

After 2 miles I came to this funny signpost

and I did not know which way to go…my usual trait in these situations is to always go left but just  like the waterfall I  went to last week where the almost nude girls were I turned right!!!

This also was a mistake and I went an extra 2 miles before I realized it was not the correct trail so I returned to the sign post and headed left and saw these lovely Spring flowers!!

The trail was quite easy and this lake was in the distance…

I the came upon the sign post I was looking for…

I was now heading for the ocean again and soon came upon these waterfalls!!!

The first one!!

The second one!!

In this one above you can see all three falls and then they all flow over here!!!

Just another wonderful sight seeing and hearing this water cascade onto the beach and then flow out into the ocean!!!!!!

It was a bit of a scramble to get down to the beach but I risked it and the view so was rewarding!!!!!

I had lunch and it was so serene just a wonderful time…..the hike back was OK and I figured with the wrong turn I covered about 13 miles but it was so worth it!!!!!

This afternoon I drove a couple of hundred miles and am now in the town of Fortuna and outside McD’s using the internet…I have a spot picked out for the night should be safe and quiet.

As I write this I am listening to game three of the hockey series and the Kings have just scored to lead the Canucks by one to nothing!!!!

 

 

Yashi Kochi!!