California! To the Coast...

Sunrise on Highway 152 Pull Out

September 13, 2026: The highway was so noisy all night! It never stopped! All the way here I kept refusing to get gas because it's so expensive and I was too tired. I was nearly on empty! Thankfully there was a gas station ten miles away with $6.39 a gallon.

I've read parts of the coastal highways are closed due to the wildfire near Big Sur. Monterey was another overpopulated city, too busy for my liking, but it did have a Whole Foods so I was able to get some supplies not found in Visalia. 

I headed down Highway 1 to Carmel. I've always heard about Carmel. The rumor is movie stars live there. Doris Day left Hollywood to live in Carmel. Clint Eastwood. Lots of winding little streets, four-way stops, nice houses, and rude, impatient honkers. 

Now Oregonians honk at you when you are parked on the side of the road usually early in the morning. Californians just honk whenever they think you aren't moving fast enough. The weird thing is they wait to honk until you are gone! For instance, in Carmel, I pulled up to a four-way stop at an intersection with a spiderweb of tiny little streets in all directions. I could see the "downtown" area to the left and all the cars parked bumper-to-bumper along the street so I didn't want to go that way. I stopped, made sure no impatient drivers were coming at me from any number of directions refusing to acknowledge my right-of-way stop. Since my vehicle is my home, it pays to be extra cautious. I don't want to lose everything in one rushed instance! Then I proceeded to turn right. The Californian behind me waited until I was on my way and then leaned on their horn to make sure I knew of their displeasure. They turned left. This is not a one-time incident. I've had Californians race up behind me on a highway, stay right on my ass, then after I pull over to let them pass, HONK loud and long as they drive off. I think they are so used to being shot at they want a clear escape before honking. What a bunch of jerks! I've read on the apps Californians also honk early in the morning passing an overnight van, too. I haven't had that happen yet, but I won't be surprised when it does.

Are Californians the worst drivers, worse than Oregon or Maine? It's hard to say. Maybe running neck in neck in the race for the worst? I'm realizing it's not about being a bad driver; it's about being rude, inconsiderate, thoughtless, angry people. They are everywhere and not just in certain states. There is no getting away from these people and as angry as everyone is, it's becoming more normal than the exception. I think we need a new and better pandemic and get rid of a lot more people. If we had less population, we'd have more room to not be angry. Too many rats in a cage and they will start to eat each other. It's harder to be angry with less people around you.

However, I need to give credit where credit is due since I've been bashing California drivers. I have said in the past, I hate people behind me especially on these twisty turning tiny highways with drop offs. They are too often right up my ass so if I had to slam on my brakes their car would have to be removed from my engine, so I always pull off on a pullout when possible. I don't pull out on gravel especially if it has a pavement dropoff or potholes so I wait for a passing lane or an official, paved pullout. A few drivers today gave me the "thank you honk"...two little beeps when they passed. Much better than the "I hate you, you slow driving fuck" honk when they lean on their horns because I'm just not going fast enough for them. There are some nice people out there. California also has call boxes and garbage cans all along their highways. I've only ever seen this in British Columbia. California cares about people. So even if the drivers are assholes, the state is trying.

I went to the beach to work! It smells so good here! It's sunny and only 70 degrees!! Perfect!

In the afternoon I headed toward Big Sur. There was a sign announcing the highway is closed twenty-six miles south of Big Sur as the wildfire is not quite contained, but almost. The drive was beautiful, sunny, but up on the cliffs the wind was at least thirty miles an hour! I got out of the van and felt like I either my phone would get blown out of my hand or I would blow off the cliff so I didn't get close to the edge and I headed back to the van asap! The photos are deceiving. The wind is scary.

The water, rocks and cliffs were gorgeous, bright blue and turquoise with lots of waves, but the landscape doesn't have the greenery that Oregon has. Everything is a dry, crispy brown.

I headed north on Highway 1. Again, the setting sun was blinding me so I stopped and parked on the side of the road near the Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area. 

September 14, 2026: Drove north on Highway 1. Very beautiful coastline and highway with lots of little farms along the route.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

What is this? All over the beaches.

I always thought this was rich people's fancy grass, but
it seems it's a weed that grows all over the California coast!

Kept driving north through Half Moon Bay - gorgeous little town with a really cool store called New Leaf Community Market. Much like Whole Foods only cheaper. Then on to San Francisco. Eeeewww...too much humanity for me. Stop and go traffic all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge.

I must be suicidal to think I should be taking photos while crossing the bridge. I love how the photo is slanted. I just raised my camera and clicked without looking so I didn't have to take my eyes off the road.

Headed to Point Reyes Station on this really gorgeous road called Nicasio Valley Road. The forest became deep and dark, but there were little houses hidden in and under the trees! Right under and next to the trees like a fairy land! Some had little bridges to the houses. The road spilled out next to Nicasio Reservoir. I considered staying overnight at the side of the reservoir, but wanted to see Point Reyes. Point Reyes was a cute little town. I kept going just beyond and parked along side Tomales Bay. At 5pm it's 69 degrees, sunny with a nice cool breeze. Perfect!

September 15, 2026: Woke up to the van covered in dew. Very damp. Smells like a swamp. I think it is a swamp.

My ankle has been in horrible pain for a few days to where I can hardly walk. Most of the time I am walking all over, strolling beaches, and hiking up mountains, but every now and then I can't walk! It comes out of no where as I'm casually walking across a parking lot and then, bam! The pain is horrible and I can barely put weight on my foot. It normally stops when I stop walking and goes away. This time it's been a few days now and the pain persists. Later, it feels as if I'm healing from an injury with stiffness and pain all the way up the back of my leg. I have a bad feeling about this. It might be the dampness or the cold? Or it might be hardware?

Drove north along Highway 1. Stopped along the way to see gorgeous views:

View from cliff above Duncan's Cove

Duncan's Cove

Overnighted on a pull out along Highway 1 just north of Jenner. Jenner is an adorable town right on the water. The fog was rolling in about 3pm.

September 16, 2026: It's foggy and cloudy. Every now and then I can see sun breaks over the ocean, but they never make it to land. Cold at 55 degrees. On days like this my feet are cold all day.

I drove through quite a few really cute towns: Point Arena, Elk, Albion. Elk had a little free neighborhood library cupboard and I exchanged one of my books for another book by Patricia Cornwell. Highway 1 was  ROLLERCOASTER of straight up and straight down with twisty hairpin turns! Beautiful ocean views!

PINK LILIES! I don't know what they are called but they are all over: in people's yards, in fields, lining driveways, all over cemeteries, sides of the roads. I'm pretty sure they grow wild here all along the coast, but absolutely stunning, especially on a cloudy, gray day!!

I stopped in Fort Bragg. They have a store called Harvest Market that is very much like Whole Foods. Their bakery was experimenting with gluten-free breads so I bought a little loaf of pumpkin bread. I also visited the library. They had books for sale, but the librarian said they also save books for the farmers' market give away and let me look at those. I took two and bought one. Hooray for books to read!

Overnighted just north of Fort Bragg on Highway 1. Lots of pullouts with and without "no parking" signs.

September 17, 2026: Another cold, foggy, and/or cloudy morning in the low 50s. Very gray. Continued northeast on Highway 1 and found SUNSHINE!! Very twisty with sharp hairpin turns with SUN beaming through the trees! Mostly up hill through dense forest...and SUNSHINE. Gorgeous SUNSHINE. Although I don't like sweltering heat, I clearly love SUN! Hardly anyone on the highway, too!

I passed Westport. Tiny little town. Very cute. I thought about those lesbians who adopted a bunch of African American children out of foster care only to drive them down the coast and over a cliff into the rocks below. The one child's body was never found. I know they went over a cliff somewhere near Westport and from what I can see there are plenty of opportunities. So heartbreaking! Why adopt children in need only to kill them? Those women were evil!

Continued to Leggett then onto Highway 101 to the Bear River Casino which is the cheapest gas in the county. All along the route there were too many "BE PREPARED TO STOP" single lane road constructions. I appreciate California's diligence and dedication in keeping the roads in good shape, but they are obnoxious. One stopped me right at the entrance to the Richardson Grove State Park with giant redwoods on either side of me. That was very cool. I like it when one is forced to stop where there is scenery.

I headed to Ferndale Beach for an overnight, but once I got there I decided I didn't want to get stuck in deep sand and I don't want to park next to the beach because last time unruly kids kept showing up late at night for a party OR the surfers show up at 6am with all thoughtless humans surrounding my van and talking loudly which is really freaky. So I'm on a side road in hopes of avoiding irritating people.

I've only had Starlink for thirteen months. The warranty is for twelve months, of course. The power cable wiring is fraying. It still works, but who knows when it will stop?

All the online information threatens the user to not buy from a third-party company, but then the help chat happened to mention Walmart sells power cables. Hmmm...why not? My warranty has expired. But I'm a worry wart, incessantly worrying about nothing, and I wonder if a cheap, third-party cable might compromise the rest of the Starlink components? I want to avoid shipping costs and shipping problems. Where is the nearest Walmart?? Walmart, Staples and Best Buy do not carry this kind of cable. Neither does Home Depot. I am seeing Amazon, online Walmart, Target and maybe Lowe's might sell them, but it might be limited to online ordering only. I'm not in a hurry as it's still working. I hate for this sixteen foot long cable to go to waste so I might try to rewire it myself once it's not working.