Travel Day: Pacific Coast Highway
We had a fun start to our day. Our sweet little Remi decided to be a bit of a monkey this morning. He started barking around 4:30 am and Ron shot out of bed, waking up the rest of the RV. Now this routine is not out of the ordinary. We are all pretty used to it by now. I turned over and secretly smiled (like I always do). The kids groaned and found a new comfy spot in their warm beds. Ron let Remi out to pee for a second (he’s getting faster) and then put him back to bed. Maggie knows better and now chooses sleep instead of waking up. Ron came back into the RV and mumbled all the way back to bed about how much he loves Remi.
However, this morning Remi wasn’t finished having fun. He got restless soon after and barked again. Ron sat straight up in bed, said some loving words about his pup, and then waited. This is what we do now. We wait for that second bark testing to see if we will come running outside. Sure enough there it was. Ron said, “No you don’t,” but of course Remi did. Then to my surprise Ron lied back down and said, “Fine, bark away.”
Our stubborn pup barked for an hour. He would pause to perhaps catch his breath or listen to see if Ron was on his way and then bark again. We lay in bed and prayed he would lose his voice or prayed that Maggie would at least growl and put him in his place. None of our wishes came true. Ron’s Happy Mother’s Day purchase barked until 6:30 am when Ron finally gave in and let him out. At this point we were all awake and so we got up and started our day.
We decided to change our route to the Redwoods today and take the Pacific Coast Highway. Ron and I have always wanted to see this stretch of highway. We’ve heard it is absolutely beautiful. The new route would add about an hour onto our drive today, so we thought “no big deal”. The drive was absolutely amazing and the views were stunning. The road was windy and narrow, though, so we could only travel about 25 to 35 miles an hour. We stopped at so many look outs to take pictures of the rocky cliffs and the crashing waves. We saw a huge pod (that’s what you call a group of pelicans) of California Brown Pelicans and seals at what was apparently a seal hatchery. Incredible!
The reduced speed that we could travel and the frequent stops added a few more hours onto our day today. At one point we looked at the GPS and said, “What? We still have 6 hours? I swear it said that 2 hours ago!” Today was a 10 hour day when it should have been a 7 hour day at most, but we didn’t mind. The scenic drive was totally worth it. We would recommend this route to anyone wanting a true taste of the Pacific Coast. Just take a few days to do it lol.
We stopped at Elk for lunch at a quaint little restaurant called Queenie’s. We were happy that the rain stopped for us to have lunch because the only seating was outside. After a nice little break from the truck we continued along this amazing highway. We stopped at one point to play on the beach. The kids ran around in bare feet and the pups got to stretch and play on the beach too.
I felt like I was back in the PNW with the chill that was in the air and the sound of the crashing waves. Ron took the dogs up this large rock on the shore and I just couldn’t watch. I had visions of all three of them falling off of what my brain saw as a huge mountain with a raging ocean below. Again, my fear of heights was in full force. Thankfully everyone survived this terrifying experience.
The forest is also changing for us too. The dry hills of southern California have turned into lush dense coastal rainforest. I am seeing familiar forest floors filled with ferns and salal and tall stands of majestic redwoods, hemlocks and Douglas Fir. The periodic drizzle also reminded us that we are not far from home now.
Our drive continued on into the night and we arrived to set up camp at 8:30pm. We set up quickly and put the kiddos to bed. Ron and I relaxed for a moment and adjusted the TV so that we could get cozy and watch a movie in bed. It’s nice to settle for the night after such a long day.