Pacific Coast Highway Day 6
Pacific Coast Highway
Day 6 - April 22, 2003 - Santa Cruz, CA to Ukiah, CA
We had rain during the night so after I showered and dressed, I went out and wiped the car down to get the rain and a little of the road dirt off the car. We had breakfast. The coffee was undrinkable! Gennie filed out a comment card - to make it simple - for many reasons the Comfort Inn in Santa Cruz is not on our recommend list. We left the hotel at 8:15.
On the way out of Santa Cruz we drove through the city during the morning rush. When we left the city limits and drove the Route 1 coastal highway, we saw many vegetable fields with strawberries and other produce including artichokes. These fields were between the ocean and the highway - expensive farmland with a great view of the beaches, cliffs and crashing surf.
The weather report predicted rain for today so we started with the top up. There was a lot of water on the road as we headed north. Many people have commented about the great rains they have gotten this Spring. We have seen reservoirs and lakes that seem to be full.
Our first stop for pictures was at an incredible lighthouse in San Mateo County. We have also seen many poor and aging housing inhabited by farm workers. This area along with the area to the south were written about by John Steinbeck and it certainly does look like Grapes of Wrath country. One of the beaches was called Bean Hollow.
At Daly City we got Route 1 and took Highway 35 up to San Francisco. At 10:20 we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge as there are no places to stop for pictures, I took several out the front windshield. Once we were past the bridge, we came of Route 1-101 and doubled back to go up to Marin Headlands State Park to take some pictures at the scenic overlook of the bridge, the bay, and the car.
Continuing on Route 1 we got behind several slow moving cars on our way to Muir Woods. It is recommended that tourists go to Muir Woods on weekday mornings and not during tourist season because of a lack of parking. We certainly found this to be the case, even though, we were there on a Tuesday morning in April!
We decided to go on the two mile hike - on of the longest around Redwood Creek. We took photos although the height of the trees do not show well on the pictures. The high canopy also made the forest bed cool and dark. At 12:25, we were back on the road and stopped at the Owl Trail overlook, just above Muir Woods, to put the top down.
Just north of Stinson Beach we passed an estuary. The tide was out and we could see hundreds of harbor seals sunning themselves on the mud and sand. We had lunch at Point Reyes at a little deli. At this junction, we realized we would not be able to drive all of Route 1 up the coast and find lodging before 6 PM. So we took the Point Reyes-Petaluma road, crossing over the coastal range to Route 101 and the Sonoma Valley.
There are many possible stops for wine tasting and there are vineyards as far as one can see on both sides of the road. Planning is required to find lodging in this northern area of California. Bed and Breakfast on Route 1 and limited cities on Route 101.
We went north to Ukiah, following 101 and the fields of agriculture on both sides after we left Santa Rosa. It was an easy drive and we arrived at the Roadway at 4 PM. After checking in we decided to wash our clothes and while Gennie did this I took the car to be washed, vacuumed, and wiped down. It needed it after the rain and dirt from the last few days. We returned to our room to see the AVS at 7 PM and eat pizza during the game.
One question people have asked is the performance of the car at sea level. Without a doubt, it is a superb car. At sea level the performance is accentuated with the extra air. Whereas the initial get up and go in Colorado is good (from 0 to 5600 RPMs), at sea level it appears to have much more lower RPM go than I thought.
Once it VTECs, it also shows some improvement, but not as significant as the low end. At the higher altitude of Colorado, when one steps on it, there is a slight hesitation and then it begins to rev up. During the drive, whenever I put my foot in it, there is an immediate response.
One last comment. Yesterday, I lauded the drivers we met for being good drivers. Today was just the opposite. We did not meet any drivers that pulled over when they were slowing traffic. On the two lane roads, there are signs asking drivers to use the pull-outs to let others by.
Unfortunately, today, the drivers did not think they were holding up traffic or just do not know road courtesy. We went from San Francisco to Muir Woods and the driver held up 4 cars all the way down. On Route 1 this occurred several times. On the road from Point Reyes to Petaluma, there was a line of six cars and no courtesy. But the S2000 can pass a long line very quickly!
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