The Left Coast

From Seattle we drove across Oregon, a state that really, and I mean really supports their college football team. Go ducks. Nice enough, very green but really we were just zooming through to get to the big show – Redwood national Forest in northern California. Which was awesome. Awesome, awesome. So awesome I'm not going to bother posing any pics because pictures not only can't do them justice but pictures will make you thin they are less impressive than they are. OK one pic:

Thats us at the base of “the big tree”. It goes waaay up in a way that is impressive like no skyscraper ever will be. I wonder if it is the biggest Redwood left or just the biggest one that is easy walking distance from the highway? In any case it's huge.

We did make a stop to step into the Pacific ocean. It was a bit cool for a dip. One of the awesome things about visiting these places in the off season is that they are not maggoty with the unwashed masses. The beach was empty and the Redwoods nearly. This was especially important for me in the Redwoods to be able to appreciate the quiet. Just the sounds of my feet and the constant drip of water in the humid air.

Due to my passport gaff we had to leave San Francisco and environs for another trip and so we went across northern California directly to Reno, via Redding. In Redding I ate at Carl's Jr. That too was awesome, heart stoppingly, belt snappingly awesome. Before Redding I drove the craziest stretch of highway I've seen yet. It was like 5 miles (8 kms) of continuous S turns down the side of a mountain. I was the driver and still getting nauseous.

While northern California was pretty interesting in the variations of topography Nevada was very dull. About the only thing of note in northern Nevada is that the locals recognize that it is so dull they have put casinos everywhere they can find an electrical supply. We're not gamblers so it was a dull drive for us. Maybe the prisons didn't have casinos? Maybe.

In any case we were looking forward to the Salt flats and I didn't bother taking any pictures so here's one more of the redwoods.