We crossed the state line into California with a quick stop to for officers to ask if we were carrying any fresh fruit or firewood. Having neither in our possession we were very quickly waved on. Unfortunately the sky did not change from its dull grey as we’d hoped and so far it wasn’t ‘sunny California’ after all. We stopped in Crescent City and picked up some useful information from the Tourist Office as well as some supplies and carried on our way. We drove through the ‘drive-thru’ tree (one of many tourist attractions made out of the giant redwood trees). We turned off the main road towards Elk Prairie State Park and drove through more magnificent redwoods, including the largest tree in the world (or perhaps it was the tallest). We reached the campground and had a look around and found ourselves almost face to face with some large elk, I guess it’s called Elk Prairie for a reason. Just as we thought we’d found the right camping spot it started to rain. Having mastered our set up this wasn’t such a bad thing. Until it got a bit heavier and the thought of paying $35 for some wet grass (yes, camping in California State Parks is $35, ALL year round) plus $8 for firewood as well as a couple of bucks each for hot showers, we made the call to drive a little further and stay in a warm, dry hotel room with hot showers as long as you want them and wi-fi! All for a few dollars more than camping. Once again this was a good decision as we were once again awoken in the early hours to the heavens opening.
Despite the overnight rain, daybreak came with bright blue skies. We headed inland to follow The Avenue Of The Giants- an old highway that winds its way through the Humboldt Redwood State Park. The massive trunks, the size of the Land Rover were amazing and they towered into the sky so high we could barely see the tops. We forked out the $35 to sleep amongst these giants and were blessed with clear skies.
A few more nights in the tent and we headed south east through Napa Valley wine country, past Sacramento to a little part of the world known as Meadow Vista where had been offered a place to stay by Jeff, who had read the blog via an Instagram post from one of the guys at Pangolin 4×4. We were welcomed by Jeff, his lovely wife Shalome and their four children. A couple of days were spent working on the car and exploring the local area. Jeff pointed us in the direction of Yankee Jim’s road, a winding gravel road that curves around the canyon and over a spectacular bridge overlooking the turquoise waters below. We ate lunch at California’s famous In-N-Out Burger and enjoyed great company and dinner conversation, but eventually it was time to move on again.
California Part 1
