Road trip 2018 The beginning

Calvin and I had planned a kayaking trip in British Columbia this summer.  We were deciding between flying and driving to British Columbia, but when Leah's blessing date was announced the weekend before we started kayaking we decided to take one long road trip.

Here are the statistics: We drove 3,474 miles taking 73.07 hours of driving time averaging 48 miles per hour and our lovely Altima averaged 35.6 miles per gallon.

We started June 29, the day after Calvin arrived home from a 6 day back packing trip in the Sierras. He had just enough time to unload his backpack and load his suitcase.

Our first stop was Atascadero, California.  We have driven through Atascadero, but never really stopped.  We had time after dinner so wandered around the downtown. Atascadero was created as a planned Utopian colony in 1913.  The beautiful civic center and park are being restored and it was a nice place for an evening stroll.

Our days 2 and 3 were in Santa Barbara.  We left there Sunday afternoon and drove to San Simeon. We have passed through a couple of times, but didn't pay much attention.  We had a nice afternoon walk along the marine terrace and got to see more elephant seals.  They seem to be thriving all along the California coast.

We finished with a nice view of the Piedras Blancas light house

Day 4 started with a foggy walk along Moonstone beach in Cambria.

Then a fast drive up the coast to drop off a paint sprayer in San Jose and on up to Berkeley for a very late lunch/early dinner with Cindy and Bill.  That was followed by a smoky drive up I-5 through the Guinda fire to an overnight in Corning, CA.

We didn't do much exploring in Corning, but we did stop in at the Olive Pit for a jar of local olives that we enjoyed for the rest of the trip.