U.S. 1- The Coastal Highway

We started up US 1 and were immediately rewarded with beautiful scenic overlooks and  unbelievable rocks.

The road climbed up and down along the rocky mountainous beach. As we went on, the twists and hills got a little steeper and a little more windy.

 The coast north of San Fansicso has high coastal mountains which makes the road challenging to drive, especially for an RV. I'm thankful that we redid the suspension before we left because the RV handled better than I expected. 

 We climbed the steep coastal hills and switchbacks without trouble. Coming downhill, in low gear, we only went about 30-40 miles per hour. We used the many passing turnouts provided to allow cars to pass us who wanted to go faster. It made negotiating the narrow roads much less stressful. 

As if the super steep mountains, curves and one lane bridges were not enough, it seemed this road still had more to offer.  The first of the interesting signs we saw was a cow crossing. Sarah made the comment "Where would there be cows? There's no pasture! Would they just come tumbling down the mountain?" Laughing about the cow sign, we rounded a few more corners to find a bicyclist loaded to the hilt on this crazy road. This wasn't the first biker we'd encountered on this trek. It seems like it would be a hard hike, let alone riding a bike up these hills. 

After we negotiated around our bicycle friend, we rounded a few more corners and there's the cows. Not just one, but a big enough group to block the road. They seemed genuinely disinterested in our passing. 

We took time to stop at many of the vistas and bluffs and checked campgrounds as we went along. All the campgrounds were full, but I wasn't worried. I was happy to drive into the evening up the coast. 

After the cows by a number of miles, we pulled off on one of the very few turnoffs within 100 miles. We parked on top of the hill next to a beautiful meadow. We looked at our map and laughed at how straight the line on the map looked. But if you zoom in on google maps, you'll see what looks to me like jumbled intestines. 

We decided after much deliberation to stick with the coastal highway, take our time and enjoy the sights. We drove north as the sun set. 

We were seeing more private land and less state parks, and started wondering about camping options. The kids were ready to call it a night. We looked for a spot to park where we could appreciate this amazing coast in the morning. 

I found a spot on a little bluff parking lot for a trail owned by the local Conservation Trust. 

The moon was full and there was a cool coastal breeze. I walked down to the bluff trail. The bluff was about 200 ft. up and I could see and hear the waves crashing below. Under the moonlight I could see the rock formations all up and down the coast. All this made for a perfect night.

We slept great and woke early to explore our surroundings.

We found a small trail with a rope tied off to one side leading down to the beach. Once down the trail, we found our own private beach with beautiful sand and incredible rocks. 

Can you find the kids?

We walked around checking out our little oasis.

We found a little cave that obviously flooded during high tide. As it was low tide, we walked into the sand bottom cave and discovered that it opened up into a large room. We shared stories of what this spot reminded us of- all out of storybooks. We hung out and enjoyed our beach. Two visitors joined us with their blind dog. They had rented a cabin for a month in the area. We all became friends and they told us about some beautiful places in the Redwoods. The kids climbed all the rocks, nooks and crannies and then we decided to move on up the coast. 

Our next stop was Navarro Beach State Park, the inlet for the Navarro River. It's a great beach with tons of driftwood 

and plant covered cliffs. 

The kids built an awesome driftwood family sized fort.

We took full advantage of this shady spot and took a nap.

We met a 6 year old boy there and when we left the beach the kids gave him the fort- officially renamed Jessie's Pirate Hideout by the kids ibefore we left. 

We headed North once again, stopping next at Russian Gulch State Park. We went down a tiny one lane road down to the beach. We climbed down to the beach with Lilye leading the way climbing the rocks.  There was a huge rock tunnel cave arch that sounded like a bass drum every time the waves would hit it.

There's Lily the mountain goat...

 There were tide pools that were teeming with life.

Ghost crabs and bottom feeders...

The anemones were especially beautiful.

The large red kelp was irredescent blue under the water and played tricks on your eyes.

We started heading in when the tide began to rise, realizing our crossing could be cut off by the rising tide. We took off from the fern covered mossy trail excited for our next stop- Glass Beach.