Trip 9 - California Dreamin'

On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Heading back South


We are now past the mid point in our trip, the weather has been really good so far on this trip, sunny, blues skies and gentle winds. However the signs are all there that winter is on it's way. Cool mornings and sometimes misty is a message that we cannot ignore for long, so we have decided to bid farewell to Oregon and reluctantly start our long journey back South into the warmer climes fo California.
So on Wednesday we packed up, hitched up our rig and set off soth. We crossed the border back into California, again running the gauntlet of the Ca. Agricultural Police, worrying in case we have forgotten to declare some tasty orange or an avacado pear and thus find ourselves deported or thrown into alcatraz.
Having lost faith in Ca's State Parks and knowing that RV parks are expensive we are trying to use fairgrounds, as many small towns have their own fairground and many of them have RV Hookups which are very cheap.
Posted by fastrak at 8:38 AM

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