Driving up the Coast Road

Among the many experiences I have read about on RV forums, driving the Pacific Coast Highway aka PCH aka 1 is an experience some chose to avoid and many relish.  We have driven from Los Angeles to San Francisco north on the PCH over the last week.  It is a wonderful experience.  We have driven through flat agricultural areas north of Monterey and we have driven rugged coast line through Ragged Point where I swear I was looking at the brake lights on my tow’d on the switchbacks. 

Although a mile here and a mile there are challenging driving, for the most part it is an exercise in paying attention to the road and keeping one’s speed in check on the descents.  Our time in Monterey was fun and there are hikes we did not take because of limited time.  We did two major undertakings in the one full day we had.  We went to the Steinbeck Center in Salinas and after lunch we drove down to Carmel and drove the 17 mile circuit. 

Approaching the Steinbeck Center the highway passes through several miles of agricultural land, all of it in production.  As the GPS announces we are two miles from the Center, there is no sign that the fields will ever end.  Then rising from the fields are the buildings of a moderate sized city.  The highway becomes Main Street and then the Center is blocking the road.  There is a forced turn into the parking garage and we were taken aback as we had our bikes on the roof and needed more than the promised 7 1/2 feet of head room.  Fortunately the first level of the garage was not very full and had plenty of headroom.  If you have ever read a Steinbeck book or seen one of his play/movies this is a must see history of him and his times.  If you have not read his work or seen his plays/movies this is a must see history of him and you will want to go out and read him.  The one real memento of his life is Rocinante, the pickup truck with camper mounted on it that he used for his 10,000 mile tour of the United States as he wrote Travels with Charley.  For RVers this is a must read, and better than the Long Long Trailer (but not as funny).

The 17 Mile Circuit in Carmel was established as a horse drawn in the early days and has been maintained to provide access to the private playground of the very rich that is Carmel.  The route along the coast includes the Lone Cypress and many other great overlooks and opportunities to walk down to the water.  We did it on our trip out here in 1980 and it does not seem to have changed in the least. 

Our route up the coast was driven by my desire to drive the motorhome over The Golden Gate Bridge.  This took us many miles out of the way, the Bay Bridge would have been a much shorter route.  I discussed this drive with some California RVers I met at the Monterey Elks Lodge and they approved of my decision suggesting that we keep to the middle lane as much as possible.  This is the most wonderful of the Lodges we have seen yet.  The fitness room was in active use all the time it was open from 6 AM until 9 PM.  The camping was comfortable along an edge of the parking lot with adequate 30 amp and water pressure and there is an on site sanitary dump as well.  I was greeted warmly in the bar and met several members and touring RVers.  If we are in the area again we most certainly will take advantage of their three day camping limit.  The drive was wonderful and Carol got to drive the coach over the bridge while I took pictures of the fog.