...home

2987 miles
11 days
5 states
100 blog entries

Put that together and it turns into one of the most memorable vacations Jeana and I have ever taken. From the hippy in Stinson Beach that told me "I moved here 17 years ago looking for drugs, and never left" to the beauty of Monterey Bay, to the eerie dark night and sparkling stars of the Nevada desert. We had a wonderful experience that we will never forget.

Thanks to all of you, family and friends, who followed us along this wonderful trip. Now the planning of Hernandez Road Trip '08 begins!

See you on the road
Willy & Jeana


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Almost...

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Shoes shoes and more shoes

Jeana changing shoes in the hotel parking lot...again.

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Green River part deux

Our first meal of the trip was a suckfest at Green River Utah. Our last stay of our trip will be in Green River Utah...let's see if the nights stay is better than the food.

I noticed the sign outside of our room says "comfort inn". We're staying in a holiday inn and i haven't seen a comfort inn around town.

One final thing. Our room number is 229 our room number in monterey was 2229. My parents house number is 229. Someone play those numbers, quick.

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Lookie, it's snowing

Still in utah

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I-70

In the past four days we have traveled from western california to central utah and have not set our wheels on any interstate....until now. For the final stretch home we'll hop on 70.

Btw, it's snowing.

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Sand dunes

We came across these sand dunes on Utah's Hwy 50.

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Hey look

More desert.

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Almost out of gas

This is the only gas station for 200 miles. Check out the olde tyme pump...it has no digital readout! Craaazy...How do these hilbilly's function?

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Desert Highway

US6 to Ely stretches along for hundreds of miles with a whole lot of nothing in between.

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Desert Highway

US6 to Ely stretches along for hundreds of miles with a whole lot of nothing in between.

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Aliens

This is prime alien abduction area.

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Tonopah, Nevada

We crossed into the silver state at 7:30 Friday pm. The lights in the distance are Tonopah, where we'll spend the night.

Cell service has been sporadic at best. I can get web access but can't send messages. I'm not sure if it's my mail server or cell service.

I'll leave the messages in my outbox. Hopefully they'll go out tonight, but they may not go out in order

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In the valley

From the valley looking up.

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More from the valley

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One guy looks up, they all look up..

...crazy French.

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Bridal Veil Falls

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Yosemite National Park

Is it pronounced:
Yo se might
Yo se metee
Yo say mitee
Or a combination of all?

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Change of plans

I got some food and coffee in my gullet...feel waaay better.

We will be by-passing Sacramento, sorry Sonny but the whole sac town reference just weirded me out.

We will make our way east to Yosemite then cut across Nevada...thanks to Albert for the suggestion. We'll be out of cell phone range for a while so I'll post when we're back in civilazation.

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Stupid free beer

Oow...California and its evil free beer....i'll never drink again.

The picture is what the world looks like through me eyes right now.

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Free grub!

Don't know her name but she's the manager of Tolai, the restaurant in the Sheridan in Petaluma. Not only did she pay for our drinks and desert because our meal was slow in arriving, she also did not charge us for one of the entree's. Honestly, the food did not take that long to arrive...but keep your yapper shut.

Service like this is hard to find. If you're in the area, be sure to stay in the Sheraton.

And there's more....we got free detergent when we did our laundry!

I lof america

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FREE BOOZE!!

The manager just told us that our food will be late. As a consolitation prize we get free ALCOHOL for the night! Dang it, i'm drinking cheap ass bud light!

More pictures after the night os through.

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The world is spinning

Jeana drunk at dinner....well....not really drunk. She only had one glass of wine.

Sonny - I will never eat anything at a place called "sac town". If anyone needs clarification, grow a pair.

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Petaluma

Our trip up PCH has ended. Now we begin our trek inland and back east.

We'll spend the night in Petaluma. The picture is of Petaluma marina, which I can't quite figure out since Petaluma is inland and I don't know of any big lakes in the area.

Tomorrow we'll pass through Sacramento on our way to Salt Lake City.

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Bridge? Where!

There's a big red bridge in that fog.

But right now it's windy as hell and cold as shit so ONWARD HO!

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Crossing the Golden Gate bridge

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Lunch II

Bacon with bagle in El Granada, California. Half hour from S.F.

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Fruit stand

Today's lunch brought to you by Fambrini's produce.

A fruit and vegetable stand on the side of the road north of Santa Cruz. It was tasty but it lacked bacon. Lunch II will be coming up shortly.

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Corre, la migra!!

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Castroville

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Rocinante

This is the actual pickup and camper, not a replica, Steinbeck took on his trip across America in "travels with Charley".

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The national Steinbeck center.

I'm a fan of the writer.

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The lone cypress

Sitting on it's perch for about 250 years, the lone cypress is the symbol of the Pebble Beach company.

The tree has been secured by cabling to help it last another 250 years.

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Fog

As we started our route on 17 mile drive the fog rolled in. This picture is of "the restless sea" one of the vantage points of the route.

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Final morning in Monterey

Our final breakfast in Montery. We planned on staying one night but liked the area so much we extended our stay for three days.

After breakfast we head south to Pebble Beach and take in the scenic 17 mile drive.

After Pebble Beach it's up the road to Salinas and the Steinbeck museum

The picture is Starbucks on Cannery Row.

I'll check back in later.

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Do i look green?

I should, since i puked by guts out on that stupid non-motorized POS paddling plastic toy that's called a kayak.

The picture is Jeana's failed attempt at humor.

Yeah sure, we saw seals, otters, jellie fish as big as a yugo. But you know what really got to me...the seals.

They're cute and all but they stink! After two whifs of seal stink i upchucked breakfast.

Considering my maritime backgroung i'm never going to live this down.

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kayak

We're about to take off on our kayak adventure. Since we'll be on the water i will not be taking any cameras or the phone so this is all you get...hehehe

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aaaah

I peed here.

I was thinking that someone should make a cofee table book of good pee spots around the world.

Although this spot wasn't particlularly great, i really had to go so it was a great spot for me.

Maybe the folks that published the OJ book can publish this one.

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today

We slept in, had a late breakfast, and now we're walking around Pacific Grove. A small town next to Monterey.

We have rented sea kayaks and will tour the bay later this morning.

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Wax museum

Biggest waste of $17, EVER. This was a 1 minute walk through manequins with bad wigs.

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Mmmmm...

...Seal bacon

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Oooh yeah...

...sun feeeels sooo goood

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Seals sunnig on fisherman's wharf

They're no more than 10 feet from me as I walk along the pier.

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Best food of the trip

We had lunch at Mexi-Cali grill, a small mexican place near downtow Monterey, a stones throw from the bay.

Without a doubt this was the best meal of the trip. The taco shells are made on the premises and have a flaky crust that is indescribably delicious. It's similar to a pastry crust but without the sweet flavor

The owner, Miguel, is pictured.

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Monteray Bay Aquarium

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Fish

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Watching the fish

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Jellies

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What!?

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Cannery Row

The place Steinbeck wrote about is no longer a fish canning and processing district. Shops and restaurants have taken over the old canning plants.

Steinbeck purist probably find fault with the change. But frankly, I much rather be sitting in Starbucks sipping my tall caramel machiato without the overwhelming smell of rotting fish.

Hooray for human advancement.

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Aaah...tonight I sleep good

This is the view from our bed. I can hear the waves as they lap the coast below.

I'm guna me git one of dem dar fancy champagne beers in a glass...weeee woooo!

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Monterey

The idea was to camp a little further up the coast tonight. But after seeing Hearst castle we said screw it, no sleeping bags for the next two nights We checked into the Monterey Plaza hotel & spa for a few days of pampering.

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Elephant seals

The white objects you see in the background are not rocks, they're seals sunning themselves. The white color is caused by their molting.

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Heading away from the castle

The tour we just took concentrated on guest houses and two of the pools.

The oppulance seems overdone, in fact the ceiling in one of the rooms was brought in from a castle in Spain. The ceiling dates back to the time of Cristopher Columbus.

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Indoor Pool

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Main entrance to Casa Grande

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Casa Grande

The main house

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Another view of the pool

With the ocean in the background

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Pool

One of the pools in the Hearst house.

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Hearst Castle

We're waiting for the next tour to begin. The bus departs for the mansion momenteraly. This picture is of the vistor center...which is really stores and eatires hawking Hearst castle wares.
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Holly Wood

This is Holly, the "proprietor" of one of the many shops in Cambria.

Our trip continues north. Our next stop is Big Sur then on to Monterey.

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Cambria

Just north of Morro Bay is the towm Cambria. A small community filled with art galleries, antique stores, and restarants....oh, and very expensive gasoline. At 3.67 a gallon it's the highest we've seen on the trip.

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Breakfast

Norhing is as good as waking up late and having a great camping breakfast of eggs, bacon, and corn.

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Morro Rock

Up close and personal. We walked from our campsite to the foot of the rock. I was told it's only a mile and a half, seemed much longer to me.

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Morro Rock

The rock pictured behind me two posts ago is Morro Rock. The picture in this post shows the rock from a closer view.

The park ranger mentioned that the rock serves as a falcon nesting site. We did not see any falcons but did see plenty sea gulls & sand pipers.

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Horseback Riding

I bet they're not Dolphin fans...they seem too happy.

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Dolphins

Friggin' Dolphins lost today. 0-3, great beginning to a crappy season. Oh yeah, that's me standing in the water with some rock behind me...friggin' Dolphins.

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Home for tonight

We've set up camp at Morro Strand state park near Morro Bay. Just north of San Luis Obispo and south of Cambria, Morro Bay is a small town with a small tourist downtown area. Right now the temp is in the high 70's but I expect it to drop into the 50's overnight. Lucky for me my layer upon layer of fried delicious foods will keep me warm. On the other hand, Jeana and her vegetabe eating ways is, asured a night of misery and cold....hooray fried bacon!

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Along the Malibu coast

We just passed the big homes and the coast is visible again.

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Too many crosses

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Arlington West

Representing all the soildiers who have died in the Iraq war.

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Santa Monica Pier

Dozens of shops and amusement rides. The pier boasts the only solar powered roller coaster in the nation.

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bzzzzz

Meet my wife....yes, she's the one with the fly eyes

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Sunset

As the sun sets on the beach and the smell of weed permeates the air, i head out of the boardwalk in search of the nearest bar.

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Lizard king

Sand sculpture.

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ere

Every where you look you see color. I wish i were a stoner...this would be a great buzz.

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boardwalk

Stores and freaks

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Home for the night

Just checked into the Best Western on Venice beach. Now we're off to walk around.

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LB PCH

Not all of PCH is scenic. The drive through Long Beach is a mix of indrustial and dumpy, leaning more towards dumpy. I can't wait to leave this area.

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Water's cold

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Pacific

Our first view of the pacific ocean on this trip.

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San Juan Capistrano

The 7th of 21, and arguably the most famous, mission estblished in California during the 1700's. The swallows do return each spring, but not on schedule as most believe.

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Dave Lower

We spent a few hours with Dave this morning. He served with Bill Fitch in Korea (those of you from Miami will remeber Bill).

We took a brief tour of his 2.5 acre spread where he grows a variety of things and we met Ruth, his pet hen.

Then we headed out to breakfast at Annie's, one of his regular spots, where they made us wear funky hats since it was our first visit. I'm sure Dave had something to do with that :)

It was a great morning spent with a good friend.

Thanks for the tour Dave!

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@$%!

I hate traffic!!! I thought we left that in Miami.

We're holed up in a Marriot in Corona, Ca...and yes, in tribute I will partake of the beverage that gave this fair city it's name.

If I come across something interesting tonight, i'll post it. Otherwise, i'll continue tomorrow.

Man, I wish I had my laptop. Typing on this little phone keyboard aint fun. Next time I'll rethink the whole "minimize technology on the trip" angle. I'm in I.T. for cripes sake!

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?

Who's the stoner that named this road?

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Are we there yet?

Where the hell is the beach?

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Hi Vegas

Bye Vegas

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Another state down

Looks like jeana is standing in a hole. The truth is that i'm wearing high heals.

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arizona

We'll only pass through the state for about 3 seconds.

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Happy?

You two knuckle heads happy now? No gilligan hat and no isle of capri shirt.

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WAKE UP!

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On the road again

Jeana is waking up as she drinks her coffee. We'll have a quick breakfast and be on the road by 7:30.

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zzzzzzzz

Oh the luxurious splendor of the Motel 8 in Salinas Utah. Tonight Jeana and i will truly sleep like royalty.

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Late dinner

Bad service, crappy food, 3.2 beer. Not a good dining experience in green river utah.

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Ahhhh....Utah

Land of mormons, 3.2 beer, & well....more mormons.

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Stairway to Heaven

Marble staircase leads to the reststop bathroom.

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"No name" rest stop

What's the name of the rest stop?

We're about two hours east os the Utah state line
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Eisenhower tunnel

Went through the 2 mile long tunnel around 3:30 our time. I think the posting clock may be listing pacific time.

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California here we come

The truck is packed and we're hitting the road.

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Planning the Trip

We are in the process of planning a trip through California's Pacific Coast Highway.

OK, we're done, the trip has been planned.

The plan is not to have a plan. We will depart Denver, on or about, September 20th and make our way west towards Los Angeles.

We're spending one night in the L.A. area and anywhere from 8 to 10 days for the remainder of the trip before finding our way back to Denver. There are no definitive stops along the way other than seeing a friend in L.A. and visiting the Steinbeck Museum in Salina's.

The rest of the trip will be unplanned. We will eat when hungry, sleep when tired, and when nature calls...well, you know. Since we plan on spending a large portion of our nights under the stars our Xterra will be packed with camping gear.

During the trip I will be updating this blog several times a day. You will be able to see what we see in real time. You'll be there if we visit William Randolph Hearst's stately, yet a little bit crazy, manor. When we see the majestic redwoods, you'll see the majestic redwoods. We surf, you surf.

Immediately after I snap a picture or take a video it will be posted on this site. Mere seconds after the picture has been taken you can see it.

So if you know any must-see spots, great restaurants, or giant balls of yarn let us know. We'll try our best to stop and take a picture. All we ask is that the location be close to Highway 1 or 101.

The adventure begins Thursday September 20th. See you on the road!

Willy & Jeana