As it turns out, Van Damme State Park was quite nice. Our site was rather spacious and there were only two other sites nearby both occupied by tenters. The camp is very similar to Russian Gulch in that they are both set in ravines with creeks leading to the ocean, and the campsites are set in their natural settings rather than engineered into prize winning campsites.
There is not a lot to be said about the 135 mile Drive down Highway 101 and then 1 to the Samuel Taylor state park except that the views are absolutely breathtaking. Of course, I could not enjoy them during the drive itself because the highway is much too dangerous to take your eyes off the road. But we stopped every hour or so for Donner to do his thing and for me to take in the views. At one stop there was a wedding in progress on a bluff overlooking the ocean. I was tempted to offer a gift of an On the Road patch to the happy couple, but I demurred.
During today's drive, Donner, Zfor the first time on this trip, actually sat up in his front seat and stared out the window, for reasons he will keep to himself.
My Garmin estimated that I would arrive at Samuel Taylof at 1:30, but because of the stops and my slow driving down the clearly dangerous road we arrived at 4:30. The road twists and turns, ascends and descends for hours like no road you have seen before. If that's the price one has to pay to take in the breathtaking views, so be it. I had to stop numerous times to let the tailgaters get in front of me because I dared not take that road at the designated speed. My top-heavy defender is not exactly suited for this particular road. The views aside, after a while you begin to wonder when the trip down the road would end.
It did indeed end at 4:30 when we pulled into Samuel Taylor State Park about 50 miles north of San Francisco. What a wonderful park this is. The entire park is set in a forest of redwood trees and the tenters' campsites are in settings that make you want to just sit there for hours and think about something profound. Our campsite is set on the small bluff overlooking a bubbling creek that should induce a deep sleep for me tonight.
Tomorrow, I have to break camp early so that the Donner can get to his official portrait setting on time. After that we hope to head to Donner Lake in Truckee, California, for another official photograph of Donner in front of the park sign. Unfortunately, I understand the park is closed now for camping, but I learned that there are plenty of National Forest campsites just north that. What happens after that, I do not know. I will make my decision when I have to. The options are to head straight home -2700 miles distant- via Route 50 and then route 70, or head down to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, with a possible stop at Death Valley along the way. The road will tell us which way to go. The road and the weather, that is.
Ed and Donner, from the road
