So my original plan was to drive up the coastal route to San Francisco, stopping in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterrey. Sadly the incredibly heavy rain in the weeks preceding my trip meant that the road was impassable in many places with flooding and landslides– a complete rethink was required.
Given the poor weather, my routing options were fairly limited. Also booking last minute meant accommodation was a little tricky, in terms of finding places that weren’t outlandishly expensive, terribly rated, or miles off a sensible routing. In the end I decided to spend the first night just north of SAN in Carlsbad (an easy 40 minute drive from the airport). From there it would be around LA and to Mojave, then Bakersfield for the night. Finally up to San Jose for the final night. Definitely not a very exciting itinerary, but it was the best I could come up with at minimal notice.
I’ve been to San Diego, LA and San Fran before, so didn’t want to spend time in those cities.
The Carlsbad motel I found was unimaginative, but clean and comfortable.
The next morning dawned breezy but sunny. Carlsbad beach:
I thought Mojave would be a worthy stopping point. The scenery en route was fairly interesting.
Mojave. I was planning on eating in the restaurant in the terminal, but it was incredibly busy.
747 Heaven
It was very sad all these perfectly capable airframes just languishing in the desert.
Unfortunately there’s no proper viewing area, so these were the best shots I could get.
A few miles up the road from Mojave is Red Rock Canyon State Park, which was a nice spot for a walk
Route 58 over the hills to Bakersfield was an amazing drive. Snow on the hills, low clouds, dramatic stuff. The photo doesn’t due it justice.
The Bakersfield HI Express was ok. Nice high ceilings
There was more interesting scenery on the way up to San Jose. The San Luis Reservoir was a nice place to stretch my legs.
Despite all the rain, the reservoir is still pretty empty
San Jose was pretty miserable from what I saw.
A BA 789 inbound
Time to OLCI for tomorrow….i’m very excited for Japan, and the JAL First Class experience!
