Periodically I reference Art Good’s JazzTrax. I like smooth jazz, I listen to his syndicated show, and he’s also my uncle. In LA I spent time with him and his team planning how we would instill his business with social network marketing.Nixon Presidential Museum
When I choose a theme I can’t help but wrestle it to the ground. The Nixon and Reagan Presidential Libraries are both in Southern California so to keep progressing down my list of the 12 managed by the National Archives I visited them both. Nixon’s was very good but interestingly the Watergate section is still not finished; Reagan’s was in an amazing location but key sections were closed due to preparation for his 100th birthday celebrations. I’ll have to return to Reagan’s because too much was unavailable and I might as well visit Nixon’s again to see if they ever finish Watergate.
This State is HUGE! Over the course of two weeks I covered the Gulf Coast and a myriad of other inland spots. I had no particular theme. For any number of reasons these places got on my radar so I hopped in my car and drove for a visit.
While I didn’t start out intending to explore the nooks and crannies of Texas, I did end up visiting a wide variety of places and learning much about this exceptional State. Below you’ll find a variety of places I visited and enjoyed.
Several years ago I took this very picture at this very spot. Obviously I liked the way my traveling companion could be perched up high on a sand dune. Want to see the old version? Write me!
I’ve had this silly idea about driving the perimeter of the continental United States. It’s not been something I focused on seriously until one day I realized I’d driven about 90% of it. “Wow!” I thought “So why not make it a goal to finish?” A quick inventory identified a gaping hole: the Texas Gulf Coast.
So into the fabric of this trip I wove a drive from Port Arthur to Brownsville. This included places like famous Galveston island with it’s amazing beaches and horrendous weather history. Corpus Christi and the fabulous coastline of Mustang Island. Also included was the Padre Island National Seashore which was on a separate list too, that of visiting all National Parks. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone!
The White Cliffs are famously called “of Dover” probably because of the busy port the town has. However, the cliffs extend far beyond as evidenced here in this picture of the town of St. Margaret.
If the Underground’s transportation workers were going to strike for 24-hours then I was going to spend that time out of town. The weather looked good so my plans were to visit Dover and Canterbury. Both these places were rained out when last I visited and again my BritRail pass was burning a hole in my pocket.
As good planning would have it, my high speed train out of town left from the St. Pancras station just across the street from my hostel. I was on the 8:11 and in just over an hour I was in Dover having raced along at speeds up to 140 MPH. While there are many things to do in this town located only 21 miles across the English Channel from France, there was only one thing I really wanted to do. I wanted to walk the White Cliffs of Dover and I did.
Atop a government building was this tower but far from unique, this city expressed it's artistic character in many way.
After a day’s rest from my 84-mile walk I was feeling somewhat regenerated. My ambitions were small for this transition day. I thought a walking loop around town would be just right after which I’d hop a train to Edinburgh. I never should have talked with the hostel staff. I never should have learned about the £4.80 Daily Saver. I never should have been tempted to go on a grander Newcastle adventure.
Never before had I been to a beach resort that had been drawing crowds for hundreds of years. Amazing!
Out early I caught the 7:58 from Cardiff to Swansea and before 9:00 I was walking the streets of this once-thriving port city. Using my guide book and a tourist map I knew my agenda. The National Waterfront Museum described the history of important cities along the southern coast of Wales. It was interesting but more so it was impressive. Not even in D.C. do we have such high-tech interactive displays. In stark contrast next door was the Swansea Museum which was low-tech, bizarre, and eclectic with displays ranging from china plates to electric scooters to … wait for it … an honest to goodness mummy. I was floored and tickled all at once. Later I thoroughly wandered the town but was most affected not by what I saw but with a man I met.
As I walked the waterfront I came across a curious observatory just off the beach.
Kelsey took this shot as we gorged on an oversized banana split made with Ghirardelli goodness. The food and entertainment along Fishermans Wharf were both quite memorable and the chocolate...delicious!
This day could have set a record. Since I had recently visited San Francisco as a tourist and spent 10 days getting to know the city, I was able to give Kelsey an intense overview in just a day. For most people our agenda would have been considered ridiculously overburdened but not Kelsey. We started our tear around San Francisco at 8:00 AM on Saturday and except for sleeping we didn’t slow down till the next morning.
Stanford University
We started the day with a drive around Apple’s campus at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino and continued on to a tour of Stanford University’s campus in Palo Alto. These are a company and a university which we both admire and wanted to see first-hand. We visited both these icons in one morning. The day had only begun!
From the moment Kelsey arrived in Southern California the weather was perfect. Note the blue sky. Note the bright sun. Note the highway we were about to embark on. PCH, here we come!
Not wanting to be elsewhere when Kelsey arrived by plane in Los Angeles, I arrived the night before to avoid any potential unpleasantness. From Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument I zipped across southern California and descended into San Diego as the sun set. Very nice! From there is was a shot up I-5 to the Santa Anna Airport where I had a reservation at a near by motel for the night.
By now I’d been on the road for about 10 days. That meant this blog wasn’t current. That meant I hadn’t been swimming in way too long. That meant I needed to sit still for a while. In 24-hours I took care of all this getting my blog current in the Newport Beach Public Library and swimming in the Public Pool next door. By the time Kelsey arrived I was ready to go again!
The game plan was simple: drive up the west coast of the United States as close as possible to the Pacific ocean starting in Tijuana, MX and ending in Victoria, BC. She’d drive as much of it as possible and she’d fly home from Portland, OR after visiting with family. We had nine days to do it. That’s it.
Famously Kelsey posted this napkin sketch of her travels on Facebook for all the world to see. Beyond my time with them in CA, she visited University of Michigan, Rice University and UVA. Six schools, four states, one week. Wow!
My daughters have both been seriously bitten by the travel bug. Given an opportunity to travel, they’ll take it. Kelsey is at the stage in life where she’s considering where to apply for college next year and during Spring Break is a convenient time to visit schools. Oh boy, and did she visit schools!
I didn’t catch up to them till I met them in San Francisco where I began my role as chauffeur. Prior to flying out to the West Coast Kelsey had already visited the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for the Engineering School Open House. Her odyssey had already begun.
I bought this bike with the hopes of getting some use of it on this trip. Little did I know it would take me on some of the best rides of my life. Here it rests after having just conquered the Golden Gate Bridge.
I’d driven enough of the Marin Headlands to piece together a bike ride in case the weather cooperated … and it did! This area on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge consists of federal parks and the town of Sausalito. All of it perfectly beautiful and all funneling into the Golden Gate Bridge. Why not bike it all and then across the bridge and back? Why not!
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