Adam's Blog July 23rd, Day 18!

The second day in San Fran today kind of since we are on our way out. After breakfast we head out to get some gas and ice and start our journey further up the coast. Get to the first gas station and as I'm filling up, Courtney informs me that they have no ice. Alright, next three gas stations in town, no ice. Is this a San Fran thing? We decide to leave the town and check for ice as we go since it's not urgent, just nice to have some cold drinks when you get thirsty.

First stop, the view point from the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Boy is it packed here but we manage to get a parking spot and head out to enjoy the view. Not sure that I've mentioned it yet but at every stop so far where there has been a tall structure, you can find a group of people standing there getting their picture taken with their arms opened up and hands placed to look like they have them at the top and bottom of the structure. Is this some kind of thing that I'm not aware of? Maybe I'm just getting crotchity and these things are more annoying to me now and that makes them more noticable. Anyway, after waiting for what feels like 20 minutes for two guys to get the right spacing and then switch cameraman and subject roles and repeat, we get a good spot for some pictures. There was also a statue there to celebrate the various sea going services for the US (Merchant Marine, Navy and Coast Guard). Off to the first set of towns we go and again, a couple of gas stations, no ice. We finally happen across a 7 11 thanks to Courtney's eagle eyes (Thanks Guggs) and get some ice.

The first part of the drive is not unlike the earlier parts of the PCH. Very windy, very coastal and craggy. It's a very beautiful ride. The only major difference is that for large stretches of this part of the highway we are driving in a cloud. It made the turns all that much more exciting when you couldn't see that there was an inlet ahead of you. We finally get to a point in the road where we start seeing some of the dense forests that I was looking forward to seeing here today as well now. Beautiful, massive trees with unimaginably large trunks. As we approach the ending point of the drive today we see signs for the Chandler Tree. This is the famous tree that you drive through. Courtney is driving at this point and as if she hasn't gone through enough driving difficulties between the zoo, Filbert Street and putting up with my caching, she decides she wants to go do it. Off we go.

This roadside attraction is in a town called Legget. Now, I'm certain that it isn't pronounced that way but as soon as I see that name on one of the mileage signs, MC Hammer's Too Legit To Quit comes to my head. This seals my fate, at the next safe sign opportunity, I head out and pose in front of the sign with my best gangsta look possible (See Courtney's photos and blog for proof). This was followed by a long explaination to Abigail about what we were doing, including defining the word legit for her. We finally arrive in the town and there is only a gas station, a post office and the tree that we can tell. To which Abigail retorts "Legget is legit not a town". We pay our entrance fee and head down the path to the Chandler Tree.

There is a lot of planning that goes into driving a minivan through a tree. I can tell that Courtney is a bit nervous but not bad, until she can see the tree that is. We decide that she should drive it through and I would go to the other side of the tree to get the pictures of the car coming through the tree. We get some pictures with the kids out front first and then I rush to the other side to get the pictures of the van coming through. It's hard to tell from my side but I think I saw the "What did I get myself into" face on Courtney. She starts slowly driving through and with a small correction does a great job driving it on through. We all pack back in the van and drive off, another adventure under our hats. The next place that we "stopped" was the Avenue of the Giants. This is a driving tour through some really beautiful Redwood forest again and I am taken aback at how amazing these trees really are. After this cruise we head off to the hotel for the evening.

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