Day Nineteen -- to Berkeley, CA

Day 19 – Prairie Creek Redwoods S.P. to Berkeley, CA

We had a relatively long way to go today – about 350 miles to San Francisco – so Keith set the alarm on his watch so we could get an early start. No sleeping in ’til 9:30 today!
On our way out of the campground, we passed a group of four Roosevelt Elk in the eponymous prairie.
Our first stop was the national park’s Kuchel Visitor center, where Natalie and Charlie received their Redwood Junior Ranger badges – we’re developing quite a collection – and we finally bought Charlie the national park ranger hat he’s been asking for.
We drove a little father down the coast and then stopped for a picnic lunch on the beach in Trinidad. From there, it was still about six hours to Berkeley.
When we left the visitor center this morning, the temperature was in the low 60s along the coast. Our drive took us up over the Coast Mountain Range – actually a bit steeper and more winding than we expected – where the temp got up to 97 degrees. Then we descended down through the Sonoma Valley and into the Bay area, where the temperatures were back in the low 60s.
Steve, of course, provided meticulously precise directions from Highway 101 to their home in Berkeley, and we arrived there without any problems just before 9 p.m. It’s a little tight parking our van and the Teardrop in the alley behind the garage, but we think it’ll work. Their home is so charming and so comfortable. We put the kids to bed soon after we arrived, and then stayed up to catch up with Steve and Hélène over beer and wine, which was the best part of the day. The second-best part was standing fully upright on a solid floor to change completely into my pajamas – rather than crouching down inside the Teardrop or the tent to kind of partially change because it’s too cold to do it all the way. Ahh, the simple pleasures in life.