tranters travels: July 2010

MONTEREY , SALINAS VALLEY AND SACREMENTO

WE DROVE UO AND STAYED IN THE BEAUTIFUL CARMEL VALLEY WITH ITS RANCHES,ORGANIC FARMS AND VINEYARDS.

THEN OVER TO THE SALINAS VALLEY WHERE STEINBECK GREW UP AND SO MANY OF HIS NOVELS ARE SET HERE.IT IS WALL TO WALL INTENSE AGRICULTURE.SPRAYING BY HELICOPTER IT SMELLS LIKE A HERBICIDE FACTORY.

THREE-QUARTERS OF US LETTUCES ARE GROWN HERE.

ARTICHOKES,STRAWBERRIES AND BROCOLLI CAPITAL OF THE US.

OLD SALINAS SPANISH MISSION.

MONTEREY COAST WHERE THE LAST SARDINE WAS TAKEN IN 1964.ED RICKETTS MADE HIS LIVING COLLECTING SPECIMENS FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES ALL OVER THE STATES.

THE SARDINES ARE GONE BUT THE HARBOUR SEALS ARE IN PLAGUE NUMBERS. FISHERMAN'S WHARF MONTEREY.

ONE OF THE FEW CAMPER FRIENDLY CALIFORNIAN WALMARTS-SACREMENTO.

OMN MY LAST VISIT TO SAN FRANCISCO I NEVER HAD TIME TO GO TO ALCATRAZ.THIS VISIT WE FIND OUT THAT THE TOURS WERE BOOKED 5 DAYS AHEAD. MADE IT TO SAN QUENTIN AND HERE FOLSOM INSTEAD.

COASTAL CALIFORNIA

SOME OT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COASTAL SCENERY IN THE WORLD FROM LA TO CARMEL-MONTEREY.IN POPULAR BEACH-SURF AREAS OVERNIGHT CAMPING WASN'T ALLOWED SO WE WOULD HEAD INLAND TO THE FOREST.

VIEW FROM WHERE WE CAMPED ONE NIGHT.

LONDON

ALASKA WAS MADE SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE AND MEANINGFUL AFTER HAVING READ JACK LONDON.AN AMAZING PERSON .WE VISITED OAKLAND -SAN FRANCISCO WHERE HE GREW UP AND HIS RANCH IN GLEN ELLEN NEAR NAPA VALLEY.

LONDON'S CABIN ON HIS GOLD CLAIM AT HENDERSON IN ALASKA WAS DISCOVERED IN THE 1980'S. AN ARGUUMENT ON WHETHER IT SHOULD BE PRESERVED IN DAWSON CITY OR JACK LONDON SQUARE OAKALND WAS RESOLVED BY PUTTING HALF AT EACH LOCATION AND BUILDING THE OTHER HALF .

INSIDE THE OAKLAND CABIN.

ONE OF LONDON'S HANGOUT'S DURING HIS OYSTER PIRATING DAYS. THE FIRST AND LAST CHANCE SALOON.THE SLOPING BAR A RESULT OF THE 1906 EARTHQUAKE!!

CLOCK STOPPED WHEN EARTHQUAKE STRUCK!!

LONDON COTTAGE VALLEY OF THE MOONS RANCH GLEN ELLEN.

JACK WROTE BY HAND AT FAR DESK AND CHARMIAN HIS SECOND WIFE TYPED THE MANUSCRIPTS.HE RELIGIOUSLY WROTE 10,000 WORDS A DAY.

IN TODAYS JARGON HE WOULD BE CALLED AN ORGANIC FARMER.HE DESIGNED THESE STATE OF THE ART PIG-STYES WHEN EXERCISE YARDS BEIND AND MANURE RECOVERY FOR FERTILISING THE FIELDS.

JACK'S AND CHARMIAN'S ASHES ARE BENEATH THIS ROCK ON A KNOLL ON THE RANCH. HE WANTED CREMATION SO HE WOULD GO OUT IN A BRIGHT LIGHT AND NOT SMOULDER AWAY IN A ROT!!

THE TRAGEDY OF WOLF-HOUSE A MAGNIFICENT HOUSE THAT BURNT BEFORE THEY COULD OCCUPY. HE DIED AT AGE 40 A FEW MONTHS LATER OF KIDNEY FAILURE.

VIEWS OF THE RANCH.

STEINBECK

STEINBECK,HEMINGWAY,LONDON AND MORE RECENTLY KEROUAC HAVE HAD AN HUGE INFLUENCE ON MY LIFE AND HAVE BEEN A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS TRIP.MY YEAR 9 OLD ENGLISH TEACHER INTRODUCED ME TO STEINBECK'S THE PEARL-THE SEED WAS PLANTED AND I RAPIDLY READ EVERYTHING THE GREAT MAN WROTE.(THE TEACHER BROTHER DAMIEN ALSO TAUGHT MY FATHER AND SO IWAS CALLED PAT FOR THE REST OF THAT YEAR AND NEVER HAD THE NERVE TO CORRECT IT!!)A GEOGRAPHY PROJECT THAT YEAR ON A TRIP AROUND THE NATIONAL PARKS OF USA WAS ALSO THE GERMINATION OF THIS TRIP!!WHAT INFLUENCE GREAT TEACHERS CAN HAVE!
THIS PHOTO IS DOC RICKETTS LAB ON PACIFIC GROVE -CANNERY ROW.