Northern Californian Coast in a Trailer

[ferider]

A short documentation of two weeks of camping, with my wife and our two puppies. This is the first trip trying out our new 20 foot trailer that we bought because neither of us has seen much of the US, and frankly, I'm a bit tired of using doggy hotels.

4 nights in Mendocino
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Gear: Sony A850, 85/1.4, 20/2.8, Leica M240 with 28/2 Ultron

Here is our rig in Mendocino (Manchester KOA campground / http://koa.com/campgrounds/manchester-beach). I was asked to take a tripod just for this photo 🙂

Day-tours included the lighthouse on Pt Arena ....

... and swimming lessons for our two dogs. The younger boy is 9 months, the older girl is 1.5 years, and as mastiffs, they need some help in the beginning. Perfect for this are the several river mouths along the coast / PCH.

(1) At the Navarro river / beach:

Taken by my wife:

Dogs were exhausted:

(2) Russian Gulch State Park

4 nights in Big Sur
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Gear: Leica M240 with 28/2.8 viii and rigid Summicron

Between Monterey and Santa Barbara is - IMO - one of the prettiest coasts and coastal drives in the world. PCH winds along steep cliffs with great views of the Pacific.

This year, we saw humpback whales. I didn't have a longer lens with me, so here is a whale photo with a 50mm:

Our camp ground in Big Sur (http://www.fernwoodbigsur.com/rv-camping.html) was located along the river, under Sequojas

Plenty of time for BBQ and wine

And more day-time trips along the coast. This, for instancs, is the McWay Fall, AFAIK, the only waterfall going directly into the Pacific in California.

That's all folks. A few more photos here: https://ferider.smugmug.com/Picture-a-Week/2015/09122015

Hope you enjoyed,

Roland.

 

[markwatts]

Fabulous! For my wife's sixtieth we ended our USA trip with a week driving down from Seattle to SF. I had wanted to drive the PCH for years. It far exceeded expectations. Wonderful coastline and mellow people. I love the trailer, and the dogs!

 

[kxl]

Nice! Swimming lessons for the Mastiffs must have been interesting 😀

They're not exactly like labs, are they?

 

[lynnb]

What a great trip Roland - the caravan looks great too. Looks like an ideal way to travel to me. I travelled that coast in 1979 and it's just as beautiful as I remember.

Lovely dogs, too.

 

[ZivcoPhoto]

Nice shots.....I know the dogs had a good time.... After living in Northern California for 31 years I must make a point to take the Pacific Coast Highway tour myself at least for the photography opportunities, as this scenery is certainly beautiful.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Thanks for sharing, Roland. Looks like a great trip. I love the trailer; looks like a great way to get out into the landscape. And happy dogs along for the ride... excellent!

 

[Pete B]

Beautiful trailer and nice images. Looks like you had a good trip.
Pete

 

[Paulbe]

Roland--grand! Love the "pups!" Is that a Subaru Forrester you're pulling the trailer with? If so, how did it do?
Paul

 

[Duane Pandorf]

As fellow Airstream owners for the same reason you have yours (dog/s) maybe our paths will cross. We're in the process of selling our house to spend more time traveling in our 34' Airstream.

 

[raid]

Thanks for the images. Seems like a great trip.

 

[ferider]

Roland--grand! Love the "pups!" Is that a Subaru Forrester you're pulling the trailer with? If so, how did it do?
Paul

The Towing Vehicle is a Mercedes GL, Paul, which I feel did very well with the small Airstream (dry, about 4000 pounds). Stable to drive also on freeways, and we don't use any sway control device. And plenty of room for the dogs and during day trips.

As fellow Airstream owners for the same reason you have yours (dog/s) maybe our paths will cross. We're in the process of selling our house to spend more time traveling in our 34' Airstream.

Wow, I admire you for pulling 34', Duane. Let us know if you happen to cross the Bay Area, would be great to meet. My wife was looking for a used 20' Flying Cloud for over 6 months, and we finally decided to buy after finding a good offer and discussing cross country trips after I retire in 10-15 years, neither of us has really seen much of the US ....

Any other air-streamers out there ? This might be too much information for a photography forum, but (like a camera bag 🙂 ), a trailer needs to be customized, of course ... this is what I did to ours before taking our first trip:

Two additional photographical notes:

- This is the first time in over 10 years that I used (with the Minolta AF 20/2.8) anything wider than 28mm. I still have troubles filling landscapes, but it's great in close quarters:

- The M did fabulous hand-held in low light. This was literally in the dark, shot with my 28 Elmarit:

Thanks all for the comments !

Roland.

 

[daveleo]

Thank you, Roland.
Beautiful pictures and nice story.

 

[FrankS]

Thanks for sharing Roland. Nice trailer.

 

[robert blu]

I like that Air-stream, wow (any interior photo? just curious 🙂 )...and that night photo with the 28 is super!
robert

 

[Paulbe]

Roland--PLEASE excuse me for confusing your Mercedes with a Subaru!!! 🙂 I need to go back to car-spotters school! I see the three pointed star in the last picture, above. The GL is a nice car and more than capable of pulling the Airstream. Great pictures--thanks for posting.
Paul

 

[ferider]

I like that Air-stream, wow (any interior photo? just curious 🙂 )...and that night photo with the 28 is super!
robert

Well thanks, and yes, Robert. Coming in, to the left/rear are fridge and TV. Then, clockwise, you have kitchen, bathroom (shower and WC), dining area, and to the front the master bed. The dining area can be converted to another small double bed, which our puppies used.

Roland--PLEASE excuse me for confusing your Mercedes with a Subaru!!! 🙂 I need to go back to car-spotters school! I see the three pointed star in the last picture, above. The GL is a nice car and more than capable of pulling the Airstream. Great pictures--thanks for posting.
Paul

No problem at all, Paul, I like Subarus !

Roland.

 

[FrankS]

Subarus have boxer engines. 🙂

 

[Paulbe]

FrankS--so true--not to be confused with mastiff engines...🙂

 

[tennis-joe]

Lovely pictures of something I would love to do.
In the late 60's in Harlingen, TX where we lived, a hurricane came though and a neighbor had an Airstream Trailer parked in front of his house. I was worried the trailer would end up against our house but because of the dynamics of AirStream the trailer hitch only moved about 8 inches. Trailer was parked East to West and the hurricane came in just like that. I understand they are some of the best around.
Caravans sponsored by Airstream used to pass through Harlingen going south into Mexico in those days when it was safer. I think they were named after the founder, Wally ----

 

[Leica All Day]

Hi Roland,

I love the photos and that trailer, I really miss the coast of Califorina and I would love to do something like that. Thanks a lot for posting these photos, they make me really nostalgic for California.

cheers, michael