Friday, October 13, 2023
Today was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature starting out at 45 degrees and would reach a high of 82 degrees. We were traveling from Russian River Thousand Trails in Cloverdale, California to Morgan Hill Thousand Trails in Morgan Hill, California (a distance of 187 miles).
After breakfast, we left around 8:00 a.m. heading out on US Hwy 101 South.
We then followed CA Hwy 37 toward Napa and Vallejo, California.
Sonoma is now 19 miles away, Vallejo is 18 miles away and Napa is now 26 miles away.
We passed the turnoff on the left for Napa and Sonoma, and continued on CA Hwy 37 toward Vallejo.
We followed I-80 West toward San Francisco.
We then followed I-780 East to I-680 South toward Benicia and Martinez.
There were beautiful pink and white flowering bushes along the interstate.
We continued to follow I-680 South toward Martinez and San Jose.
We continued to follow I-680 South toward Dublin and San Jose.
We are now 12 miles from Fremont and 26 miles from San Jose.
We are now back following US Hwy 101 South toward Los Angeles.
We are now turning off for the city of Morgan Hill, California. Morgan Hill is a city in Santa Clara County, at the southern tip of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. Morgan Hill is an affluent residential community and the seat of several high-tech companies. Prior to the arrival of Spanish colonists, the Santa Clara Valley had been inhabited by the Tamien nation of Ohlone people for more than 6,000 years. In that area, the Matalan tribe lived in a hunter-gatherer society.
Before the area was colonized as part of the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the 1772 Spanish expedition led by Pedro Fages and Father Juan Crespí, the two explorers camped in the area around Morgan Hill alongside Llagas Creek. The location of their camp subsequently became a campsite for Spanish soldiers on their way from New Spain to Alta California. With the founding of Mission Santa Clara de Asís in 1777, the lands of present-day Morgan Hill were granted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Following Mexico's independence from Spain, land was redistributed to Mexican citizens across California and the land encompassing modern-day Morgan Hill was granted to Juan Maria Hernandez, in 1835. In 1845, Martin Murphy Sr., an Irish-born Mexican citizen, acquired the area and named it Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche. The Malaguerra Winery in the Madrone neighborhood, built in 1869 by Californio rancher José María Malaguerra, is on the National Historic Register.
In 1850, Martin Murphy Sr.'s youngest son, Daniel Murphy, married Maria Fisher, heiress of the neighboring 19,000-acre Rancho Laguna Seca, thus combining the two estates. In 1853, Martin Murphy Sr.'s father, Bernard Murphy, died leaving the majority of the estate to Martin Murphy Sr., but a substantial portion to a Martin Murphy Sr.'s mother, Catherine, who then married James Dunne. By 1870, the Murphy family had acquired around 70,000 acres of the Morgan Hill area. In the history of Morgan Hill, the Murphy, Dunne, and Hill families are some of the most prominent.
By the late 1850s, Californio ranchero José María Malaguerra began cultivating vineyards in Madrone, then an independent township just north of Morgan Hill. In 1869, he founded the Malaguerra Winery, the oldest extant winery in Santa Clara Valley, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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(Hiram Morgan Hill, founder of the homonymous city south of San Jose, California.)
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(Diana Helen Murphy, heiress to the south Santa Clara County and wife of Hiram Morgan Hill.)
In 1882, Daniel and Maria Murphy's daughter, Diana Murphy, fell in love with Missouri businessman, Hiram Morgan Hill. They married in secret, on account of his being a Quaker and her being from a prominent Roman Catholic family. When Daniel Murphy died, Diana and Hiram Morgan Hill inherited the 4,500 acres surrounding the original Murphy estate, near Murphy's Peak (now known as El Toro). In 1884, the Hills built their weekend estate, as the family primarily lived in San Francisco, dubbed Villa Mira Monte (Spanish for Mountain-View Estate).
By 1886, the family chose to live primarily at the Ojo del Agua rancho, as they jointly inherited 22,000 acres around the estate. However, the move was temporary, as scandal caused by the marital complications of Hiram Morgan Hill's prominent socialite sister, Sarah Althea Hill, and her husband, Senator William Sharon, made the Hills a source of social ridicule, thus causing them to start spending the majority of their time between San Francisco and Washington, D.C., thus leaving their rancho untouched for long periods of time.
In 1892, Hiram Morgan Hill contracted land developer C. H. Phillips to divide and liquidate the Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche, only retaining the Villa Mira Monte estate and the surrounding 200 acres, which the Hill family would hold until 1916. By 1898, a significant community had built around what was then known as Morgan Hill's Ranch, and a Southern Pacific Railroad station was built in the Huntington area. Rather than ask to stop at Huntington station, passengers would ask to stop at "Morgan Hill's Ranch", which eventually shortened to "Morgan Hill".
On November 10, 1906, the planned community, a result of the divisions of C. H. Phillips, was incorporated as the Town of Morgan Hill. Hiram Morgan and Diana Hill's only child, Diana Murphy Hill, married the French nobleman, Baron Hadouin de Reinach-Werth, and thus Baron Hadouin started to help manage Hiram Morgan Hill's properties between California and Nevada. However, the baron was called back to France to serve in the military and never returned. In 1913, Hiram Morgan Hill died at his Elko estate in Nevada, thus leaving his properties to his daughter. Diana Murphy Hill later remarried, in 1916, to Sir George Rhodes, thus causing the Murphy heiress of the Morgan Hill estate to relocate to the United Kingdom, taking her and Hiram Morgan Hill's daughter, Diana Murphy Hill, thus finally selling off the Villa Mira Monte and ending the Hill family presence in the community named after them.
When we got into Morgan Hill, California we stopped and ate at the Taco Bell before going to the campground to get checked in.
We turned right on Ulvas Road and then we were at the Morgan Hill Thousand Trails.
After getting checked in for the next 11 nights, we drove in and picked out site #69. It was a great site close to the dump station.
In the afternoon, we relaxed around the campsite. For dinner tonight, we had pork chops and potatoes with green peppers on the grill.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
It was another awesome sunny day -- with the temperature starting at 54 degrees and reaching 82 degrees.
From 1:15 p.m. until 2:00 p.m., Mel and I rode our bikes around the campground for about 5 miles (see the Garmin GPS screenshot below).
For dinner, we had a grilled chicken breast and salad.
Sunday, October 15, 2023
We have been blessed with sunny skies again today, with a starting temperature of 52 degrees that would reach a pleasant 75 degrees.
We drove into Safeway around 9:30 a.m. to get some groceries. Later in the afternoon, we had chili for dinner.
Monday, October 16, 2023
Another fantastic sunny day! The temperature began at 57 degrees and reached a high of 73 degrees. What more could you ask for?
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Today started out a little cloudy, but soon turned sunny. Temperatures ranged from the low of 61 degrees to a high of 83 degrees.
After having an omelette for breakfast, we drove into town around 9:40 a.m. Our first stop was the GE Gas Station in Morgan Hill to get gas.
We then drove to San Mateo, which is now 7 miles away.
We are now in San Mateo, California. San Mateo (Spanish for 'Saint Matthew') is a city in San Mateo County, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster City to the east and Belmont to the south. The population was 105,661 in the 2020 census. San Mateo has a Mediterranean climate and is known for its rich history at the center of the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the biggest economic drivers for the city include technology, health care and education. The Ramaytush people lived in the land, prior to its becoming the city of San Mateo.
The Ramaytush people are a linguistic subdivision of the Ohlone people of Northern California. The term Ramaytush was first applied to them in the 1970s, but the modern Ohlone people of the peninsula have claimed it as their ethnonym. The ancestors of the Ramaytush Ohlone people have lived on the peninsula—specifically in the area known as San Francisco and San Mateo county—for thousands of years.
In 1789, the Spanish missionaries had named a Native American village along Laurel Creek as Los Laureles or the Laurels (Mission Dolores, 1789). At the time of Mexican Independence, 30 native Californians were at San Mateo, most likely from the Salson tribelet.
(Shown above, the San Mateo hospice was founded by the Spanish in 1793 as an outpost of Mission San Francisco de Asís in Yerba Buena.)
In San Mateo, we stopped at the Always Quilting store (see below).
I went inside the quilt store, while Mel sat in the truck and waited for me. I was fortunate to find the "Sunning by the Bay" with the Golden Gate Bridge 2023 row-by-row quilt pattern and kit here, so I bought it. Lucky me, as they also had a huge pile of free patterns and books at the front of the store, that I could look at and take with me for free. It was just like being a candy store for quilters!
We then drove along CA Hwy 1 North toward Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco, with a population of 11,795. Half Moon Bay is known for Mavericks, a big-wave surf location. It is called Half Moon Bay because of its crescent shape. Originally an agricultural outpost to Mission San Francisco de Asís, the town was founded in the 1840s first as San Benito, and then as its Anglo fishing community grew, it was renamed Spanishtown. In 1874, it was again renamed Half Moon Bay. After rail and road connections in the early 1900s, the town grew. The foggy weather of the coast made the town a popular destination for booze-running during Prohibition.
(Shown above is an aerial view of Half Moon Bay facing north.)
Half Moon Bay began as a rural agricultural area, primarily used by Mission San Francisco de Asís (established in 1776) for grazing cattle, horses, and oxen. After the Mission's secularization, Tiburcio Vásquez received the Rancho Corral de Tierra Mexican land grant in 1839 and Candelario Miramontes was granted Rancho Miramontes (later known as Rancho San Benito) in 1841. The community began to develop in the 1840s as San Mateo County's first real town. Originally, San Benito, the town was renamed Spanishtown and attracted a thriving fishing industry in addition to its continued importance to coastal agriculture. Spanishtown became a racially diverse community, settled by Canadians, Chinese, English, Germans, Irish, Mexicans, Italians, Scots, Portuguese, and Pacific Islanders. Regular stagecoach service was established with San Mateo; coaches also served Purissima, Lobitos, and San Gregorio. Levy Brothers opened a department store downtown. Spanishtown was officially renamed Half Moon Bay in 1874.
The area grew very slowly, even after the Ocean Shore Railroad began serving the community in 1907. The construction of Pedro Mountain Road in 1914 provided better access to San Francisco and probably contributed to the railroad's demise by 1920. The USS DeLong ran aground at Half Moon Bay on December 1, 1921. During Prohibition "rum runners" took advantage of dense fog and hidden coves in the area to serve several roadhouses and inns, some of which operate today as restaurants. Real growth in the area came after World War II with the construction of numerous subdivisions, eventually leading to Half Moon Bay's incorporation in 1959. The city preserves a historic downtown district that has buildings dating as far back as 1869.
Driving along, we saw many fields of pumpkins and brussels sprouts. In San Mateo County, the farmers dedicate 788 acres to growing the brussels sprouts, and the coastal fog and cool temperatures year-round make it the perfect place to grow this prosperous, edible bud!
But where do Brussels sprouts really come from? They are believed to have originated in Italy during the Roman times, but were first grown in large quantities in Belgium – its name comes from the country’s capital, Brussels. They may have started to grow in Belgium as early as 1200. However, production in the United States began in the 18th century, when French settlers first brought the little cabbage-like crops to Louisiana. Brussels sprouts are part of the cabbage family, more specifically, the Brassica family. Each little sprout grows on a stalk, and each stalk produces around 15 to 20 sprouts.
We drove by the Venice Beach area.
There were surfers paddling out in the water (see above).
We drove by the Montara State Beach, which is a beach located in the coastal region of California, eight miles north of Half Moon Bay on CA Hwy 1. It is known for surfing and fishing.
(Shown above is Montara Beach.)
Pacifica is now located 8 miles away.
The sea mist is beginning to drift in now. We are now approaching the Tom Lantos Tunnels -- two tunnels located within the coastal promontory of Montara Mountain on the San Francisco Peninsula in California, created to allow rerouting CA Hwy 1 to avoid a portion of roadway known as Devil's Slide. They are officially named after late Congressman Tom Lantos, who was instrumental in securing funding for the project. The Devil's Slide tunnels are the second and third longest road tunnels in California at 4,149 feet northbound, and 4,008 ft southbound.
We are now approaching Pacifica, California. Pacifica, meaning peaceful in Spanish, is a city in San Mateo County, California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. The City of Pacifica is spread along a 6-mile stretch of sandy coastal beaches and hills in north central California. The city comprises several small valleys spread between Sweeney Ridge in the east, Montara Mountain to the south, and the Pacific Ocean's rocky bluffs to the west.
We stopped at Pacifica, California to get lunch at the Panda Express, as well as take in the ocean for a bit. We saw the Taco Bell that was located in Pacifica -- it was pretty unique and is the most scenic Taco Bell in the world (see below).
We saw the beautiful poppy mural on the side of Lovey's Tea Shoppe. Mural artist Luke Hopkins, of Brighton, England, painted a landscape on the store’s south side featuring brightly colored flowers, spindrift and the iconic rocks of Rockaway Beach.
We drove down to the Rockaway Beach, which is a shoreline area of the Pacific Ocean in the southern portion of Pacifica, California, approximately 7 miles south of the city of San Francisco. It is located within a gently curving embayment with direct access via Rockaway Beach Avenue and providing easy access to Highway 1.
San Pedro Rock (shown above and below) is a rock formation and small island off Point San Pedro in Pacifica, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area's San Mateo County. Access is only during low tide via a 1.2 mile path from Pacifica State Beach.
After lunch at Panda Express, we drove back toward Half Moon Bay heading to the San Pedro Rock and Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
We went back through the tunnels again.
I tried to take a picture of this strange formation while driving by, and we saw many people walking up the trail to it. Wonder what it is?
This eerie looking concrete building teetering on a rock on the edge of a cliff is really called Devil’s Slide Bunker. Sitting high above Gray Whale Cove State Beach, on a coastal bluff referred to as both Devil’s Peak and Bunker Point, is the Devil’s Slide Bunker, which was built during World War II as a triangulation and observing station. In the bunker, soldiers used binoculars to watch for attacking Japanese ships. If spotted, they would radio the enemy’s coordinates to gun batteries in the Marin Headlands and at Fort Funston.
Eventually, radar technology advanced, the station became obsolete, and it was abandoned in 1949. The land was purchased by a private owner in 1983 and all buildings except for the bunker were removed. At one point, much of the bluff was carved away for construction, but plans to develop the property were abandoned and now the bunker sits 15 feet off the ground, teetering on a rock, covered in graffiti.
We are now back in the Half Moon Bay area.
We are now on the way to Pigeon Point Lighthouse and the sea mist is getting thick again.
We are beginning to see the Pigeon Point Lighthouse ahead.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is perched on a cliff on the central California coast, 50 miles south of San Francisco. The 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. In December 2001, a section of the iron belt course on the exterior of the lighthouse fell off. The lighthouse is now closed until the structure can be restored.
Pigeon Point’s original name, Whale Point, was inspired by the gray whales that migrate past the point. California’s Gold Rush brought many ships to these perilous waters, including the Carrier Pigeon, a state of the art, 175 foot clipper, that on its maiden voyage in 1853, ran into the fog-blanketed rocks just 500 feet off Whale Point. Eventually, the Carrier Pigeon which had been valued at $54,000 was sold, where she lay for only $1,500. The Whale Point was then renamed to Pigeon Point to honor the ship.
Between 1865 and 1868, three other shipwrecks affirmed the danger of this foggy location and in 1872, a Llghthouse was built with a light and fog signal that has guided mariners for more than a century. Pigeon Point Lighthouse used a five-wick lard oil lamp and first-order Fresnel lens comprised of 1,008 prisms. First lit in 1872, the lens stands 16 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter. It weighs 2,000 pounds and the light reaches up to 24 miles.
The coastal areas surrounding Pigeon Point Light Station are rich with life. Marine mammals, such as seals and whales, can be seen regularly from shore as they pass by beyond the surf. The intertidal zone along this part of the coast, particularly in the rocky reefs that flank the light station, contains a diverse and numerous variety of plant and animal life.
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We continue along the coast on our way back to the campground.
We are now entering Santa Cruz, California.
Santa Cruz , Spanish for "Holy Cross," is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California with a population of 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a popular tourist destination, owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historic landmarks.
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(Shown above is Santa Cruz that was founded by the Spanish in 1791 when Fermín de Lasuén established Mission Santa Cruz.)
Santa Cruz was founded by the Spanish in 1791, when Fermín de Lasuén established Mission Santa Cruz. Soon after, a settlement grew up near the mission called Branciforte, which came to be known across Alta California for its lawlessness. With the Mexican secularization of the Californian missions in 1833, the former mission was divided and granted as rancho grants. Following the American Conquest of California and the admission of California as a U. S. state in 1850, Santa Cruz was incorporated as a town in 1866, and became a charter city in 1876. The creation of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in 1904 solidified the city's status as a seaside resort community, while the establishment of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1965 made Santa Cruz a college town.
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(Shown above is downtown Santa Cruz, California from Mission Hill.)
Indigenous people have been living in the Santa Cruz region for at least 12,000 years. Prior to the arrival of Spanish soldiers, missionaries and colonists in the late 18th century, the area was home to the Awaswas nation of Ohlone people, who lived in a territory stretching slightly north of Davenport to Rio Del Mar. The Awaswas tribe was made up of no more than one thousand people and their language is now extinct. The only remnants of their spoken language are three local place names: Aptos, Soquel and Zayante; and the name of a native shellfish – abalone. At the time of colonization, the Indigenous people belonged to the Uypi tribe of the Awaswas-speaking dialectical group. They called the area Aulinta.
We saw this cool mural on the side of the Upper Crust building in Santa Cruz, California.
We are now 14 miles from Watsonville, California, which is about 40 miles from Morgan Hill, California.
We got back to Morgan Hill at around 3:40 p.m. after traveling 181 miles.
We saw lots of beautiful coasts, beautiful sites and had a spectacular and beautiful journey today!
Shirley & Mel
