On an eight week roadtrip along the west coasts three of us tried to get a feeling what this wild west land is really about.

On New Years Eve shortly before the year 2015 was about to end we start at the Seattle airport. Sascha, crossed just hours before the border from Canada with the vehicle of choice. He had spent the last year driving it from the Canadian east to the west coast, up north to Alaska and back south. Now Jonathan and André would join him on his trip further south the US west coast before he would continue to drive through Mexico, Central America and finally explore South America.

Sascha started the trip with buying a Plymouth Voyager ’94 for 150 Canadian Dollars in Halifax, Nova Scotia with 202.000 km on its clock. The car was in great condition with a little rust here and there but a solid base. Without any preparation nor spare parts thanks to tons of luck it will take him 45.000km down to Panama. It has seen two oceans, ten countries, jungle, deserts, accompanied by plenty of hitchhikers and travel mates, just a few repair jobs were needed and it even had to cross rivers without an all wheel drive in the middle of Costa Rican jungle. It is truly an adventure mobil in stealth optic.

As we teamed up we wanted to upgrade the car. Two more people are suppose to sleep in it, so a proper DIY bed was needed. The project started in Seattle looking for a single seat at a junkyard which was about to replace the bench in the back. Professional welders in Astoria made it possible to install the seat safely. In Portland we came across the Rebuild Center, the place to buy cheap wood and other stuff to build our custom bed. The Staff there even borrowed us a saw and a hammer so we started working on their small parking lot.
After a few hours just after sunset we finished this project and had an expendable bed which had space for three slim guys on top and storage for luggage, food and two surfboards (6’8″ fish and 8’8″ mini longboard), a skateboard and a snowboard underneath.

The plan was to hit the road south along Highway 1 and Highway 101 with stops in major cities, most of nature wonders, also looking for places far away from tourists and try to find some mellow surf. Roughly 7.000km in total.

Big cities along the west coast differ quite a lot from each other. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles have all their individual vibe. Some more charming then others but all worth discovering.

Nature has to offer all it got in the US. From snow covered mountains to vast desserts in just about few hours and all that in  Americas best invention National Parks; right next to Jazz and Rock and Roll of course.

We were standing like smurfs in the forest and were waiting for velociraptors to appear. The ground is covered with ferns, moss and fallen trees. The sky is blocked by treetops in more then 100m height.

Here you can pay six Dollars for driving through a red wood tree. An actual tree with your own car. One of the most American thing we did and it felt quite wrong to drive through a hundert year old living plant. But everything around is just magical impressive.

If you are going from Seattle to San Diego by car you will have two options Highway 5 for people with no time or the Pacific highway which is with no exaggeration one of the most beautiful road trips you can do in US.

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The rich and the hippie all gather here and are probably all connected in their love for surfing. Santa Cruz is the capital of mainland surf with plenty of world class spots around which drew us here.

Famous for its pretty beaches, rugged cliffs, turquoise water and amazing views the Big Sur is one stretch of the whole pacific highway in California you are not allow to miss.

Road Tripping USA Part 2