Monday 19 May 2008, Fresno, CA

Leaving SF
As we leave the heady and hedonistic San Fran we struggle again with poor maps which do not show all relevant roads, roads with no indication of direction or prevention, and no real directions (unless yuo consider a green plate at the point of a junction towards which you could be travelling at 65mph, a direction - it seems more like a wicked afterthought!).
Anyway, we found a highly recommended ARCO gas station.
Comments
Dirty
No customer service
No credit cards - ATM (debit cards) only but these needed a ZIP code!

That said we had a helpful chap who cleaned our screen and asked us if we saw yesterday's race (which we had, see yesterday's entry!), which leads me to:

'Bay to Beakers' race Stats:
Total Finishers: 22,439
10,921 Males
11,518 Females
2008 Winners
Men John Korir 34m:24s
Women Lineth Chepkurui 39m:22s
(Our positions hadn't been confirmed at time of posting!!)

Back to our day-
Driving notes
From 13th St, S onto CA-101
Right at J54 onto CA280 signposted DALY CITY
Off at J47 onto Highway 1 - signposted PACIFICA and SANTA CRUZ
Follow this sinuous ribbon of alternating tarmac, concrete and holes past SANTA CRUZ, WATSONVILLE and MONTEREY (one 'R'!) to the JULIA PFEIFFER BURNS STATE PARK near BIG SUR NP.

It was foggy when we left SF, foggy as we drove down highway 1o1 and still foggy as we arrived at BIG SUR. What an absolute disappointment.
The view, landscape and weather put us in mind of the Dawlish Coastline - and not necessarily in summertime, either!!

From there we drove back up the 101 thus:
N up CA101 approx 15 miles, turning W onto CA156, signposted HOLLISTER
After another 15 miles road becomes CA-152, as only American roads do, either because they are dually named, or there is a sign just at/after the turnoff!
Continue past Los Banos, over I-5 signposted MADERA
Road merges with I-99 heading S signposted FRESNO and LOS ANGELES
Take right ASHLAN AVE exit and enter FRESNO.

Fresno – an alternative overview
Last Thursday (15 May), Fresno debuted and demonstrated the world’s first operational compressed natural gas-powered plug-in hybrid refuse truck.
The truck is unique in that it is the first in the world to combine a natural gas engine with a rechargeable electric hybrid drive system, and boasts several economic and environmental benefits - an estimated 40% improvement in fuel economy (using the hybrid-electric drive); the capability of operating in all-electric mode for over 10 miles; and, a 90% reduction in smog-forming emissions.
Fresno's location, (Almost at the geographical centre of California), places it a comfortable distance from several of the major recreation areas and suits our purposes exactly, by being just 67 miles south of Yosemite NP, and 60 – 75 northwest of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks respectively.
It is the largest wine-growing region in California, but often gets overlooked in favour of the far more picturesque NAPA VALLEY.
Fresno County was formed in 1856 and named after the abundant mountain ash trees lining the San Joaquin River (Fresno is Spanish for White Ash trees).
Its main focus in terms of universities are agriculture and criminology, feeding the two main industries for this area – food and prisons.
Er, that’s about it [Ed.]!

Hotel Pool
Hotel has a 25m outdoor which, considering the temperature was in the low 100's when we arrived at 3:15 pm, it was a magnet to my aquatic tendancies (having been pool-starved since Keystone). Swam 150 lengths and went for dinner, after buying supplies for the next two national park treks.