Our shiny new Tramp – same camper but a bigger and stronger truck – happily enjoying the golden brown California hills

One of my favourite travelling songs is the old Willie Nelson tune with the singalong chorus ‘On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again’.  Julie and I could finally sing that song again after about an eight week hiatus from Tramp and our Follow the Sun adventure.  During that time we had a beautiful little grand daughter (Abby rules!), we reunited with friends and family in Australia, spent extra time at my parents’ home in California and our camper was moved from our old Chevy Colorado to a brand new shiny Ford F250.  Phew!

The second leg of our Follow the Sun journey will be to explore Central and South America.  We hope to spend about five or six months covering this vast area, visit perhaps 20 new countries and finish this leg probably in Rio de Janiero Brazil or somewhere nearby.  But that’s a long way down the road, so to speak, and we’ve got many new adventures to look forward to before then.

Here is our best early prediction of where we will be travelling through Mexico and Central America over the next couple of months – including a week or so in Cuba

So what happened to our original Tramp?  Well, the short explanation is that our camper was just too heavy for the Chevy Colorado and despite spending big bucks under the truck to bolster up its suspension we blew out the rear differential twice in Alaska, voided our warranty, probably voided our insurance and generally were driving around in an unsafe and badly damaged truck.  As much as we loved the Colorado we knew it was not the right truck for the rest of our journey.

Following the philosophy of ‘we are where we are’ and not wanting to get bogged down in why we ended up with the Colorado against our original intentions we needed a new plan with a new truck.  Working with XP Camper, the makers of the camper, we agreed that we needed to upgrade to a much larger truck with much higher payload which could easily, safely and legally carry the heavy camper.  After some consideration, and visiting many dealers along the way, we agreed to buy the Ford F250.

The F250 the day we bought it – I never thought I would own a truck this big but there’s no turning back now

So while we were in Australia enjoying the benefits of grandparenthood and catching up with friends and family our camper was moved to the Ford, not a trivial task, and eventually we drove it away from XP Camper.

The difference between the Colorado and the F250 is significant.  The Colorado is a nifty little truck with some nice features and a payload of about 1600 pounds.  The F250 is higher, wider, longer, much heavier and has a payload of about 3400 pounds.  Compared to the Colorado it feels like you are driving a tank.  We have more storage room and more overall comfort but worse gas mileage and a badly scarred bank account to show for it.  The whole process was difficult, expensive and stressful but we’re very happy with the F250 and feel we’ve now got the right partner for the rest of our journey.  So Tramp lives on, bigger and better than ever before!

Julie and I are ready to jump in the bigger and better Tramp and head south to Mexico and all points beyond

We left my parents’ home and headed south along famous Highway 1 from Carmel.  This magnificent road, an engineering feat when it was first built almost 100 years ago, hugs the dramatic coastline where the steep slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains come crashing down into the blue Pacific Ocean.  It has to be one of the most scenic coastal drives in the world and is packed with stunning views along the way.

The beautiful California coast with Highway 1 hugging the rugged coastline

Julie and I took our time driving down the coast, stopping frequently, enjoying the blue sunny skies, the gorgeous scenery and the joy of being back on the road again.  We left a lot behind us, both good and bad, but we were excited about our journey south towards the Mexican border and all points beyond.

Highway 1 has a number of these dramatic bridges, some almost 100 years old, which make this spectacular drive possible

Quite a sight – the picturesque McWay Waterfall pours directly onto the beach and into the ocean near Big Sur

We camped that first night at Lime Kiln State Park a few steps from the beach and sat on a rock watching the waves crash in while the sun sank below the horizon.  It was a beautiful scene and we toasted our journey and our return to the road.

Our first night back on the road and we celebrated with a sunset on the Pacific Ocean

The next morning we walked amongst the majetic tall redwoods to visit the remote site where 120 years ago industrious settlers built four large kilns to produce lime from the nearby limestone.  We had originally wanted to drive the full length and glory of Highway 1 along the coast but a section of it is still closed due to huge mud slides earlier in the year.  So it was up and over the mountains on a narrow winding road, proving stunning views of the sparkling ocean below as it weaved its way through the golden brown California terrain.

These giant lime kilns are hidden back amongst the redwoods, testimony to industrious but destructive settlers 130 years ago

A fallen redwood creates cascading waters in the dappled light of the forest

Our mission was to head south but our progress was slow as we stopped frequently, took side roads, enjoyed the great views in all directions.  We camped that night at a regional park near the town of San Luis Obispo, not far from our starting point two days ago but loving the feeling of freedom and exploration on the road again.

The local ranchers were raising some serious long horn cattle – you can’t beat these horns

The next day was more of the same, staying on scenic Highway 1 whenever possible, driving through huge tracks of burned out hillsides around Santa Barbara and loving the coastal drive through famous Malibu on the way to greater Los Angeles.  We marvelled at the multi-million dollar homes built on stilts over the sandy beach and the other huge homes perched precariously on the cliffs far above.  It all looked great but I’m sure they were jealous when they saw the mighty Tramp pass by.

Julie likes her new ride – more room, more comfort and more gas to keep it going

Tramp is backed up to the beach but he’s uncomfortable in crowds and he hates paying outrageous camping rates

Timing is everything, as they say in the classics, and our timing was bad this day, putting us in the middle of peak rush hour traffic as we tried to pass through Los Angeles.  The nightmare lasted well into dark, a rarity for us, but we finally camped at an outrageously priced state park on the deep sandy beach near Huntington Beach in the southern reaches of the Los Angeles metropolis.

ALTO! Tramp is in no man’s land and is about to be XRayed before entering Mexico.

The next morning we headed south for the border, picking up our last Yankee supplies and driving into the border compound area.  Thus ended the ‘easy’ part of our Follow the Sun adventure, our seven plus months travelling around the US and Canada with language, currency, culture and people all very familiar to us.  The next step was possibly the biggest of our whole journey – to cross the border with Tramp and enter a truly foreign country.  We’ve crossed these borders many times before – in fact, many many times before – but this time was different.

Viva la Mexico!!