Jozette en Quête de Soleil
La côte nord-californienne dans un bus Volkswagen trentenaire
The Northern California Coast in a 30 Year Old Volkswagen Vanagon
Film by Lawrence Rickford; words by Ben Quesnel (Funwagen)
Mark Twain once said "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. Years in the Bay Area taught me how true this is: from May to September the hot Central Valley pulls the air and moisture off the Pacific Ocean and through the Golden Gate, bringing fog, wind and cold.
As San Franciscans often do, we set out across the Bridge in search of sun and warmth, up into the hills that make the skyline north of The City. “The Headlands” are part of an unbroken chain of mountains called the American Cordillera, and extend from the tip of Patagonia all the way to Alaska.
Jozette, a thirty year old Volkswagen, wound slowly - yet confidently - through the valleys and up the ridges. Suddenly the first ray of sun peeked through the sunroof, and a warm breeze cut through our open windows.
Our objective was the summit of Mount Tamalpais: a high island in a sea of fog. Each break in the trees promised greater and greater views and upon arrival the light reflected off the ocean and fog and the dry golden California switchgrass.
The turmoils of the city were far below us and so were our worries. Driving through nature had taken us to a state of freeness. As the sun slowly set we seemed to be the only ones in the Bay, getting to soak in the beauty of an ocean of clouds bathed in fire.
The feeling of timeless immediacy.
