Big Sur/Highway 1

Sometimes when we travel we debate the merits of one road versus another.  Time spent driving and gas expenses get in the way of a clear understanding of our purpose.  So it was with Highway 1 or the 101 for our trip to San Luis Obispo.  We made the right choice. Highway 1 was a drive that we will always remember not only for the scenery but also for the sheer drop offs and narrow road we crept along for a hundred miles.  Most of all it was spectacular for its ocean to mountain landscapes that had us uttering oh's and ah's at each turn of the road.  Off shore we saw occasional spouts of the Pacific Gray Whales migrating from the arctic to the waters of Baja California where they will calve and mate.

Valerie Williams told us to watch for the elephant seals that would be calving on the beaches along Highway 1.  We thought there might be a few visible on some distant rocky outcropping.  When we first noticed them they seemed more like large uniform boulders scattered along the shoreline.  Hundreds, maybe thousands, began to show up as we made our way.  They seem unaffected by the hordes of people, us included, who walk along a boardwalk just above the calving/breeding beaches.

The Missing Persons Report

A belated Happy New Year to all.  Where to start?  Some updates on my blog absence might help.   I think it has to do with a parallel universe experience and the California time space continuum, again.  I would explain in detail but know that the arrangements for the holidays were beyond An Introduction to Easy Travel.  

After our journey through the remarkable Redwoods we spent time in the wine country of California where the vines spread across the hillsides and valleys in orderly well tended rows. Small towns like Napa, Geyserville, Calistoga and Healdsburg are the heart and soul of California’s wine business and therefore the quietude reigns.  No fast pace development nor high-rise office buildings blocking the views, just the strikingly beautiful gnarled vines which were heading into their winter dormancy.  

Santa Rosa, California was the next stop where we caught up with Pat and Lori and shared lots of good food and good times.  Come and see us someday and we’ll return the favor. Was my camera broken or what?  I don’t have a single picture from our time there. 

During the holidays Toni traveled to Fayetteville, NC to visit Traver, Amber and our two grandchildren, Farrah, a precocious 2  and Hailey, now 7 months.  I went to Salt Lake City to see Ryan, Jackson Hole to see Jenn and Kevin and Bozeman to see Jess. Jamie and Madeline were off to Coure d’Alene so we missed connecting with them but all are well.  

Now it is January of 2010. We are anchored at a California State Park campground in Half Moon Bay.  The waves are pounding the beach about a hundred yards away.  Twenty-five miles to our north the Golden Gate Bridge crosses the inlet to San Francisco Bay.  On New Year’s Day we loaded up the road bikes and drove to the bridge where we peddled our way from the South end of the bridge to the North then back to Ring in the new year and new decade.   A short haul no doubt but a very memorable way to mark the day.  

Next stop San Luis Obispo.