Pacific Chronicles, Part 2

Tuesday we woke up early and drove the famous California pacific route 1, attempting to drive it all the way from Half Moon Bay, near San Jose, and make it to Santa Monica, near Los Angeles. We had our hugs and goodbyes with Dorothy and were off.

A tide pool in Monterrey

Carmel-by-the-sea with Pebble Beach in the background

The drive was amazing. Each place we went got better and better, as we drove from the beaches of Monterrey around winding cliffs, and pristine beaches, and precious towns with fairytale cottages.

Oh, hey. I live in California, and my front yard is a natural grotto.

Meanwhile in New Jersey, 2 more feet of snow fall.

The amazement turned into angry jealousy by the time we hit Carmel, where we ate lunch on the beach, and then drove through town. The phrase "Screw you, we want your life" emanated in our thoughts around every corner. All of us wondered why we live on the east coast, as another foot of snow pounded down on our hometowns.

I descended a dusty gravel ridge, beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge...

From Carmel, the drive got even more picturesque, with the cliffs rising to beautiful vista points. One of my favorites was at the Bixby Canyon Bridge, which didn't even look real to me.

Until I eventually arrived, at the place where your soul had died...

All the way from San Francisco...

Around sunset we arrived on a beach with seals nursing their pups. Just some of the amazing things we saw along this road. Around this time we realized that we were never going to make it to Santa Monica in time, and certainly not Las Vegas in the same night.

As I chased the end of your road... cause I've still got miles to go.

So about 50 miles short of San Luis Obispo we turned east for the first time this trip and headed inland toward the valley. Around 8am, shortly after dark we ended up in dense dense fog. With about 5 feet of visibility, we crept slowly (without cell phone service) toward Bakersfield using the GPS as radar to notify us of any turns in the road. Defintely some of the most intense driving we had ever done, and Eric handled it very well. Once the fog cleared it was a straight shot to Vegas, and around 2am we were blasting Chamillionaire down the strip.

I wanna show all my haters love...

This songs for you.

Quite a day.