Fuel for Thought
Down the Pacific Coast Highway
My last blog left us in Half Moon Bay, California. Sunday morning we got up and started our foggy journey down the coast. It was a balmy 53 degrees when we woke up, and the fog was almost as thick as it was the night before when we stopped.
The journey started nicely, but there wasn't a whole lot that you could see, except the mountains to your left, and the ocean to your right. We quickly approached the town of Santa Cruz, in which we stopped ocean side to take in the views and watch some surfers.
A little farther along the bay we found Sea Lions. They smell aweful! But they were so cute to watch. There was a big one that anytime Nick got close to the railing would start his yelling. He didnt mind me much at all.
After watching them for about a half and hour we decided to continue on our journey, and our next stop was in Monterey's Cannery Row. It is definately a tourist attraction, with many shops along the water. We stopped at a few just to look at some of the cheesy things that they have. I did sucker Nick into buy me a few shells. After walking the entire row, we decided it was time to eat. We should have listened to the opinions of the people that we asked because the restaurant we ate at was horrible.
We took off on our journey again, knowing that the beautiful Big Sur was ahead of us, but then again we didn't quite realize what we were getting into. It starts out quite beautifully, if you like to see a mountain 6 inches from the road on north bound lanes, and a gaurdrail on the ende of a cliff 6 inches to the left of you. Me and my irrational fear of falling rocks made the next 70+ miles of my life a living hell. No cell phone service, no internet, and no roadside services other than a few mini marts the size of a hotel room every 30 or so miles. When I wasn't squeezing onto the door for dear life, I managed to take a few pictures. There were a few places to turn off and take photos as well. That is if you could manage to pull off into one.
(photo from pull off)
The road itself is twisting and winding. Nick said that he would rate it right behind Loveland Pass, and the only reason its behind Loveland is at least this one has guard rails. 10 & 20 mph curves, turns and hairpins line this road that is full of steep inclines. I think one turn Nick even scared himself.
(Arial view from Google)
When we finally made it to civilization again, the town of San Simeon, we decided that we were going to call it a night, as I was completely exhausted from the ride. One last bit of exciment before we made it to where we were going to camp out was the beach with the elephant seals. I could not believe their massive size!
We found the state campground and set up shop. I am pretty sure as I crawled into bed that night I heard my door on the van crying from me squeezing it so tightly.
Jenny Marcu
Leased to Load 1
2006 Sprinter