I had a cloudless and crystal blue sky day to make the trip north. Even before I had made it to Hwy 1, I had stopped 2 or 3 times to shoot pictures of the amazing scenery along Route 46. Amazing rolling hills of vineyards with impressive cliffs and steep hills and the occasional glimpse of the ocean off in the distance....brings tears to your eyes kind of stunning natural beauty!
As soon as I turned north onto the 1, I was hooked. I could have driven all the way to Seattle and all the way back south to San Diego and still not gotten my fill of this. NUGGET #....oh who knows what number?...I LOVE to drive and I LOVE road trips! And frankly this was road trip nirvana! I stopped about 5 times in the first 30 miles. I got to see beautiful beaches and a cove filled with elephant seals! I drove through Big Sur which is stunning and one if Brian and Mary's favorite spots. And I got to really put the
Mini-van through the paces with the fun hair pin curves and steep climbs and hills. So fun! The only lousy part was that I got stuck for several miles behind a few cars (ironically also driving mini vans but probably loaded with some slightly more precious cargo than my 15 year old suitcase in the back seat) who did not understand that the turnouts are for the slow pokes to move into so us want to be race car drivers can pass and go about our merry way. Right after Bug Sur the mini vans turned off the Hwy and I would have thought I was insanely giddy to speed off and things if it hadn't been for the poor corvette driver from MI in front of me that took off like a bat out of hell before the vans had even completed their turn. At that point I was a bit glad for my poorly performing mini van!
Anyway, I made it to Santa Cruz and then turned inland to take highways back into San Francisco to meet up with my folks, Brian and Mary, and Mary's sisters and 2 dear friends for dinner. We had dinner at Cliff House - where strangely enough I had walked around with Mary Rose a bit on Thursday. But the views are amazing and the dinner was delicious. It is on site of the old Baths that were part of San Francisco culture in the 20s.
My something orange today is...drum roll please...the sun. I'm in CA...could it really been anything else? I took this picture after dinner out on the balcony at Cliff House. And like any sunset, this one did not disappoint.