Ok, I'm trying this for the first time. The kid at the desk of our palatial digs for the night, the Michelin Rated (three flat tires) Capri Motel in SantaCruz, naturally had to help this hopeless Luddite figure out the wifi. It seems to be working! Any who, we actually left on time, 5AM, gassed up and headed off into the pre dawn darkness of a Sunday morning. Despite all the heat we've been having, it was a bit nippy out! About half way to Vntura, we were both wishing we'packed a sweatshirt for under the jackets. Only problem with an early Sunday start is, that's when Caltrans seems to do their construction on what ever freeway you want to take! Ugh. No huge deal, just an annoyance. We hit Carpinteria for the usual waffles at the Worker Bee. It's good to have a place out on the road where they actually recognize you!
After breakfast, we added a layer and headed up the 101. Around San Luis Obispo, we stopped for gas (9.7 gallons and 209 miles!!!)Not to shabby! That meant we wouldn't need to stop until Santa Cruz. At Morrow Bay we headed to the ONE! Up the coast all the way, baby. In Cayucos, we stopped for lunch at the Sea Shanty, another favorite place. Bummer! They still were only serving breakfast, so we "had" to eat breakfast all over again!
After eating, good ol'St. Serendipity struck again. There was a parade just about to head down the main (well, practically the only) street! It's the 100th anniversary of the local Portuguese fraternal order and they had this neat small town festival. The parade was right out of the old country. Each group had a banner and three girls dressed in gowns and crowns. Pretty neat! I guess us Irish aren't the only ones who get to have ethnic parades!
Finally, things cleared out enough for us to head "downtown" to find a sweatshirt. Marianne found a dandy, tie dye with a peace sign and emblazoned "Cayucos". I found nothin'. Naturally, by this time it had begun to warm up so we shed a layer. Mistake. The coast route is a fickle beast. It's the middle of freaking July, dammit! Why did we need the heavy jacket? We did. Ugh again. Still, Hwy One is always worth it. My only problem is that on a Sunday in July, every rubbernecking moron with either a Camry or a minivan is out there. I swear,they ought to restrict access to Hwy 1 to people who can actually drive and aren't afraid of a few turns in the road. Seriously, I wasn't wanting to haul ass, I just wanted to cruise, but damn the Pokey Joe in the suv that held up a line of at least twenty cars while he gawked! Now we all know that One is easily one of the most spectacular roads in the world. But because of Pokey Joe, the road really becomes dangerous! Ah well.
Getting through Monterey and up toSC can be a trial. It is just not a nice drive. But, we got here, walked to the Boardwalk, found some average chowder and a good crab sandwich at Woodies on the wharf, and came back to the Capri. Did I mention that I found a Santa Cruz sweatshirt? Btw, I'll have to figger out how to do the pix on this thing!
Finally, things cleared out enough for us to head "downtown" to find a sweatshirt. Marianne found a dandy, tie dye with a peace sign and emblazoned "Cayucos". I found nothin'. Naturally, by this time it had begun to warm up so we shed a layer. Mistake. The coast route is a fickle beast. It's the middle of freaking July, dammit! Why did we need the heavy jacket? We did. Ugh again. Still, Hwy One is always worth it. My only problem is that on a Sunday in July, every rubbernecking moron with either a Camry or a minivan is out there. I swear,they ought to restrict access to Hwy 1 to people who can actually drive and aren't afraid of a few turns in the road. Seriously, I wasn't wanting to haul ass, I just wanted to cruise, but damn the Pokey Joe in the suv that held up a line of at least twenty cars while he gawked! Now we all know that One is easily one of the most spectacular roads in the world. But because of Pokey Joe, the road really becomes dangerous! Ah well.
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