My apologies to YD

After spending a wonderful day/night in some place other than a hotel for the first time in almost 2 weeks, and armed with half a Weinberg cake (thanks again, Janice for the hospitality!!), we hit the road for LA. Although it is within a day's drive of Santa Clara, I really wanted to drive the Pacific Coast highway, which would take much longer than I-5 or even 101, so we decided to make it an overnight trip.

The road was all I hoped it would be. As had happened for just about every part of this excursion, I had gotten conflicting advice about making this drive. I can clearly tell the personalities of my friends/relatives based on whether or not they advised me to do the Pacific Coast drive. Some advised against it, saying it's too long and/or dangerous. Others said be sure not to miss it. I have to go with the latter camp. It was a dream come true for me. Not just the breath-taking scenery, which really has to be seen to be believed, but for the sheer fun of the drive.

Everyone recommended doing the 17-mile Pebble Beach drive. I had done this with Andy several years earlier and really didn't remember much about it, except a vague recollection of being somewhat bored. But, since YD had never done it, we paid our $9.25 and did the drive. This time, I was even more bored, and so was she. The part along the coast, is beautiful, but overall, it's a long and boring drive, whereas you can just drive Rte. 1 for free, for a much, much, much more impressive experience. So my advice to people in the future will be, screw Pebble Beach, find the time and just drive the Pacific Coast highway.

Route 1 was curvier, steeper and longer than either YD or I had expected. After getting into the groove, I was literally able to figure out the pattern of the road to a certain extent. The rise and fall, the turns and curves of the road are repetitive and somewhat predictable and if you can get the feel for it, you can just flow with the twists and turns. It was amazingly fun driving.

I had 3 regrets about today's drive: #1 having to concentrate so much on the road, I didn't get to concentrate as much as I would have liked to on the views. I'd love to do it again as a passenger. #2 I wasn't in my little top-down Audi #3 YD was not enjoying the ride, at all, to say the least, as the twists and turns were more than her motion-sickness tendency could handle.

We stopped at the first place we saw that looked like it might have a vacancy (there aren't many places once you get rte 1 until San Luis Obispo, about a 150+ mile drive, I believe), which was a group of motels near the Hearst Castle. The first 2 were full, at the 3rd, the Courtesy Inn, we got the very last room, (2 couples who were in line immediately after us were turned away), from where I am writing. Yes, it has free Wi-fi, an indoor pool/spa, supposedly a tennis court, and free breakfast, but the room smells so strongly of chlorine, you would think there was a pool in here. Hopefully that means it's clean, it does look that way, although the chain lock on the door is broken, as is the lock on the window, and the mattresses have seen better days. So, I'm not sure I would stop here again without having someone in the car who was on the verge of being ready to hurl.

The California Cafe at the little motel next door to this one, where we had a bite to eat, also provided some entertainment. Looking like nothing more than a little coffee shop, it presented an ambitious menu with entrees costing >$30. We were seated by a young man with a cropped white afro and no front teeth, and waited on by a middle-aged gentleman who appeared to have even fewer, if any, teeth. When I inquired about wine, he gave me quite a bit of information about those they had, and steered me toward a glass of a local 2006 Zinfandel that was really quite impressive. Just goes to show you, you can't judge a book by it's cover!