Highway One

We merge onto California Route 1 without much ceremony. No welcome signs, no palm trees, no 1991 Patrick Swayze ripping waves. I guess I thought maybe the Equinox would to turn into a red convertible and Phantom Planet would come on. This did not occur. 

In fact, for a while there, the so-called Pacific Coast Highway wasn't even coastal. So, there we are, Mom and I, expectations soaring, on the California 1, and everywhere we look, just flat, scrupulously organized rows of, I dunno, wheat? I'm thinking, that Anthony Kiedis was full of shit, man. 

Okay, maybe I made a wrong turn at Gilroy. Next exit, I'm turning this thing around. 

And then. 

 Mountains Left, Ocean Right

Looks a lot like this for from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. 

 Incredible views and hairpin turns. Takes a real pro behind the wheel

Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row

The ultimate irony here is that you can watch, learn, and read about all kinds of marine life at the aquarium, then walk down the street and eat it for lunch

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Memorial Day at the beach. That little golf hole? Pebble Beach

Windblown Cypress, Carmel

So this a golf hole... if the wind does this to the trees, 

what does it do to my ball?

Hog's Breath Inn, Carmel

Mom and me, and some six o'clock beers. 

I think I end up drinking both

Carmel to Big Sur

One of many Okay-This-Is-Unbelievable-Let's-Pull-Over moments

Big Sur

So I've read about it, seen pictures, watched documentaries, and still 

I'm standing there thinking, 'you've gotta be effing kidding me'

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur

Sunset and cocktails on the water, except 1,200 feet above it