Life was made for days like these.

OK, it's been a while, but we continue our excellent adventure up the Pacific Coast Highway in the red Camaro.  Tough job, but someone has to blog about it.

Day Nine – God may be my co-pilot, but The Boss (no, not Bruce,) does a better job.

Left Santa Barbara with the top down, and headed for the Pacific Coast Highway, part 2.  To put the experience in to the simplest terms, Damn – that was fun!!!!  Curves, hills up, hills down, turns left, turns right, farmland ( broccoli, strawberries, beans,) then out to the ocean again and more hills, curves, and turns.  Stopped to watch elephant seals, then whale watched further down the road.  The Camaro is a pretty good road car, responsive through the curves and sharp turns and, while not impressive power, enough to have fun with. (Co-pilot kept asking, “Are you having fun? Yes, I am!)  We took a chance that we could stay along the coast and ended up dead ending at a small marina.  The co-pilot got us back on the road, and later in the afternoon it cooled off enough that we had to put the top up (sigh.)  We drove into Carmel and had dinner at a seafood market, then looked for lodging.  Carmel is too ostentatious for us, so drove up to Monterey.  We found an ok motel, but were pleasantly surprised that it ended up being half the price of what we had in Santa Barbara.

One thing we have noticed on the road trip portion of the trip is the lack of working rest rooms along the road.  Because of the drought and the associated water shortage, gas stations, some restaurants, and even the visitor center at Hearst Castle use Porta-Johns on premise.  I guess you gotta do what you have to do, it’s just somewhat unusual.


Day Ten – The Last Day of the Unknowns

Thanks to some great directions by the hotel staff, we had a real easy trip over to Highway 101, which at mid-morning was not very busy.  (Farewell Highway 1, you were worth the trip.) Traffic got a little heavier as we neared San Francisco airport, but we were able to find the rental car return with not too much trouble. (Note – The Camaro was a lot of fun.  Rent, defiantly. Own, maybe.)  After getting on the airport tram, we switched to BART and came right in to downtown San Francisco. One thing about using maps on the phone, you’d damn well better have your sense of direction, because if I had led the way we would have ended up in Oakland. Again, relying on the co-pilot (walking this time,) we got to the Marriott and had some relaxation time in the afternoon.

After relaxation time, we tried out San Francisco’s mass transit system, MUNI.  Pretty easy to use, pay one price for wherever you want to go.  A ride, then a 5 block walk uphill to some friends house, where their 3 year old welcomed us as new friends (reading books to her didn’t hurt.)   They made a great dinner, then took us for a drive over the Golden Gate for a night view of the city.  A good day.

The PCH - Road Trip Heaven

Happy 2016.  In this entry We spend our last day in San Diego, and pack up to hit the Pacific Coast Highway.  Buckle up, it's one helluva ride.


Day Seven – Seems it Never Rains in Southern California (like hell)

Awoke this morning to rain – lots of it. After breakfast (did I mention they have a really good buffet?)  we  had to visit a notary to get papers all official and mailed off, and on the return trip got soaked.  Really soaked. My friend and I were all set to go railfanning, but ended up getting the rental car and taking that out. I had booked a 300, but could not resist the upgrade to a red Camaro convertible.   Could not find a place to park by the Santa Fe Depot, so headed north of town to Del Mar.  There we found what I guess was a good spot, Friend got some good pictures while I was on the phone to OnStar and such people finding out how the car worked. Memo to Alamo – at least show how to put the front seat back forward.  I learned more from the parking attendant at the hotel than from anyone else.  Dinner at a wharf seafood place again, but not nearly as good as the night previous.  Hard to believe the trip is half over.  Seems like it just started.

Day Eight – On The Road.

Bade farewell to our friends and the great breakfast at the Embassy Suites.  Hit the road around 9, and the top came down around 11.  LA was not the problem I had anticipated, but it still was congested and warm.  The PCH was well worth the wait. Major scenic, a good road and sunshine galore.  Top went back up near Ventura, and drove to a neat little place in Santa Barbara with enough of a pier/harbor/ocean view to justify $200/night.  Adventure of the day – saw a woman on a bicycle get hit by a pickup in SB. Went to a great seafood place that was recommended by the front desk lady.  About a 45 minute wait, but so worth it.  We are finding good seafood on the west coast, as we should.  Problem is, we can only eat at one place at a time.