Dreams, Moments, Travels
Meow…HAH, made you look. Sitting outside a cafe a man with a bird is hanging out. The cockatoo had nothing to say. I tried coaxing her to tell me her name, but her feathers were ruffled and her beak was sealed. The guy told me she was upset because she wanted to sit on his shoulder. He on the other hand didn’t want another slimy bird poop dripping down his back.
This isn’t literally my neighbor, it is from one of his Labradors. Maybe the neighbor sees his two dogs as making poops in the image of their master and hence they must be seen by all. Could my neighbor have a poop allergy and would break into hives coming into contact with this pile of canine scat? The dog did unload next to another neighbor’s Harley; maybe he, too, hates that noisemaker as much as we do and was leaving him a message? No matter what, I will get my revenge. I have been watching this neighbor and am training my cat so when next summer comes around and he leaves a window open, I’ll shove Murphy the Cat into his apartment to leave one of her special Seafood Captain’s Choice bombers that have been known to force Caroline and me out of our own front door.
The taste and smell of a local flavor or aroma can be one of the best reminders to bring forth memories of good times past. From Hawaii, we frequently buy Stone Cookies, the smell of Eucalyptus soap from Big Sur takes us back to the coast, the wish for a Key Lime Pie on a Stick keeps our memories of Key West alive and well. Pralines from The Praline Connection in New Orleans are like pralines from nowhere else. The Belgian Hot Chocolate at the El Tovar Dining Room on the rim of the Grand Canyon may be the greatest in the world, but you can’t mail order it, nor can you mail order fresh strawberries from Oxnard, California – yum. While in San Francisco we picked up a sampler of Scharffenberger chocolates to bring our sweet memories rushing back.
This is Sharon, she has been renting Caroline and I cars for our long road trips for more than five years now. Sharon is the franchise owner of a local outlet of Budget Rent A Car at 17023 N. Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix. Living in Phoenix, It is a rarity to do business with the same person for such a long period of time and we are super appreciative of it. Our car was due yesterday but I was so exhausted and short of time that I requested an extra day for the same rate and sure enough, lucky me, got it. Unless Sharon is planning on retiring early, we will continue doing business with her long into the future.
I’m so tired. Home at 2:30 a.m., up again at 7:00 – we slept in. The litter pan is full, the mailbox is full, but my head is empty. The rental car will have to be returned tomorrow. I am going to have a bite to eat and go back to sleep. Slept most of the day and went to sleep early in the evening. Nothing unpacked, didn’t listen to voice-mail, couldn’t cook. Maybe there is some truth to those words people keep telling me, that as I get older we won’t be able to travel as we have been. Right now those nearly 1500 miles (2430km) in two days of driving are taking their toll.
The day starts shortly before 6:00 a.m., and lucky for us it did. This sunrise is courtesy of our perch on the shore in Santa Cruz, California.
Our excellent breakfast was at Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe, which, along with the lighthouse view, made for the perfect beginning to the day.
Of special note: this post is being updated in February 2023 with the addition of 13 photos that were also taken during this trip from November 2006. They weren’t included back then as bandwidth limitations restricted be to 1 photo per post. The original text that described the day has been distributed between the new photos and, where possible, expanded upon.
Monterey begged us to stop to visit some of the locations we had just finished reading about in Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. Visiting the aquarium today wasn’t to happen as with more than 700 miles needing to be covered, free time is at a premium.
Maybe stupidly, maybe indulgently, we opted to skip Highway 101, which travels inland at quite a fast pace and took good old Highway 1 south along the coast.
We are suckers for the Pacific; even if it does mean we won’t get home until almost 2:30 in the morning. The weather along the coast was picture-perfect all day.
We often stop to take photos of places we’d like to stay in the future but nearly always fail to reference the old directories to find those clues. Maybe if I’d been able to write extensive posts during these days, we’d have had an easier way of finding the hints but the truth is that blog posts are not always easy things to search when looking for specific information.
Caroline asked for a stop at the Big Sur River Inn General Store to pick up her all-time favorite Eucalyptus Soap from Big Sur Country Soap. A coffee stop at the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant is now a part of our routine – we have lost count of how many times we have been here. The view is from Nepenthe Restaurant and gift shop.
If it were possible to commit every shift in perspective to be experienced along the central California coast in our memories, Caroline and I would collect and cherish each and every one. Having made this pilgrimage seemingly countless times and finding the reality of our adventures no less exciting than the first journey, the photos drawn from those days work to draw us back and remind us of how fortunate we’ve been to drive Highway 1 as frequently as we have.
One hundred years ago, the only way anyone was going to see this view was to take a seriously long walk from points inland, or they would have boarded a ship plying California’s coastal waters, dropping the person at one of the few ports so they could make the cumbersome travel over the rugged terrain. Today, we jump in the car and drive 15 to 20 times faster than we could walk and pull over to take it all in. We live in an incredible age where I don’t think we always see clearly how lucky we are.
Lucia Lodge is not cheap, but the location is hard to beat.
A final pullover to see the elephant seals near San Simeon once again, and then it was serious business to get home – it took another 12 hours before we would put our sleepy heads to rest.
Okay, just one more look back at the beautiful sea.
While we didn’t have time to visit the James Dean Memorial itself, we snapped this photo to remind us to return. As of 2023, we’ve passed through here a few more times but still haven’t paid homage to the memorial.