We got up a minute before the alarm at 5:59. An exchange of telling each other that we love each other, a hug, and a moment of recognition about how wonderful a vacation we’ve been having. Things were mostly packed last night; I just needed to get on my shoes, stop this quick bit of writing, leave Seferina, the housekeeper, a little something of gratitude, and head out the door. Hopefully, it will still be before 6:30 as we take our last walk of this journey along the sea, and then we’ll turn our car east for the long drive home.

Out before the sun peaked over the mountains to the east, we were able to watch its first rays illuminate the world around us in golden sunlight. The flowers return to their vibrant colors, birds become more active, and humans emerge from their lodgings to join us on the boardwalk.

And here comes the sun, oh glorious sun that illuminates our way and breathes life into all.

Just met a fellow Canon camera enthusiast who was down on the Central Coast from the Oakland area. Her name was Tabitha, should she stumble on this entry and read a bit. She seemed most interested in the wildlife but also the catharsis that comes with being on the seashore. Tragically, I also learned that where she lives has become a trap because high rents and low-paying jobs have limited her options to escape the crushing despair of a bleak existence. But here at the ocean, she finds her better self and is able to celebrate the win of being away from home, if even for a short while. I wished her the best and rejoined Caroline on an overlook where she was patiently waiting for me.

Minutes become hours, become days, and still, we reach for another moment where the secrets of what draws our fascination to the coast might be made known.

Maybe the great mysteries should remain just that so we can continue to return again and again as we search for the elusive in places that strike magic into the depths of who we are.

Only an hour was carved out for our time along the Pacific before we dropped the key off and moved onto Main Street for breakfast at the Creekside Gardens Cafe. After we leave there, the challenge will be moving without distraction to arrive home before midnight.

While Google suggests that the way we came via Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to the south is the fastest route, it is also the one that takes us by a dozen or more beaches that will tug at our inner Schweineschnecke that would defeat us from getting home while we are still able to keep our eyes open. We both know that we’ve seen a fair share of the abundance of beauty that lies out here along the western edge of the United States, and still, we want just one more photo, one more walk along the crashing surf, another chance to listen to the birds, or clean sand out of our shoes. We will try to do our best to just drive, I swear.

That intention lasted maybe 10 minutes before we pulled over to snap a photo of the green rolling hills that we missed on the way up. This is certainly the end of giving in to temptation…

…That lasted for almost 5 minutes before we were making a U-turn to check out what Harmony Beach State Park might have to offer. It appeared that we might be able to walk to an overlook about a mile down the trail, but unfortunately, the information didn’t offer any real indication of exactly how long the trail would be. But we easily convinced ourselves that 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back was manageable.

Wouldn’t you just know that the ocean view wasn’t to materialize until we were right upon it at about the 2-mile mark?

The trail extends up the coast, but now we have a 40-minute walk back to the car, so we’ll have to be content that we visited yet another destination on this trip that we would have driven by on previous visits.

When we pulled into the very small parking area here at Harmony Beach, there was one other car parked. On our way back, we passed a family of about a dozen members and maybe ten other small groups that were hiking in. So lucky we were that our time out here was in quiet isolation.

Prior to leaving ten days ago, we already knew where today’s lunch was going to be: Shakey’s Pizza and that’s exactly where we went. Traffic out of L.A. was at times heavy but the traffic returning to the Southern California area here on Mother’s Day was crazy. All the same, here we were already in Arizona before sunset and managed to arrive home at 8:30 p.m. instead of the midnight return I was worried about.