San Francisco to Big Sur

I simply love those rare occasions when you have to search your memory for a reference point to calculate what day it is. Today was one of those days. A departure from San Francisco under cloudy skies, followed by a delightful day of (dry) riding down the coast through places with storied names like Santa Cruz, Monterrey,and Carmel, a number of scenic miles along the coast, then cap it off with a night at Big Sur.

I had told others that we had once driven north through this stretch but I was not impressed. I must now say that the only way to see this section of the California Coastline is by traveling south. The view is better from the ocean side of the road and numerous turn-outs are available that would be overlooked from the northbound lane. Parts of this drive are quite striking. I did not make every single stop I wished that I had however, because I find I need to concentrate much more while on my bike, so that task took priority.

Around each turn was another view, and one turn and one view in particular stands out in my mind. An SUV had pulled off the road with the car perpendicular to the road, front bumper against the guard rail. The back gate was up and there, not five feet off the state highway, stood a guy changing his clothes. Not just his shirt; he was standing there with no pretense of modesty, as naked as the day he was born, to the point that he didn't even have shoes or socks on! He must have been afraid that if he stood in front of the car the whales would see his butt.

Further down the coast I pulled up behind a group of 7 motorcycles, each one with a passenger. It was fun to ride behind them and watch them ride in formation. As they rounded each turn and could see each new angle, all seven passengers would stick their cameras in the air and take pictures of the shoreline as it flew by. I wonder how many got a shot of Mister Bare Butt?

I ate lunch at a place called "burgers" in Santa Cruz, just your typical Chinese restaurant. The one surprise was that, instead of being given a number to take to your table (identifying your order to the server) you were handed a picture of a celebrity. Mine was Gus Van Sant, director of Good Will Hunting (don't worry, I had to ask too); others included Prince and Kurt Cobain.

When I returned to my bike I discovered that the locals take the "share the road" slogan seriously. They even let it carry over to their parking habits!

Speaking of parking, I saw this sign and it made me laugh:

 In my mind I pictured the accompanying sign in the next parking space that would read "The State of California has found that parking in exact half hour increments causes cancer in lab rats".

When I left Tom and Chris this a.m. I did not know how far down the coast I would be traveling so I set my GPS to a small town on the Coastal Highway to be sure I wouldn't be routed to an interstate coming south out of 'Frisco. When I arrived at my destination and did not stop my GPS became frustrated. I can only speak for Gloria Pauline Stewart but perhaps other GPS systems are the same. Mine employees two female voice actors (the second being Gertrude Pauline Schuster), one for distances, one for landmarks and street names. The two young ladies speak through different speakers, one talking to my left ear, the other to my right. It reminds me of an old gag they used to use in cartoons when someone was trying to make a decision. One side of the voice in the characters head, usually portrayed by Satan sitting on their shoulder, would be giving advise that would get the protagonist in trouble, the other voice, portrayed by an angel, would sit on the other shoulder and try to get the character to do the right thing.

When I drove through the town and kept going my left ear was telling me "turn left at Apple street" the other "turn right on Division Ave". 

No, you need to do a u-turn. 

No he doesn't, we can still get there if we cut over to Highway 68. 

Oh sure, at this time of day? 

Yes, the school doesn't let out for a half hour yet. 

But it just started to drizzle and the golfers are going to be packing it in down at the golf course. 

They'll all be in the bar for at least an hour, we can make this happen!

We really need to do a u-turn.

No we don't, we can do it!

I had to stop and reset the GPS, it was very distracting.

As I said, it was a cloudy day but once again, my angel came through. I caught about 30 seconds of light drizzle but spent the remainder of the day under cloudy skies. I made it to this quaint cabin at Big Sur, the kind of place I'm sure Betty was directing me too - it has a private deck!

I took my stuff into the room, then walked across the road to their restaurant and it started to rain! I'm on Day 10 on the California Coast and I haven't had to ride in the rain (knock on wooden bed post).

This place has DSL instead of WI-FI. I don't have any idea what the difference is but my phone does. It won't let me upload today's route or any of my pictures. So I may need to post this, then "add the graphics in Post".

I'm tired. Had a great time in San Fran, but I'm looking forward to seeing my Grankids (oh, and their parents)!

Post Script: After moving down the coast and finding a marginally better Internet connection, I have modified the above blog post.