On the Road, At Last! 08-30-10

It was a WONDERFUL DAY! I haven't been on a Road Trip since the first of June and that trip was not great because I was having so much pain from..... ?? Whatever. But for more than a month I have been going for physical therapy for my psoas muscles - lower back, buttocks, groin, crotch - Google it if you are curious. Why there is a problem I don't understand - maybe years of inactivity, maybe the fall on the stairs last August, maybe.....? But, whatever the cause, the exercises have caused a great improvement and this trip is, in part, to see just how much of an improvement. I drove up the "Coast Highway"(101) stopping every two hours, or maybe more, to walk around, do some stretches, swing my legs about! I am sore tonight, but nothing like the trip in June. If I can just be diligent about the exercises maybe I will be back to my marathon drives to Kansas or Montana - or even the distant Atlantic Ocean!

Can you even believe that blue sky? It was awesome. North of Rincon Beach I pulled off at a wide spot in the road where there was a locked gate and just walked around a bit and took some pictures. This is the view to the east.

And across Hwy 101 to the west I could look out at the blue Pacific. It was very "pacific" today, when I passed Mussel Shoals south of Santa Barbara there was only a handful of surfers and they were just floating on their boards, hoping even a tiny wave would come along. There is an oil platform out in the distance - about the middle of the horizon.

Slightly to the north was a grove of eucalyptus that probably goes down to the shoreline.

As I turned back onto the highway I could see the rolling hills that go for miles along the coast here - mostly covered with dried grasses and California live oak trees. And, of course, groves of many varieties of eucalyptus.

Mary and Joe's home is always so welcoming - I've missed visiting for the past three months. We don't have anything much planned, but one day we will go into Pacific Grove for lunch at the Red House and a fabric feeling session at Back Porch Fabrics.