Wordless Wednesday - Beach Dreaming Hwy One 09-12-18

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Overnight - Paso Robles 03-30-08

I was too tired last evening to do anything but hit the hay! It was a very nice drive up Hwy 101 with lots of wildflowers, especially the lupine which looks like big layers of sky have fallen down on the oh-so-green hillsides. And lots of mustard, gold fields, oxalis and other yellow/gold flowers. We turned off the highway and drove out to the end of the road that branches off to the Diablo power plant, near Avila Beach. Every time I go down there it looks more ...civilized?... with fresh paint and tidy lots. Maybe they do that every spring, it is usually this time of year that I see it. The ocean was gorgeous shades of blue, setting off the very white boats moored in the bay and, of course, the white, white gulls swooping above.

We stayed the night at the Adelaide Inn in Pas Robles and it is just as pleasant as it has been previously. Not as many flowers, but the grounds are so nicely kept. And it is always quiet! We are off for breakfast at Wilson's, a good breakfast spot here.

No pictures along the way, except for these taken in Simi Valley not far from the Reagan Library. I thought at first they were Kangaroo Paws, but the flowers are twice as large as those I am familiar with. It is such a striking plant and widely used by landscapers in the last few years. The flower stalks are about three feet tall. [Yes, they are a hybrid Kangaroo Paw plant - lovely.]

Drive up Hwy 1 - Morro Bay to Monterey

Sunday was a long day, I drove with Elizabeth Barton as my passenger from San Diego to Monterey and inland to San Juan Bautista. We turned off Hwy 101 at San Luis Obispo and picked up Hwy 1 at Morro Bay. The drive from there up Hwy 1 was gorgeous. There were enough clouds in the sky to keep the hot sun shaded most of the time and I didn't have the sun in my eyes except for a few angles. We stopped at some viewpoints, especially to watch the elephant seals gamboling in the surf... at least I think that is what they were doing! We had lunch at Jeannie's in Montecito - their chicken pesto sandwich is beyond delicious, but ya gotta love garlic! And then we had dinner at the Leakey house in San Juan Bautista. Mary had prepared a delicious chicken soup w/lots of vegetables and crunchy toasted double cheese bread. She is the best cook I know! After that eleven hour drive I slept well last night, but have been dragging my tail today. I keep saying I am too old to do those marathon drives, but I go ahead and do them anyway.

Our class with Elizabeth Barton starts tomorrow afternoon at Asilomar, so we will all be staying there through Sunday. Then a few days more to get past Labor Day weekend before Elizabeth flies home to Georgia and I drive home to Placentia - via the 'super highway', I-5. That will be about a five hour drive and that will be more than enough. By the time I am home again I will be a year older - 69! Where have the years gone? Inside my mind I am still twenty-four, except for the pains and crotchets of an ageing body!