Ventura Highway

Where to begin? I guess with the coffee, always! Of course, we had coffee, hotel coffee. It was average, but tolerable. Dana added creamer, which curdled, so she made a second cup. Of course, she did, it's what we do.

We headed out with Cayucos, on our minds. It was a small town just off the US 1, which we have been following as much as possible. There have been times we needed to be on US 101, and a few miles on I-5, but a huge percentage of the time we have been on US 1. We had no idea what to expect from this small town, just that it seemed to have a cool coffee shop, at least according to the reviews and the pictures on google business. We headed out and looked forward to the goodies. We arrived and were really impressed with all the art plastered around the town. We found a "Free Little Art Library". It was patterned after the free little libraries you find smattered around the US. The idea was that you take art and leave art. I didn't have any art to leave but I took a photograph and will contact the artist thanking her for the art. There were murals on a lot of the local buildings. There must be a very active art scene in this small town. We got to the coffee house, and it was a really cool spot. The ambience was a lot like The Brew's, eclectic, old worn furniture, and lots of odd pieces decorating the place. The sandwiches, and the coffee were great as well.

As we left, I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I opened Spotify, and we listened to Ventura Highway (we were just south of Ventura at the time) by the band named America. Then we listened to the Beach Boys singing about surfing, California girls, and all things young and adventurous. The barista at the coffee shop said we needed to check out Cayucos, so we did. We found this small beach town full of people, extremely wide streets, cute shops and another really nice coffee shop. After downing a triple shot cortado, and a blueberry Danish, we headed out to finish the day. As I mentioned, I always default to the US 1, and again I did.

Soon we were following the coastline with some incredibly beautiful oceanscapes. I had forgotten how rugged the Pacific coast can be. We stopped to see some Elephant Seals playing in the water, took pictures of the ocean, the beach and the cliffs. I vaguely remember seeing something about a closed road, but being the observant male that I am, it promptly slipped my mind. To be fair, Dana was in the same state of ignorance as was I. After about 35 miles along this lovely ocean drive, we came to a sign that we both saw and will remember, telling us that the road was closed and we needed to turn around. So, we did. I guess the scenery was so beautiful we just needed to see it twice. We drove back the 35 miles and basically started over.

The weather along the ocean was chilly, about 62 degrees with a stiff breeze coming from the water. When we reached the place where we could head to the US 101, we started heading away from the ocean and before too long (less than 10 miles) the temperature had soared to a blistering 100 plus degrees. We turned north on the 101 and the temps stayed steady between 92 and 96. As we headed away from the ocean we passed through a number of miles of vineyards and quite a few wineries. It would have been fun to stop and do some tastings, but it was Sunday late afternoon, and we had a few miles to cover before reaching our target destination, so we kept driving. By the time we arrived in Salinas, CA, the temperature had dropped down to the lower 60s.

We finally arrived at our hotel. On the streets in front of our hotel were long lines of cars waiting to get into the In and Out hamburger joint just down the street. We opted for Los Altos, a Mexican restaurant just 3 blocks from our hotel. We shared a large portion of Fajitas. It was maybe the best fajitas either of us have ever had. The meat and the veggies were drenched with an absolutely spectacular mole. Google "Mexican mole" if you don't know what it is.

We headed back to the hotel, and I am ready to call it a day. We enjoyed the day, but it was long enough and the winding curves along the beach can be a bit stressful.

Until tomorrow.Read more