Dream of Californication (Part 2)

From the start, I had decided that if I was going to drive down for this interview, I was going to take the Pacific Coast Highway/US 1/whatever you want to call it back up to Davis. When Adam generously donated his Prius for the trip, it was decided. I had intended on getting an early start to the day, and even set an alarm for 5:30am.

As it turned out, this was later than my body wanted to leave. I woke up at around 3:30am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up, showered and packed, and when my 5:30 alarm went off, I was walking out the front door of my hotel. I actually began my drive in the dark, and had to wait around in Malibu for the sun to rise. What followed was probably the most indescribably beautiful 14 hour drives of my entire life. From Malibu’s “27 Miles of Scenic Beauty” (when you drive into Malibu there’s actually a sign that says that), to the windswept coast of Cambria, to the cliffs and hairpin turns of Big Sur, this is without a doubt an experience everyone should have at least once in their life. I’m positive I’ll never forget the scenes I saw yesterday, and pictures do a horrendously inadequate job of capturing just how incredible everything was. Since I’ve known about Big Sur, Monterey, Pismo, etc., they’ve been these mythical icons of Pacific geography featured in movies and posters. The entire coast is well deserving of the reverence it receives. 

Good start to the day: Sunrise in Malibu.

On the road, south of Santa Barbara.

Pismo Beach.

The pier in Cayucos.

The beach in Cambria.

I'm not afraid of heights, but this was a little scary. I could have easily walked/slipped/fallen over the edge of this cliff. That was at least 100 feet below where I was standing.

This is an awesome picture, and it doesn't even compare to what it really looked like. I hate to sound like a snob, but its true.

On the road south of Big Sur.