Heading South

My travel plans for heading to Southern California were delayed by a day because of the torrential rains. I intended the leave Monterey on Thursday the 21st, but the rain, wind, hail; thunder & lightening (oh my!) convinced me to wait until Friday the 22nd. I also had to change my driving route since now the Interstate 5 grapevine portion of the highway is closed due to heavy snow. The Grapevine Mountains are between the central valley on the north and the Southern California basin. I will now drive highway 101 down the very soggy coastal route. In order to wrap my head around the potential stressful drive, I decided to put on Nina's 'head wizard' spider hat to help relieve the stress from my brain. Really! That s what it is supposed to do! (see photo)

It did make me laugh, so therefore, I forgot all about my stress. :o)

I got in the car on Friday, tuned in to a fabulous Spanish radio station and headed south. Hispanic music is always so happy. My drive took me through more of the amazing Salinas Valley and further south through Gonzales, King City, San Lucas, San Miguel (where I

stopped at the Mission), and the Paso Robles wine country. This was the greenest landscape I think I have ever seen through this part of California. All of this rain really has turned this typically brown landscape into what looks like Ireland. I was so overcome by beauty, I had to keep stopping to take pictures. Here are a few photos from that region:

I have the fondest memories of riding my bike through these valleys and over these mountains on my rides from San Francisco to LA. We always rode around and along the 101 routes through many of these towns. I finally got to the coast when I reached Pismo Beach. I love this town. So quaint and laid back. I kept heading south through Santa Maria, Los Alamos and on to Santa Barbara. I had to stop just south of here to take in the smell of the ocean and let that salty sea air refresh me. Here are a couple of photos of the beautiful coast.

At Ventura I cut inland to meet Interstate 5. This is when it started POURING rain! When I hit the Hollywood Freeway, I was reminded why I would never live in LA. I spent the next 2 and 1/2 hours bumper-to-bumper going 5-40mph! It took me that long to get to Fullerton, a trip that should have taken only about 40 minutes! Ugh! I had to laugh when I finally pulled into Sue's driveway and it started to hail and thunder and lightening. I sat there for 20 minutes before I could even get out of the car! I thought to myself, 'and they call this the City of Angels'!!!!? Whew! I can't wait to see Rowan.