The Long and Winding Road

I keep thinking that since I drive alone I can take a nice rambling drive down the coast when returning from Sacramento. The idea is to leave early and go through Big Sur in the middle of the day and get to LA in the evening, maybe get some dinner and arrive home no later than 11pm or so. HA!

It does not usually work out that way. Left earlyish and pulled over for a nap before I even got to San Francisco (SF). For the first time in all of my years here I finally saw a foggy SF! I cannot seem to just drive through SF, I have to explore. I explored so much that I got completely lost in south SF and could not figure out how to get to the 1. So, I asked at a bodega:

"How do I get to the 1?"

"How far are you going? Are you sure you don't want the 101?"

"I am sure I want the 1."

"Are you going farther than Santa Cruz?"

"Farther"

"Farther than Monterrey?"

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

"OK, I am going to LA but I want to take the scenic route down Big Sur."

"OK, it is confusing. Follow me and I will take you to your exit." And he did. I have always relied on the kindness of strangers (This entry's movie reference-feel free to guess)

As per usual Big Sur was at its gorgeous best.

By the time I reached the sur end of Big Sur it was dark. So I got dinner in Cambria and continued my journey. When I got to LA it was 11pm. I was tempted to call a friend and decided it was too late. However, she called me right as I was hitting the 405 to make my way past the big city. So I swooped into Beverly Hills (BH) and we decided to go out for a drink - coffee for me. I was going to need it. As it turned out NOTHING is open at midnight in BH. I asked, "Are you sure this is a big city?" What the heck!? We ended up back at her apartment and then I got back on my way around 2am. Perfect, I thought, it should be a clear ride from here.

I was dead wrong. As soon as I got on the 60 traffic stopped. I was within the first 6 rows of cars that were stopped so I figured we were in for a wait. I turned off the car, got out to peek and took out my computer and played solitaire. About an hour later we were led off the freeway with no detour signs somewhere in south central LA. By now it was so late I could not call anyone in California so I called Danny in MA and asked him for directions. Before he was able to give them I found my way back to the freeway.

The good parts: I was not tired, I did not have to pee, I had enough gas and it wasn't raining. I was golden! I finally rolled home at 4:30am and although not feeling very fresh, I was not exhausted either so I guess it was a leisurely drive after all.

Very bad picture of the traffic jam

When I woke up we had a third dog in the house. Halfway in size between Laska and Layla. It had a collar and we tried a reverse directory on the number but it was no longer current. We had her for three days and I took this picture so we could make a FOUND sign. As Jean was putting them up, she ran across a LOST sign. Turns out the woman who lost her was dog sitting so felt pretty rotten. But all's well the ends well (play reference). Until next time...