The Central Coast
The threat of L.A. traffic has us up and out the door at 5:00 a.m., but the moon on the sea is just too pretty to pass up. So after filling the tank we head down to Tamrack to see the nearly full moon peek out of the clouds and light the ocean. Sydney and Hannah are in their pajamas.
We hustle north and scoot past The Beast just as traffic begins to lock up. School buses, filled with tired or sleeping kids, share the road through the Valley as we merge onto 101. Where are they going?
I once wrote that the Canejo Grade is the real dividing line between Southern and Central California, and I still stand by that call. The coast from Ventura on north is wholly different than the sprawl of the O.C.
We stop for breakfast at the original Sambos down by the pier in Santa Barbara, the day now sunny and warm. This place rocks. As good as I remember.
We drive through Hope Ranch, with time now to kill, and peer at the multi-million dollar houses, a queer revulsion rising in my stomach. Even if I won the lottery, would I want to live here in Snootsville? Doubt it.
Onward up the 101 and then a sidetrip out to the wild and remote beach of Jalama, which feels like a beautiful end of the world. Christy is feeling very poorly and falls asleep in the backseat, unable to leave the car. I drive very, very slowly to Lompoc, slightly exasperated.
We stop in Arroyo Grande to visit my friend Steve Carlson who owns Central Coast Surfboards. He's a great guy and a super smart retailer. I always enjoy talking to him. We have a nice visit before getting a snack in San Luis Obispo (total college town, but I love it).
Finally we pull into the Morro Dunes Travel Trailer Park and Resort Campground. It was a bit of a joke at first, since we had never gone "fifth-wheel" camping before and all our sterotypes looked to be coming true, but after I gave it a fair shake I began to like it.
Moonset at Tamarack Beach by our house.
The beauty of Jalama.
Hannah shares her pizza with me in downtown SLO.
Fifthwheel nation.
Friday, October 06, 2006
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