On our hike at Devil's Slide last weekend we did more than marvel at the landscape. I noted that as amazing as this (old) stretch of road was when it was Highway 1, it's even more amazing now as a hiking/biking trail. That's because taking it slower than 35pmh, much slower, provides time to see things we'd miss from inside a car. For example, there ( Read more... )

I already wrote a bit about our visit to Devil's Slide on Saturday. Here's more detail- with pictures- about our hike, the old Highway 1, and why traffic now flows through a tunnel ( Read more... )

Saturday we met up with our friends David and Devlin in Pacifica. Our stated goal was to go on a hike, an activity we've shared together a few times since the start of the pandemic. For the hike we agreed on Devil's Slide, an area just a little south of Pacifica ( Read more... )

Our return trip to Garrapata State Park last weekend didn't end with our hike around the Whale Peak loop. Actually, our trip to that park did, but not our day trip to the Central Coast. After returning to the car we continued further south, stopping for lunch at a busy food counter that's 87 years old. You might think, "Pfft. 87 years old, that's ( Read more... )

Last week was a rainy one across much of California. Dry weather that ran through December and most of January finally broke. And break it did, with a veritable "Atmospheric River" dumping precipitation across the state. When heavy rain follows an extended dry period it creates risk of mud slides as parched ground is not as able to absorb the rain ( Read more... )

A year ago a coworker who's (also) a frequent flyer travel hound and I were discussing road-tripping California's Central Coast. He lives 2500 miles away near Washington, DC, and was planning a drive over the course of a day or two up California Highway 1, aka the Pacific Coast Highway. I gave him several suggestions for activities along the way, ( Read more... )

Saturday we made a few more stops along California Highway 1 on the Central Coast after leaving McWay Falls (previous blog). As I remarked a few entries back, the point of driving the Central Coast route is spending time making stops. Which stops? It almost doesn't matter. Just stop, you'll see something. Like this view of a secluded beach beyond a ( Read more... )

One of the most iconic sights on the California's scenic Central Coast is McWay Falls. Here a chute of water plunges more than 80 feet onto natural sand just steps from the ocean tide.


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Let me say one thing straight out at the beginning of this blog: California Highway 1, through the state's Central Coast region, is one of the top scenic drives in the entire United States. (Don't just take my word for it; it routinely features in "Top 5" and "Top 10" compilations of amazing drives.) That's why we weren't overly sore about the ( Read more... )

In my previous blog I wrote about how I finally unboxed a (cheapo) film scanner I've had for a few years and started using it. There was one specific picture I wanted to scan. Once I had things set up I scanned a few others, as well ( Read more... )