Day 1

What a long day of driving!  We woke up to the screaching sound of the alarm at 4:30 in the morning, it was dark!  And with no electricity, we showered, dressed, and packed the final things in the dark. Well, we did have a flashlight, but it was dark!!  It was a hard to squish everything into the car.  We had to struggle for half an hour to get it all in.  We were packed to the max!  Poor Rebekah even had to sit with stuff between her legs and on her lap!  But finally we were off. 

We headed up to Highway 1 along the coast.  It was fabulous!  The waves were crashing, the ocean was a beautiful turquoise color, and the sun was shining on the rocky cliffs.  We were oohing and ahhing at every turn.

There were many artichoke farms along the way and we saw signs for fried artichokes. Of course we had to stop and try them! The little restaurant was so cute.  There was only one man serving as waiter, chef, and host.  He handed me an overflowing basket of perfectly crispy, golden browned, morsels. Believe it or not, they were delicious!  They were served with a creamy sauce that was heavenly.  Mmmmm, I want some more!

We drove through the awesome area known as Big Sur.  It was gorgeous!  The trees, the ocean, the beauty! 

We stopped in Pescadero for lunch.  There is a little place known for its artichoke creations.  We had the cream of artichoke soup, warm sourdough bread, split a BLT, and a piece of ollalieberry pie.  It was a lunch fit for a king.

We went over the longest bridge in the bay area heading to San Ramon to drop off the cat. We had a great dinner with family, and enjoyed a wonderful time.  We said goodbye to them, and Squeakers, and headed northeast to Sacramento for a good night's sleep.