Highway One State Down and 49 to Go

If the trip so far is any indication of how great this trip is going to be, we are in for a real treat!!!! We headed out from Mendocino, meandering down the coast and celebrating the success of the patched roof as the rain pounded down. Like water on a duck's back friends, we are leak free!! In the minuscule town of Elk we got out and walked on a deserted driftwood filled beach, where Jaycie developed "Beach Calisthenics," a super nerdy yoga/80's aerobics combo only to be performed on secluded beaches......Jason and Keta worked on perfecting "Sweating to the Stick Chasing" and in the end we all got out ya-ya's out and were ready to get on with the drive. We made it to Bodega Bay that evening where we had lunch, napped, and watched a storm chase the boats into the harbor. That evening we croozed town and pulled into a Laundromat to wash our clothes. The parking spot was so flat, safe, and dark that we opted to spend the night right there!!! And that we did..

Near sunrise the next morning (we get to bed pretty early these days) we moved on south. We went down a steep grade through fields of happy cows and stopped at a lookout over Drake's Bay...if felt like we were discovering land for the first time... We should have stopped there but we tested the limits of the brakes and continued down to Dillon's Beach, only to find that, really, it is only Dillon's Beach. The land czars had all possible beach parking areas roped off so that to the beach would cost ya $15 bucks! As you might suspect, we did not leave with sandy feet that day, but we were not daunted and blew out of there for Pt. Reyes. If at all possible, please get yourself to Pt. Reyes as soon as you can. It's hard to describe the true living miracle that is Pt. Reyes State Park. The bluffs and the wide silver sea are pure magic...

Oh, getting sleepy now! We are all the way down in Santa Barbara now so we still have some back-blogging to catch up on- tomorrow!