Road Trip

Our trip back home was half the fun of our San Fran trip. On the way up we took highway 5, which is really, really boring. So on the way back we decided to take the famed Route 1 that runs right along the coast. It took about 5 hours longer than our trip up, but it was way worth it. The views were spectacular.

Here's Manburger in front of the Winchester Mystery Mansion. We didn't actually go inside b/c we got there before it opened in the morning and we didn't feel too keen about spending $26 per person to see it. Maybe some other time. This is the house where the wife believed it was haunted, but that the ghosts would leave her alone if construction was always going on. So there's staircases that go up to the ceiling and doors that don't lead anywhere etc.

Driving along Route 1 there were a lot of vista points to pull off and check out the view. Here's one of the first we saw, just south of Monterey. I like living in Southern California, but I am seriously drawn to the greenness and the rugged coastline of Northern California. The cliffs are awesome.

This is Manburger standing on the edge of a cliff somewhere near Big Sur. Isn't that view amazing. Now just picture seeing that for hours as you drive down the coast. Were were lucky or what? We stopped in Big Sur at one of the handful of stores they had to get lunch. The burritos we got weren't worth the $6 we paid, but they sure were tasty.

One of the neatest parts of the trip back was the chance to see real live elephant seals. Aren't you jealous!? The only ones I had ever seen were on the Discovery channel. I don't even think I knew they lived in California. Manburger pulled over while I was napping and we got to see the elephant seals pretty upclose and personal. There was even an "elephant seal guide" who told us a bit about them. He said that the biggest male there was about 5000 lbs. That's one big seal. Only the males have the weird trunk nose things, the females are prettier and much smaller. I realize the seals look dead in this picture, but they're not. The guide told us that that's pretty much what they do all day...just lay in the sun. I guess they're storing up energy for their next food hunt or in the guys' case, for their next WWE match. Ha, just kidding, but I have heard that the male fights get pretty violent.

We made it safely back home after our long drive. And I now feel happy saying that I have seen how the "other half" lives. That is the "other half" of California. Till next time!