Big Sur-tastic

View from Nepenthe Restaurant, Big Sur, California.

Tim and i have completely abandoned our vacation (and pretty much life itself) for the sake of the Nintendo DS portable system, an ingenious little device which has become a total obsession. We play Brain Games, and it gives you awesome brain quizzes and rewards you with more games the better you do and well, it is pretty much the greatest thing ever invented. OK, so we haven't abandoned our trip for it but we do pretty much plan our day around when we can play...it only allows you to score results once a day! Oh, damn you, witholding Nintendo!

Ok, enough of that.

We just had an amazing two days driving the GORGEOUS California coast on U.S. 1 from Morro Bay to Big Sur, stopping along the way to marvel at the incredible aqua blue ocean and rolling green hills. These are the kinds of views that truly make you glad you are alive. It is pretty hard to feel anything but invigorated and happy when looking at such sights. Anyone who has never driven the coast -- (and apparently we have some of the best scenery ahead of us as we head North to the Oregon/Washington coasts) -- should make a point of doing so....there is truly nothing like it.

We camped last night in the beautiful campgrounds at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, among giant redwoods and enormous birds. Our site was along a river and it was so nice sleeping to the sound of water flowing over the rocks....until it got freakin cold overnight and I had to pee. It sucks being a girl camping sometimes!

We had a lovely breakfast at Big Sur Lodge and then made our way to the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, which is an adorably tiny hippie enclave of books, ping-pong, free coffee, and art. It represents a perfect example of the overall vibe of Big Sur, which is truly a warm and welcoming one. It makes you think perhaps you could abandon all you've ever known and come to live among its tranquility and beauty.

Next we headed to McWay Falls, a sight we learned about from our trusty guidebook. (Shout-out to the folks at Lonely Planet!!) This was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. You walk out on this trail along a mountain side and find yourself looking down at a beach far below that is pretty much the image of paradise itself. Clear light blue water, untouched sand, and a giant waterfall set in among the rocks. If there is a heaven, it probably looks a little bit like this place.

Big Sur, folks. Two little words which should really be in your vocabulary and on your list of places to go.

We are currently being very well taken care of in San Francisco by Tim's friends Geoff and Sarah. Chilling in San Fran till tomorrow.

love to all.

On the road at last...

Petey the Wonder-Dog!

Well, after many tumultuous days spent at my brother's in San Diego - where instead of relaxing, seeing white whales, drinking margaritas, or visiting zoos and water parks as planned, Tim and I spent some - let's call it quality time - "discussing" our time apart and our future together.... Ok, this is a massive understatement and basically represents my avoidance of delving into detail about the hellishness that was the last 3 days. (Dana, I call dibs on writing the play.) Put it this way - we almost broke up, nearly killed the dog and Tim lost one of the best friends he made on his trip. Enough info? I think so...because the point is that this is SO not what this blog is about!! And besides, now we are together, recovering from the madness and happy-ish....and what can one really expect? (Or is that just the jaded New Yorker in me refusing to be stifled by the seemingly endless supply of sun and avocado here in California....)

SO, last night we stayed at a perfectly respectable and slightly overly priced motel just North of Los Angeles, and as for myself, I awoke changed by the miracle of 5 hours sleep -- in a row -- and good water pressure. We're now eating egg n cheese bagel sandwiches at the "New York Style" cafe in Carmelito, CA and are on our way to hike and camp in a State Park in Big Sur. I just did my first freeway drive in the new car, and despite Tim's insistence on reminding me which pedal was which, I think I did alright. I'm not quite used to the new car, or driving on the freeway, but I didn't hit anything so I score that a success, no?

More soon!!

Trip-Planning

Hey, guess what? A month is not a long time! Especially when you're trying to plan a cross-country drive!

Tim and i have never had a chance to actually sit down and plan our route (because we've been apart for 10 months with only occasional visits) and so our planning has been happening through the very effective mode of long-distance communication, which is shockingly, not entirely reliable. So when we finally sat down yesterday - maps, travel books, and computer in hand - we discovered that we had different agendas, different priorities, and different visions for our journey -- again, shocking! OK, not really. Luckily, we had the same basic skeleton in mind. But what we discovered - and again, you might want to sit down - this is a big freakin' country!! And accounting for all the 7 and 10 hour drives we are going to have to be doing eats up a hell of a lot of the time. But getting to see this country's changing landscape through the windows of our new cute little car recently dubbed Lorelai (thanks to Geoff and the ever-inspiring Palladinos) will hopefully be an amazing experience. Tim has been driving across this country all year, and i can't wait to do the same.

Havall and Rashid made us a deal.

Day 3 in San Diego

Yesterday, I purchased my first car. It was a surreal experience, haggling/shmoozing for 5 hours straight, test-driving like 5 different models, playing hardball while maintaining both credibility and personal appeal and in the end, convincing the hard-nosed no-sense-of-humor manager to make us a deal beyond what I thought possible. We managed to trade in the 7-year old giant boat of a Chrysler that Tim has been driving into the ground on his Boonville trip over the last 10 months for $4000 which was easily $2000 more than we were hoping for. This car has been so battered over the last year that the front bumper was LITERALLY being held on by a bungi cord! (an impressive feat not to be underestimated) and Tim put on about 21,000 more miles on it just in the last year. That trade-in enabled us to get the cutest little 2006 silver Sentra for a price so low it's almost funny. I think I just wore them down because when you say you're going to leave after they've been working to help you for 5 hours, you've got them by the balls. We haven't named her yet...stay tuned.

As for the rest of our time in San Diego, we're planning to chill with the fam and the dog (more on the awesome Petey next time) hit the beach, drink way too many margaritas and plan the course of our cross-country trip -- preferably while intoxicated.

Love to all,
laura