usedto
Lunatic Member
It's spring break time, and number one son is at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Him and a couple roommates usually share rides during breaks, but he was the only one who had a final on Friday, so he was left alone. The wife has been wanting to visit Solvang, a Danish town about an hour south of SLO, so we decided to take a road trip and do a little sightseeing, then pick our son up and bring him home for the break.
Solvang is about a 5 hour drive, but we decided to take a different route. A few years back we hopped over to Hwy 1 (which follows the coast), and go North. We're in central Ca, so we saw half of it then. We decided to use Hwy 1 again, but this time take the southern route. It adds about an hour to the drive. Two and a half hours to Monterey, and we were on 1.
As soon as you get south of the "populated" area the terrain changes. There are still quite a few ranches where cattle are grazed, but no major towns to speak of, so you need to be part hermit to live there. The transition from beach to rocky hills makes for local plants to flourish. Here's a shot of a poppy field (California's state flower). There are miles of these growing between the road and beach. Friday really isn't a "tourist" day, but a lot of folks stop to take photos.
Before long, we were into the rocky coast. Hwy 1 is fairly old, two lane, and curvy. Mother Nature and the Powers That Be have taken their toll on the old roadway. Rock slides are commonplace, and there were four or five sections that were under HEAVY repair where the erosion has started to undermine the road. There were crews welding 18" diameter steel pipe into 50' lengths that will be driven into the rock to shore up the road foundation. You can see how close the road (on the left) is to the water, and this is the GOOD part.
The next thing we saw came totally unexpected, and I wish we had a better camera. All of these photos were taken from a moving car that was winding through the coast, with a $150 digital camera. When you're dodging boulders in the viewfinder, speed is of the essence. Cheapo digital cameras have quite a lag between when you push the button and when the photo is taken, so the next photo is marginal at best. We came across several whales heading south along the coast during our drive. They weren't breaking the surface that far, so the photos didn't come out like we would have liked but you get the idea. Here's three:
We were traveling quite a bit faster than the whales, so they were soon behind us. another half an hour or so and we were down to flatter ground, approaching Hearst's Castle. Just when we thought the show was over, we came across this beach:
What's a trip along the coast without seals? Every sandy patch for the next 30 or 40 miles had a group of seals sunning themselves.
Shortly after that, 1 heads inland, so we were back to civilization. An hour south, and we hit Buellton, then four miles to Solvang.
Solvang is an old Danish settlement. My wife has been there several times, but not for 30 years or so. Since I'm mostly Danish, I figure i should at least visit there once. It's mostly a tourist attraction now, and the poor economy has taken it's toll on the town. If you google it, you can see how the downtown has kept the old Danish look. We got there about 2, checked into a motel, and walked uptown. We hit most of the shops, tasted some of the local pastries, and took a good walking tour of the town. We went back to our room about 5, quenched our thirst with some wine and/or beer, then walked back uptown about 6:30 for dinner. There is every kind of food you want, but we opted for traditional Danish. We both chose the Danish sausage/meatball combo, served with a boiled potato, green beans, and red cabbage. Sounds rather bland, but it was excellent. We ate so much we decided to take another walk around town to burn off some of the calories, then back to the motel.
Back in our boat racing days, my wife and her cronies used to light an occasional cigar after the races were done. While we were on our earlier tour, we happened across a cigar shop. We stopped in, and I bought her a $10 cigar. Our room had a balcony that overlooked a wildlife area, so after our evening walk, we went back, sat on the balcony with our beverages, and lit up the cigar. I haven't smoked since my heart surgery 5 years ago, but caved in for the "special" occasion. I enjoyed it, but have no desire to start the habit again.
A good night sleep, up early for my morning walk, then an hour drive back to SLO to pick up our son. By 9:30 we were loaded in the Tahoe for the four hour drive home.
655 miles in two days, and had a blast. Doesn't get much better than that......:thmbsp:
Solvang is about a 5 hour drive, but we decided to take a different route. A few years back we hopped over to Hwy 1 (which follows the coast), and go North. We're in central Ca, so we saw half of it then. We decided to use Hwy 1 again, but this time take the southern route. It adds about an hour to the drive. Two and a half hours to Monterey, and we were on 1.
As soon as you get south of the "populated" area the terrain changes. There are still quite a few ranches where cattle are grazed, but no major towns to speak of, so you need to be part hermit to live there. The transition from beach to rocky hills makes for local plants to flourish. Here's a shot of a poppy field (California's state flower). There are miles of these growing between the road and beach. Friday really isn't a "tourist" day, but a lot of folks stop to take photos.
Before long, we were into the rocky coast. Hwy 1 is fairly old, two lane, and curvy. Mother Nature and the Powers That Be have taken their toll on the old roadway. Rock slides are commonplace, and there were four or five sections that were under HEAVY repair where the erosion has started to undermine the road. There were crews welding 18" diameter steel pipe into 50' lengths that will be driven into the rock to shore up the road foundation. You can see how close the road (on the left) is to the water, and this is the GOOD part.
The next thing we saw came totally unexpected, and I wish we had a better camera. All of these photos were taken from a moving car that was winding through the coast, with a $150 digital camera. When you're dodging boulders in the viewfinder, speed is of the essence. Cheapo digital cameras have quite a lag between when you push the button and when the photo is taken, so the next photo is marginal at best. We came across several whales heading south along the coast during our drive. They weren't breaking the surface that far, so the photos didn't come out like we would have liked but you get the idea. Here's three:
We were traveling quite a bit faster than the whales, so they were soon behind us. another half an hour or so and we were down to flatter ground, approaching Hearst's Castle. Just when we thought the show was over, we came across this beach:
What's a trip along the coast without seals? Every sandy patch for the next 30 or 40 miles had a group of seals sunning themselves.
Shortly after that, 1 heads inland, so we were back to civilization. An hour south, and we hit Buellton, then four miles to Solvang.
Solvang is an old Danish settlement. My wife has been there several times, but not for 30 years or so. Since I'm mostly Danish, I figure i should at least visit there once. It's mostly a tourist attraction now, and the poor economy has taken it's toll on the town. If you google it, you can see how the downtown has kept the old Danish look. We got there about 2, checked into a motel, and walked uptown. We hit most of the shops, tasted some of the local pastries, and took a good walking tour of the town. We went back to our room about 5, quenched our thirst with some wine and/or beer, then walked back uptown about 6:30 for dinner. There is every kind of food you want, but we opted for traditional Danish. We both chose the Danish sausage/meatball combo, served with a boiled potato, green beans, and red cabbage. Sounds rather bland, but it was excellent. We ate so much we decided to take another walk around town to burn off some of the calories, then back to the motel.
Back in our boat racing days, my wife and her cronies used to light an occasional cigar after the races were done. While we were on our earlier tour, we happened across a cigar shop. We stopped in, and I bought her a $10 cigar. Our room had a balcony that overlooked a wildlife area, so after our evening walk, we went back, sat on the balcony with our beverages, and lit up the cigar. I haven't smoked since my heart surgery 5 years ago, but caved in for the "special" occasion. I enjoyed it, but have no desire to start the habit again.
A good night sleep, up early for my morning walk, then an hour drive back to SLO to pick up our son. By 9:30 we were loaded in the Tahoe for the four hour drive home.
655 miles in two days, and had a blast. Doesn't get much better than that......:thmbsp:
