At 8.00am on Sunday 21st Chris drove us to Long Beach airport and we picked up the trusty convertible that was to take us up the coast. I’d specially ordered a Mustang so was pissed off to say the least when the Avis rep said “I’m afraid we’ve only got a Chrysler here for you”…incompetent fool.
Anyway, life is too short to stress so we took the alternative convertible and with the wind in our hair left LA with Chris and Kerin in tow for our first stop Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara was very pretty and the 4 of us spent the afternoon eating Mexican and chatting before the sun began to set and we were forced to say our goodbyes. I think doing it there was easier than if we’d been in LA because it was new territory and mutual ground without memories attached. It was a sad moment and as soon as we drove away Loz and I both admitted we felt a weird sense of loneliness once again. Something we hadn‘t had since day 1.
Our first over night stop was Pismo Beach, about 2 hours drive further north so with map in hand we set off back onto route 1. We managed to get lost a couple of times, nothing serious and once ending up at a really eerie dead end on the coast complete with a deserted rail station shrouded in mist. We made it to Pismo in the dark though and all worked out ok.
I was excited about our second day (Monday 22nd) as we were going to drive the most famous and beautiful stretch of route 1 through Big Sur state park. We started the day with a traditional freshly baked cinnamon roll, filled up the tank and set off into the sun. On numerous occasions we pulled the car over to admire the gorgeous views and it really put the cherry on the Chrysler shaped cake.
That evening the weather took a turn for the English so we made our visit to Carmel Beach a quick one and checked into the Travelodge in Monterey Bay as the clouds rolled in.
Our final leg of the drive was from Monterey to San Francisco so I got behind the wheel and did the last hundred miles. It was kinda cold and cloudy and really highlighted the difference between north, central and south California. The coastline becomes rugged, rocky, grassy and windswept as opposed to one of hot, sandy and palmed lined oceans.
We cruised into San Fran around 3pm and rocked up to the address we were staying at which was an unbelievably nice flat in a great location, score! (We managed to save $60 by staying with the friend of a friend). After unpacking we had a tight 45 mins to tick off the Golden Gate bridge box before having to return the car so zoomed towards the coast, crossed the bridge, took photos and then zoomed back.
Wednesday and Thursday Loz and I spent exploring the city and seeing the tourist hotspots. Just like our first few weeks in LA we’d brought bad weather with us and it was down in 15 degrees, not cool, so I felt more like watching tv in the flat then exploring the local parks. Highlights of SF were the all you can eat curry buffet for $10 and Loz splashing out on an underwater camera for Maui (excuse the pun).
And then it was Friday, travel day. I’ll cut out the boring bits so basically we were picked up at 6.00am from the apartment in San Fran and 9 hours and 34 minutes later we touched down in Maui yay! (with a secret frappuchino squeezed in there somewhere)
As we walked off the plane I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a fully dressed up authentic Hawaiian lady holding a placard with our names on. ‘Us??’ I said as she draped a lay of beautiful fresh flowers over our necks! It turned out Kerin (who’ll be visiting us in our 3rd week) had secretly arranged for a flower company to greet us in the traditional way as his little surprise treat. It was very touching and made us smile from ear to ear.
*Trivial fact* - Last week Kerin won the grand final of Wipeout (the ridiculous water game show) and is the new owner of $50,000. We watched it on tv in San Fran with our mouths wide open as we had no idea. He hadn’t been allowed to tell us and had been hiding the news for weeks!)
Unfortunately things went a bit pear shaped when the baggage conveyor belt stopped and Loz’s body boards hadn’t appeared yet. Turns they were still back in Honolulu, oops. He has them back now though.
That evening we made ourselves at home in our little beach house studio, introduced ourselves to Brad and Hannah (who we’re renting from) and made a trip to the local grocery store for some painfully overpriced essentials.
Keep reading for part 3!…
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