Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Disclaimer: I'm typing on keswindhover's netbook, which she kindly lent me while she and missmurchison went out exploring San Francisco this afternoon and jwaneeta checked out the comic con, so please excuse any mistakes (I'm still not used to the smaller keyboard).

I've been having a great time on this trip, even though things didn't go exactly as planned regarding Big Sur (which was to have been our destination and home base for the past two days, after the others picked up MissM and myself at the airport Wednesday noon. The hotel -- Deetjens -- had told MissM last week about needing to detour way far south out of our way, because of Hwy 1 southbound (the direct route) being closed due to rockslide and half of the highway falling into the sea. What we didn't know is that there had been two more rock slides on Hwy 1 SOUTH of Big Sur as of Sunday, so no way to get through.

However, since we'd already detoured as far as Cambria before we discovered that our detour route northbound on Hwy 1 was also blocked, we stayed there in that pretty, surprisingly unspoiled little seaside town for the past two nights, at a lovely place called the Blue Bird Inn, where the proprietors gave us a great deal on room rates and use of their lovely, bird-friendly back garden.

We drove up the coast on Hwy 1 yesterday morning, to see how far North we could get, and stopped on the way to see the Elephant Seals laying out on their strip of coastline (they've finished mating season and are now waiting to moult before going back out to sea to feed, allowing the 'weaners' who were born just a few months ago time to learn to swim in the tide pools). Then we drove quite a ways to the point where the road was no more (we could see them working on it at a distance, after walking down the highway from the point where all cars had to stop), and drove back, stopping to photograph frequently at scenic spots like Ragged Point (I hope that Keswindhover and Jwaneeta will post some of their pics online, since neither MissMurchison nor I brought a camera).

It's worth noting that the weather could not have been more perfect for sight-seeing, being unseasonably warm even for California AND clear and sunny, and so ideal for breath-taking photography from those among our number who have that artistic eye.

We saw more seals and other wildlife from part of the long boardwalk on Moonstone Beach back in Cambria yesterday afternoon, and then went to wine tastings at three wineries off of Hwy 46, before heading home for dinner in a nice Italian restaurant down the street from our Inn (we had a driver, Jwaneeta, who abstained from the tasting -- mostly -- so that the rest of us could enjoy, in case anyone was worrying about five fannish women driving a mini-van around San Luis Obispo county while very, very tipsy).

We made the long drive up from Cambria via Paso Robles to Hwy 101 to San Francisco this morning and afternoon, and now two of our original group of five are being professionals at the Comic Convention, while another two have gone to see the waterfront. I elected to stay at the hotel and rest up, since I was getting tired and I don't want to allow myself to get grumpy while on this wonderful little vacation. The place where we're staying -- the Mosser hotel -- is on 4th street in the older downtown part of San Francisco, and the rooms are very small, with sinks and tiny closets and a bed, while the showers and women's and men's toilets are down the hall and shared, but the price is very reasonable.

Tomorrow, I'm going on a tour with MissMurchison and Keswindhover to see Muir Woods and the Winchester Mystery house and a few other sights. Sunday, we may go to Alcatraz for the bird-watching, and then MissM and I have flights home to catch late Monday morning.