California

Here's some more pictures from the California coast.  The scenery was beautiful, when we could see it.  Lots and lots of misty and just plain foggy days on the road.  Even when the days were clear, it was often too busy or dangerous to stop and take pictures.  Highway 1 along the coast was rugged with lots of steep descents, big curve around the water and followed quickly by steep upgrades back to the top of the bluff.  In many stretches of the highway you can see the continuing fight with Mother Nature.  The roadway has crumbled off the side of the cliff and another stretch has been blasted into the hillside; you can see that it is just a matter of time before erosion claims that section also.  There is even a portion that can be closed off during inclement weather.  That was the stretch we biked in the fog!  The road clings to the side of the cliff and when you looked down there was nothing but grey mist.  Maybe that was the best time to be there on a bike.  No sense gazing off into the distant ocean... it wasn't there!  So all eyes were on the road.  As you can guess, we don't have any pictures from that day!

Although the air was so misty, the hillsides were brown and dry.  It created quite a contrast of colors.

 Mendocino.  A great town.  The Summer of '42 and East of Eden were filmed here.