Today, Manda and I rented a Toyota Corolla and drove down California Highway 1. The One – as it’s known on the coast – winds down the Pacific coast, creating some of the most beautiful views and dangerous curves either of us had ever driven.
With the temperature in the mid-seventies and our windows down, our morning started out like this:
Just after beginning our trip. Manda had to remind me constantly not to look at the view so I wouldn’t drive us off a cliff.
About one-third of the way into our journey, we took a 17-mile detour through Pebble Beach. Here’s what that looked like:
Standing on Pebble Beach
Beautiful, don’t you think? The beach and waves aren’t bad either.
Despite appearances, I am not breaking the waves with the force of my will.
Apparently, Important People occasionally play golf here too. That’s one heck of a water hazard.
My favorite part was the overlooks that let us watch the ocean crash around some of the huge rocks jutting out of the water. There’s something incredibly peaceful and majestic about it all. Just take a look at this:
and…
Once we left there, we continued down the One. Our favorite moment in the trip was when we got to one of the Vista Points – spots they’ve created where you can pull off the road and enjoy the scenery. At this particular point, We’d just driven across a bridge as the road wound around the mountains along the shoreline. The cliffs jut out at this point, which allowed us to look back along our route and out over the Pacific. Observe:
We didn’t speak for quite a while. We just sat next to one another on a boulder and gazed out over all of this. What are you supposed to say? This is a taste of what we mean when we describe God as ineffable. God is just too big for our words. They bind and shackle. Just like this picture fails to encapsulate the beauty, the grandeur of that moment we shared, so too do our words fail to encapsulate God (side note: I’m not sure I’d ever felt comfortable using the word ‘grandeur’ to describe anything before this point).
We continued on, and due to the lack of any sort of food options, were forced to stop in Gorda, CA for lunch. Gorda has two buildings in the whole town – the General Store/City Hall and the Overpriced Restaurant (not its actual name).
Gorda, CA in all its glory. Next door (to the right) is where we paid $50 (including tip) for a club sandwich, fish & chips and an iced tea. Insanely expensive…
… but the view across the street couldn’t be beat.
At this point, Manda and I realized that we were WAY behind schedule, so we arranged to drop our car off at LAX instead of in Santa Monica. We agreed not to stop for any more sites or vista points, and were able to resist until we saw these puppies:
This is a half-mile stretch of beach full of elephant seals. They were barking and flipping sand on each other (with their flippers, of course). If you look closely in the middle, you can see a mother nursing her pup. They’re gloriously ugly, awkward creatures with a curious beauty to them.
Shortly after that, we made it to San Luis Obispo and joined up with the 101, which took us away from the coast and into city until we finally reached LA. We did some wedding planning, talked about stuff and finally got to LAX where we were greeted by one of the most beautiful sights ever:
Ladies and Gentlemen, the one and only Scot Burbank.
We’d made it to LA. And what a magnificent trip it was.
