chronicles of she

CALIFORNIA COAST ROAD TRIP // part 1 (of 2)

we left san francisco and headed straight up the coast on our journey toward portland. we had two days to mosey our way here, so we made sure to enjoy the views, stop along the way, and of course we camped in the redwoods.

when there was road work that brought us to a complete halt for fifteen minutes, there was no stressed out worrying that we were getting behind schedule or going to be late for anything. we just turned up the music and munched on snacks.

it's pretty thrilling throwing out the window any pressure to make an itinerary and just going where you end up. we didn't have a road map or even look at google maps until we actually hit the road (and the 4g was spotty, at that) and then we adjusted routes based on recommendations we got from the guy who changed our oil and the lady who checked us in at the campground who had already enjoyed her second glass of wine for the evening. not having to accomodate to other people's schedules or even our own, the spontaneous, play-it-by-ear plan was seriously just fun.

we took highway 1. literally. like, #1, as in the very first highway of america, basically, is how is felt. the road wound in and out of coastal views with small bursts of straight distances. it was gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. the whole coast is lined with tiny bed and breakfast towns and hippie hitchhikers. the highway is lined with dreadlocks, baja ponchos, and backpacking backpacks GALORE. you could also point your finger randomly on a map of the coast and any little town you pick out could be a charming weekend escape. the closer you get to oregon the more flannel and fog you see, like clockwork. there were an impressive number of touring cyclists with their pannier packs and even laundry detergent buckets in place of pannier packs sometime. we were extra aware of the cyclists because we dream of doing a bicycle tour some day in the distant or not-so-distant future. that will have to come after i run that half marathon.

we kept coming up with reasons to stay on the coast forever.

"let's get hired by a campground to be the camp managers and explore the redwood forest all day. just for a year or two. or three."

"we should buy a little house out here hidden in the forest and sell jerky to folks on the road. that would be the life."

"let's save up money and spend an entire summer driving the coast in our westy." (our yet to exist westy)

le sigh. traveling is beautiful.