Southern Exposure

Thursday, November 13

We awoke on this morning to what we desired most: sunshine. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was already almost 70 degrees. After the cold and wet days prior, this really lifted our spirits.

We headed west on Highway 68 to Monterey. We rode past Laguna Seca and after all the years of going to the races there, it was strange to see it deserted and locked. We headed south on Highway 1 to Big Sur. It’s easy to see why this is considered one of the most scenic drives in the country. The sun, the surf, and the twisting roads are hard to beat.

I learned a good lesson while taking the above picture. The bikes are heavily loaded, so they sit lower than normal, which means that while they’re on the kickstand, they are more vertical than normal. I parked with the kickstand on an upslope and a strong gust of wind knocked the bike over. Tipover #1. Lesson learned.

My parents’ friends in Pismo Beach, the Buchers, had sent us a fantastic email recommending stops along coast. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide. Our first stop on the list was lunch in Big Sur. The first restaurant recommended, Cielo, had burned down, so we went to #2 on the list, Nepenthe. It’s hard to imagine how this was the second choice. We were seated at a bar overlooking the coast, and it was perhaps the best view I’ve ever had at a restaurant. We treated ourselves to a glass of wine at lunch and had an excellent meal. We didn’t have too many miles to go today, so relaxed and soaked up the sun and view.

Our next stop on the coast was Sand Dollar Beach. When you park, you can’t see this beach from the parking lot. We haven’t worked out a good system for leaving the bikes unattended, so we took it on faith that our hike down to the beach in our riding gear, carrying our helmets and tank bags would be rewarded.

What an amazing beach. Another hidden gem on the California coast. We parked our gear amongst the rocks and had a nice walk on the beach. The tide was out, so beach area was quite expansive. The surf break far out past the rocks and made for a great soundtrack to our walk. I would have loved to have been able to spend a day and picnic here, but we still had many miles of gorgeous coastline ahead of us.

Our final stop of the day was at the elephant seal beach. Since they were protected as an endangered species, the elephant seals have established a colony on this beach, and we were lucky enough to catch them there in large numbers. The males are huge, as big as a horse. The seals were hard at work sleeping in piles on the beach. It was quite comical to watch a big seal roll over on top of a smaller seal and see the effects ripple through the pile as they all struggle for a new position.

We continued down the coast until we reached our destination in the Pismo Beach area. The Buchers were gracious enough to offer us their hospitality, and they took fantastic care of us. Their home up in the hills was magnificent. Jeff & Mary took wonderful care of us, and we had an enjoyable evening drinking wine, telling stories, and eating Jeff’s delicious spaghetti carbonara. Thanks so much Jeff & Mary! I hope one day we can visit again and try their wine made from their vineyard behind the house. I hope the sticky buns shop is still around when we come back.

We tried to talk Jeff into trading his car for our bikes, but no deal. Jeff said our bikes were just too nice and he couldn’t bear to take advantage of us like that.