Pictures for this post coming soon!
3.28.09 - It was cold, rainy, and gray in Seattle when I left this morning on Alaskan Airlines. Landing in San Jose, it is warm and sunny with blue skies. My ultimate destination is San Luis Obispo, California. My plan is to make a scenic drive down the coast on Highway 1, about a four drive going that way, to join Big Daddy Weave’s What Life Would Be Like tour.
I get my luggage, walk to the rental car shuttle, and get on. Within a minute, I realize the coat I had tied around my waist is missing. I jump off, walk back, and look everywhere I’ve been for my jacket. I can’t find it and no one has seen it. The lady at the lost luggage office at Alaskan calls the gate. They say they have found it and will bring it down in ten minutes. After another call to the gate and forty minutes later, a lady from the airline walks up with a suitcase and says, “Here’s your bag.” The lady at the counter and I look at each other, then back at the lady with the bag. We said it was a lost coat, we remind her. She says, “Oh, no, we didn’t find a coat.” I’ve now not only lost the coat, but also almost an hour of travel time. Driving down the coast is now out of the question. As I go to pick up my suitcase and leave the airport, the suitcase handle pops off in my hand.
I head south on the 101 after a detour into the drive thru at In-N-Out Burger. As often happens, I’m really glad it worked out to go this way. I’ve been down the coast before, but have never been on this part of the 101. Leaving San Jose, the landscape on my left is round, pea green colored hills, with dots of dark green trees. Their shape reminds of the way hills are portrayed in Dr. Seuss books. Much of it is a very rural, agricultural area. I see cherry trees, fields of garlic, celery, asparagus and more. The last half of the trip is a little less green, slightly more desert-like. Right before entering San Luis Obispo, I pass through some beautiful mountains coming into the city.
Along this entire drive, I see bells on posts with signs that say “Historic El Camino Real.” I learn that Camino Real, which means The Royal Road or King’s Highway, can refer to any road under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Crown, but that these signs specifically refer to the 600 mile California Mission Trail stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. El Camino Real was one of the first state highways in California. Because of a lack of standardized road signs at the time, it was decided to post these bells as markers of the trail. The first one was posted in 1906.
I reach San Luis Obispo. I wish I had time to explore here, but it is nearly show time. The host here has a beautiful tray of local fruits for us. The small orange fruits are kumquats, the yellow ones are limequats, the dark-inside oranges are blood oranges, sharing a platter with huge strawberries and fresh grapes. Huge basil lettuce leaves about the size of a hand are available as well.
After the show, I turn in my rental car at the airport and get on the tour bus for the ride to Oceanside, California.
No comments:
Post a Comment