Today I took the road less traveled, which is not easy to do in California since there always seems to be someone on the road with you. (Usually tailgating your ass.) But today I had the road all to myself. And that rocked.
Since the Bay Area was under a severe heat advisory, I decided I needed to get as far away from my inland home as possible. It was time to head out to the coast again. (Because here you can only do that on really hot days or September.)
I had a mission to accomplish. Well, a few, actually. The first one was to carjack my cousin's BMW coupe with sunroof for my joyride down the coast with my favorite iTunes playlist. Oh, yeah, and enjoying some oysters.
Mission accomplished. After a few detours and slow traffic thanks to Caltrans and our state's necessity to constantly improve its logistical infrastructure, I made it down Highway 1 and into Point Reyes Station ready to get my grub on.
Since I was completely lost and my iPhone was sans 3G (again!), I went to the first dining establishment I could find.
The Pine Cone Diner seemed like one of those little coffee shops that screams "Americana" if Americana was organic. It's too cute for words. I like sitting at the booths in those kind of places just because I can eavesdrop on local gossip. Not that I really care, but it can be pretty entertaining.
I ordered the fried oyster sandwich with fries - a.k.a. Oyster Po' Boy. Yummy. But deep fried rich mollusks aren't really my thing when it's 90 degrees outside.
So, I decided to explore the rest of the three block town in search of Cow Girl Creamery. While I was exploring, I got an iced latte at Toby's, an awesome little general store with gourmet foods and cool little gift items. I then headed toward Bovine Bakery (odd name for a bread place) to buy a whole wheat roll with the cheese I would be getting.
I did find the creamery, but it just so happens that they're closed on Tuesdays. Fail. So, it was on to fulfill my other mission of making it to the ocean.
Driving down Highway 1 and through Inverness, I made it to Point Reyes National Seashore. Talk about awesomeness. After driving through five "historic" ranches that have been around since the 1850s and an infinite number of cows, I finally made it to the Lighthouse only to find out it was also closed on Tuesdays. (Duuuuude! Tuesday haters!)
But the view alone was worth it. Beating a bunch of European tourists, I made it to the edge of the cliff first to see all of Drakes Bay and the Pacific past it. It wasn't the clearest of days but I was still able to see the Farallon Islands and all the way down to San Francisco and San Bruno Mountain.
On the way back out of the park through more fields of stinky bovines, I veered off to a little dirt road that lead to Drakes Oyster Company.
They were farming some oysters and dealing with some annoying tourists. But good news: I was finally able to purchase some Cow Girl Creamery cheese. No oysters though since they weren't going to make it back home with me.The cheese stunk up my handbag but made it home ok. It totally smelled like cow, but tasted like heaven, so I guess it's all paid off in the long run.
Day trips give you a sense of appreciation for nearby areas close to home. Needless to say, I was also able to reconnect with the road. Considering that I normally commute about 100 miles a day, I've realized that driving someone else's car, and a manual one, at that, makes you appreciate the road a whole lot more. I was finally Sunday driving on a Tuesday. And that made all the difference.
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