Big Sur to Lucia, California

January 9, 2013

The GPS had declared us " arrived" at Big Sur when we reached the River Inn. But shortly after we set out this morning we arrived at the real downtown core, defined by where the post office is.

From there the road carries on as it did coming up to Big Sur. That is, it skirts headlands and affords stunning ocean views. The ocean has been calm, and it is quite soothing to ride beside it. Looking down, the colour is also splendid. It looks like someone has added blue bubble bath. Just by Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park there is a little cove with a waterfall. It looks just like the picture postcard Hawaiian scene, but it is here.

A little further on, the Hawaii impression was boosted by a glimpse of a beach with several clearly self seeded palms.

A dozen of these trucks passed us during the day, each with a puzzling "snowplow" on the front. It was Dodie who figured out that they were not plowing snow but rockfall and mud from the road. Only a dumb Canuck like me would have thought snow.

My favourite beach. Do you see the waterfall?

Birds seemed to play a role in today's ride. This started with some wild turkeys walking by the roadside. But the stars of this section of coast are the endangered California condors. People gather to try spotting them. At at vista point, two birdwatchers from Seattle had their binoculars out. We think they may have driven down here just for this. There had been some likely birds circling, and I used the telephoto feature of the camera to capture them. The Seattle team, though, declared my shots to be of turkey vultures. Oh, oh, bad news for the turkeys from my other photo.

This area is also the wintering ground of the monarch butterflies. We saw several flitting about, quite high above us, but never close enough for a photo. There are spots in Monterey/Pacific Grove where you can really see them, but we missed that this time.

The final birds of the day were spotted by Dodie - hummingbirds, that posed patiently for Dodie in a planting of red flowers. Can somebody name the birds or the flowers for us?

From time to time as we pedalled along we would note a driveway heading up into the hills at some impossible angle. A bank of mailboxes would attest to the presence of actual humans up there. We speculated on what means of support these people might have. Naturally I volunteered " computer consultants", but for that there would need to be strong internet access. Not likely. Closer to the truth (aside from retirees or the independently wealthy) would be artists and writers. This area has a reputation for that. In fact we soon passed a Henry Miller " memorial library", which appeared to be a cabin back in the woods, and several art galleries. Along similar lines, we also passed the famous Esalen Institute. This is a place devoted to personal growth, meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and organic food. In fact, this list seems to still characterize the Big Sur coast, and was reflected in the titles of books we found in a local gift shop.

This writer's stuff was really risque when we were kids

The book on the right begins with the author telling how her life was in ruins and she came to Big Sur to contemplate. That would be standard for Big Sur

Art gallery and café in the middle of nowhere

Esalen is a metaphor for California cuckoo

Although the road has many ups and downs, the day was not too brutal because we were forcerd to stop after just 45km. That is because the next possible stop is too far away, and on the other side of some really big hills. Our forced stop was at Lucia, named for the Santa Lucia /mountains back from the coast here. The spot comprises nothing more than one convenience store/gift shop/restaurant/cabins. Lucia has been here, like this, for a long time (at least since 1930) and has apparently changed little. The cabins contain no amenities other than the bed and similar basics, but I'm glad to report there is limited wifi. People view this as an ideal retreat, free of modern conveniences, and with a million dollar view. It must be the view that accounts for the $150-200 cabin price, because it sure isn't what you actually get in the room.

We also took advantage of the restaurant, which by virtue of its patio above the water has a two million dollar view. The prices reflected that, and we paid $88 for dinner. In this case, though, we must add that the food was really excellent. My chicken with lemon/wine sauce, capers, and artichoke hearts on fettucini was a real winner. Tomorrow, though, if we make it to San Simeon, it's Motel 6 and crackers for us.

Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 1,657 km (1,029 miles)

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