A beautiful morning in San Carlos, CA

I got a late start leaving Portland, I wanted to sleep more...But my 4 pm Candlelight Tour of the Oregon Caves finally dragged me out of bed. I finished packing, washed my face, and headed out the door with dishes undone.

I had a pleasant drive down I-5, and a fun jaunt with plenty of hairpin turns the last 45 minutes to the Caves Monument. I made it just in time to meet our tour guide in full character of an early "cave hunter," who handed me a candle lantern and explained that there weren't cameras when he was alive, so we couldn't use them either. About an hour of storytelling, lots of crouching and dodging large rocks stronger than my skull, and an exhilarating moment of complete sensory deprivation when we blew our candles out in "the heart of the cave," and I was off to my overnight stay in Gasquet, CA.

I got to Patrick's Creek Historical Lodge, which is indeed on the lovely Patrick's Creek, where Leo checked me in. Walking upstairs to my room, I encountered a boisterous middle-aged group there overnight to celebrate a birthday. After I got settled, I had a decent sirloin and scallop dinner, and then took a walk along the creek. I gathered some new rocks for my collection, and after a bit of relaxation in my room, decided to go downstairs for a night cap. Long story short, I got entangled in the birthday celebration and Leo insisted on refilling my Disaronno a couple times.

Surprisingly, I got on the road at 8am, rejuvenated by the Redwoods leading to Hwy 1 and the beautiful Pacific Coast. After my friend and San Fran host had to cancel our meetup, I decided to take the 1 as far as I could to replace human interaction with breathtaking views. Now, the 1 takes MUCH longer than I-5, or even the 101, as it quite literally follows the coastline with one wrong move sending you over the edge. I kind of got, well, stuck on it at some point. I had gone too far south and west for it to make up any time if I got back on one of the other two highways. So, tired and hungry, and annoyed with myself, I pushed on to San Francisco.

I decided to reward my aching body with a stay at the hip and swanky Phoenix Hotel, where they'd let me drink a beer in their heated pool. I slept in this morning:) Woke up to a gorgeous day, ripe for a trip further down the coast to LA (NOT on the 1 until Malibu), and my stinking low tire pressure alert came on. Thankfully, there was a Les Schwab in San Carlos, where I could get my car in shape and type up the last couple days events:)