Mendocino to Monterey

I woke up in a world of pain this morning - as soon as I tried to roll over my back seared and snapped me out of that groggy moment in which you're not yet awake. Daniel just smiled smugly and said I'm not the cowgirl I thought I was. Luckily, all I had to do for the day was sit in the car for near on eight hours and gaze upon more coastal scenery.

Part of California State Route 1

At one point mid-afternoon, after I'd been typing and not concentrating on the road, I looked up and realised we were many miles inland and no longer on the 1. I'm a little incredulous at dear Daniel's lack of a sense of direction - he can't even manage to stay on the one road, the 1, the one we're taking in the one direction for hundreds and hundreds of miles! It's lucky I'm somewhat fond of him... He had no idea where he'd left the 1, but it ended up being a relatively scenic detour through farmland and past lots of cows (I love cows).

Later than planned, when the light was already beginning to fade, we caught our first glimpses of the Bay Area. We were to pass through San Fransisco before returning some ten days later after returning our hire car - it's simply too expensive to park.

The Bay Area

We did, however, get to drive over the famous Golden Gate Bridge. It really is the most beautiful colour, but our camera (or the person wielding it) didn't capture the light very well.

Driving across the Golden Gate

From the outskirts of San Francisco the road was flatter and wider, which we appreciated as we lost the sun not long after passing over the Golden Gate. We made it to Monterey a couple of hours after dark, which meant we got to appreciate the sunset along the way.

Lighthouse