Ah, Santa Barbara! Sure, I could say we visited for the cute downtown but who would we be kidding? It was all for the pinot noir. Though our wine tasting travails were limited, they were quite fruitful. It was for this reason, and this alone, that we had packed two coolers. One is for ice and food. The other is for wine.
Next, we mozied down the 1 to Big Sur. Aside from almost getting bit by a rattlesnake, it was a laid back ride that was all about the scenery. Here, we had our first go at sleeping in the van at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park Campground. While Big Sur isn't quite the place to roll in without a reservation, it helps to arrive on a week week day and be friendly.
For our first night on the road, we celebrated by not sleeping in the car. Instead, we indulged in a hotel by the sea. There were sea lions, arcade games, and mimosas. It was perfect.
Ya know, I think we had a pretty nice place. We lived in San Francisco doing that San Francisco thing: a technology startup. We had a nice apartment with a nice view and a nice walk to a nice market for nice meals. It was very nice. But "nice" gets boring. So, we have either given away or packed up all our worldly belongings. A few choice possessions we are loading into a van for a cross country trek. This blog is the story.