Back on the Coast

Still in California, homies: I took yesterday off and, desperately craving the sun, I drove almost three hours from cloudy, foggy San Joaquin Valley to the coast, to Monterey and Big Sur. The coast was so beautiful: clear blue skies, white sand, craggy rocks and really high surf. I forgot to bring my digital camera with me, so I bought a disposable and took some snaps - better than nothing.

I stayed in a fab hotel, where I had a four-poster bed and fireplace. I went for a run early yesterday morning next to the beach, from about a mile north of Fisherman's Wharf down past Cannery Row and back. That's only a 4-5 mile run, but it took awhile as I stopped several times to watch sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks.

Then I drove down to Pebble Beach and took the scenic 17-mile drive, where you can see pristine beaches, wildflowers, and 15-foot waves crashing against big rocks, along with sea otters, seals and more sea lions. After that was a quick jaunt to Carmel-By-The-Sea, a painfully cute and tres expensive seaside town with more than 100 art galleries. Clint Eastwood was the town's mayer back in the 90's, I believe.

Okay, back to the salt mines; I'm back in the San Joaquin Valley. I'll tell you more about my story when I return to Washington on Sunday (taking the red-eye from Oakland on Saturday night).

Before I forget: I did a quickie run this morning on the gerbil mill: 4 miles in 33 minutes. I'm starting to get used to running (a little) quicker.