Day 32 - San Luis Obispo to Carmel, CA

Days on the road: 32.
Miles today: 162.
Miles to date: 6567.

Friday morning was spent roaming downtown San Luis Obispo on foot while the little blue Audi was being washed and waxed. Its faithful service deserved a little TLC and if there is one thing that Americans (with the help of ample Mexican labour) excel at, it is car washing. I had coffee, turned on my mobile phone for the first time in weeks and checked voicemail, and walked past a record store that had the new Broken Social Scene album in the window. Taking this as a sign, I went into the store and purchased the album as the soundtrack for my drive along the pacific coast.

I could resist the call of the Pacific no longer and I first stopped in Morro Bay and saw its rock:


Thoroughly unimpressed with the rock and downtown Morro Bay, I got back on CA-1 and just a few miles up the road found a beach from which to watch the ocean roll in:



My leisurely start to the day meant I needed to make miles and reach my destination of Carmel, but visuals and vistas kept bringing me to the roadside again and again. The elephant seals on their own stretch of beach, sunning themselves and moving with the grace usually reserved for buffet goers and bingo players:



And some more wildlife:



And some more vistas:


It was a tremendous drive, and I think I'm glad I was going North as had I been going South I might have put it over the edge. Unfortunately, a few miles South of Carmel, the weather worsened as the clouds closed in and the temperature dropped into the 50s. In Carmel, I easily found the Coachman Inn - my place of rest for the next 2 nights on the recommendation of my father.