Breakfast at the Ten Inverness Way B&B brings our fellow travelers from Massachusetts and Austin, Texas together.  With a slightly perceptible judgement that Shannon and I were “related”given our home town revelation, the affable conversation soon turns to progressive proclamations – “Austin isn’t diverse enough!” is only TRUMPED by “Barack Obama is my hero!” – time for Stevie to depart and with confederate pride in check, I excuse myself from the table.  Packed up again, our mighty Toyota steed carries us along California Route 1 to Stinson Beach.  Life is full of forks in the road and the inevitable wonders of what may had the other direction been chosen…… then again, alternate routes occur in our existence that we don’t even realize – our plans to follow the curvy glorious coast soon screech to a halt by a bright yellow Detour sign.  Obeying the command, we turn left and begin a leeward tack required to scale the mountain.  Stopping at each interval, our view of the ocean and the distant coastline  grows more remarkable as the elevation escalates.  From the top of precipice we begin a roller coaster ride through soaring trees and edge along cliff drops that threaten certain oblivion.  Reaching the end, a bag of chips settles our stomachs and highway 101 and San Francisco await.  Siri and Shannon navigate us through the Robin Williams tunnel that ends with a visual crescendo of the Golden Gate Bridge in the foreground.  Onward we push through until Route 1 appears again that steers us towards the coastline.  The weather continues to amaze and offers scenic stops at beaches along the way.  Repelling stairs is required to reach the sand  and the crashing waves in the coves.  We’ve enjoyed seeing many of Cali’s fruits and nuts during this journey and the beach offers another version as Shannon soon queries, “is he naked?”  Adorned only in a large hat that protects his scalp leaving Big Jim and the Twins exposed to the ravages of the sun, one of the local indigenous personnel proudly exhibits his tanlineless physique!

Half Moon Bay is our lunch stop and the Ritz offers a beautiful respite.  A walk outside afterwards reveals the golf course that teeters on the edge of the crashing surf below.  The trip continues through Santa Cruz traffic and pea-soup fog until Monterey soon looms in the near distance.  The Monterey Plaza is a beautiful hotel and after a 5K run to stretch and explore, we dine in and end the day with growing anticipation of what lies ahead.