Today was a glorious day for driving. Went with my local MG club on a
driving tour to the Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista missions. Actually, I
was one of the people hosting the tour, my first one, but on with the
story. We met in Emeryville, CA. at 9 am. The weather was overcast, it
had rained the day before, but towards San Francisco the sky was clearing.
Headed over the Bay Bridge to meet up with other members of the club at
spots in San Francisco and San Mateo. Highway 92, through Half Moon Bay,
was a bit crowded, with leftover pumpkin patches, pony rides, and
construction, but once we turned onto Highway 1, things cleared up and we
had a exhilarating drive for 46 miles down to Santa Cruz. Sun, ocean,
MG's, what more could you want? Cruised into Santa Cruz, toured the
mission, what there is left of it, mostly it's a half size reconstruction,
then had a picnic lunch in the park. Six MG's, and only 1/3 had working
speedometers!! This made for a lively lunchtime discussion, however we
soon decided that we'd better get underway, as the sun and lazing in the
grass made many of us think of siestas. Headed down Highway 1 to 129,
which is basically a trucker's road on weekdays, but isn't traveled too
much on weekends. It's a lovely road, smooth, with long, sweeping curves
which say 35 but can be taken much faster, and vistas of hills sweeping in
on you as you come to the end of the valley. The road ends in the quaint
little town of San Juan Bautista, which was jumping today with All Saints
Day (I think, shows my lack of religious affiliation) celebrations, and a
large Day of the Dead shrine at the mission. The mission is pretty
original, and the San Andreas Fault runs next to the cemetary. The town has
a bunch of funky shops and eating places, and is a well preserved historic
California town. Shot up highway 101 home, which isn't as scenic, but
works. Two hundred miles, sun and sights, what better way to spend a
Sunday! Thanks for letting me ramble. Nina
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