After midnight I realized I would need boxes to pack extra stuff away. I went to Safeway. It was open but running under blackout conditions... but the registers worked! ;)
Here's Dora, the hotel clerk who I had the most contact with. She was very sweet and helpful and very accommodating when she learned of the accident.
One last trip to Watsonville (I thought) so I decided to see if there was an alternate route there.
Madonna Road started out all right, although narrow.
BIG bumps soon followed but there was no real room to turn around safely.
I was CRAWLING along with 2 km to go and kicking myself for choosing this route.
I was PRAYING the road would not get worse as I approached an intersection (according to my GPS). But this tree was in the way??!?!?
Lucky for me, the road curved around the tree. Although this would have been a most excellent ride for an ATV, dirt bike or even a four wheel drive, it was NOT meant for a rent-a-car!
The ride down the other side of the mountain was Quite scenic.
This would have been a good motorcycle route.
Part way down was this beautiful farm.
Further down yet, the slopes were covered in grape vines.
Instead of fences, livestock were enclosed by tall bushes which I took this picture over.
Some of the fields were protected from the sun by these huge-normous structures.
So... at that point I was in Watsonville at BMW Santa Cruz..
So it was back towards Hecker Pass...
To the hotel for the keys...
Back past these Morgan Hill houses...
Past the Inn at the top of the pass...
Past dirt roads that would have been nice to ride on my TTX...
Past views toward Watsonville...
Past this great mountain home...
All the time thinking how I wouldn't have minded the extra "up/down/up/down if I'd been on my BIKE rather than in the rent-a-car.
Oh well... This truck had bigger problems. He'd taken too sharp a turn onto the road and hung his trailer up on the high side of the road.
Time to say "bye" to Thor (at least for a while). He's "in jail"!
A quick walk through the showroom. A better look at the Ural.
A wish that Thor was in the same condition as one of the three new K-Rs in the dealership (although thor is much better equiped) and I was on my way up the coast.
A couple of beaches were at the base of mountain creeks/streams.
The view inland was always as nice as the view towards the ocean.
Some lucky person has a home nestled against a mountain but across the street from an ocean beach.
The weather looked threatening but no rain.
A lighthouse along the coast.
A nice place to paint.
I got as far north as Half Moon Bay. This is a view of the golf course, ocean side.
The golf course's rough looked fairly challenging. :)
Gated neighborhoods overlooked the golf course and ocean.
If I had plenty of "moula", I'd stay here at the Ritz-Carlton. VERY posh!
Valet parking only, immaculate grounds, spectacular views.
Public access to the beach at Half Moon Bay.
A hundred metres back from the ocean, at the base of the mountains, there are many lovely-looking homes.
In Half Moon Bay, there was this Gallery with several gorgeous wooden sculptures out front.
There was no time to go further north to San Francisco... next time! I headed back inland towards San Jose. This garden center had several "wild" metal sculptures.
As I got close to Highway 101, I stopped at a turnoff for "Canada Road". How apt.
If the sign hadn't stopped me, I would hae still stopped for the clouds "hugging low" on the mountains.
I thought I'd check out San Jose BMW since they are a large Internet supplier. They were closed (it was at least 7 p.m. by then) but I LOVED the reserved parking for motorcycles.
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