[1/30/2004--Note: We drove from San Jose to San Diego on this trip, what an amazing way to take in the state of California, we hit the coasts, the deserts, mountains, cities, rural areas, you name it we passed through it or very near to it.] Here we go, starting a very long day of driving as we head toward highway one along the coast. Pseudo officially on the road by 8:30, our first stop was in Monterey. We found a little restaurant on the fishermen's wharf along the marina for breakfast. We enjoyed a shared omelet with artichokes, mushrooms and onions, topped off with a hollandaise; coffee, orange juice, hash browns and some sour dough toast. It was a quiet place where the gulls rested right outside the window and a seal sunbathed on the rear of someone's boat. With our full bellies we set out again. The Pacific coast lies in stark contrast to the east coast. Miles and miles of hills, sheer cliffs, rocky outcrops and bits of forest mixed in together� gorgeous� and all of it is undeveloped and spectacular. The road sign warned of twisting roadway for the next 63 miles. We came across one gas station amidst hours of driving, $2.29/gallon. We had been running on empty for a number of miles so we had to at least get a couple of gallons. We stopped at a number of out looks and gazed with wonder at the enormous empty ocean and the crashing surf and spray along the base of the cliff sides. One stop yielded the pleasure of observing sun bathing seals on the beach� huddled together, noses tucked into the sand, sneezing, jiggling masses of marine animal. They didn't do too much and ignored the humans peering down on them. We were thankful when we reached 46, more or less a straight shot across to I-5 served as a welcome change from the dizzying heights of the narrow snaking road we had just been on. 46 was blanketed by miles of orchards of something, Mark and I wonder just how many migrant workers and how long it takes to harvest from the vast plots. This was the road James Dean had died on in a car accident, which we passed a three car accident on this road as well, out in the middle of nowhere. I wonder how long it took for help to arrive? We sopped in Paso Robles to fuel up and get binoculars and film. I-5 was fairly speedy, dotted with vineyards and acres of farmland, passed through another mountain range and once well past the other side started to see evidence of the urban sprawl around L.A. This area just reaffirmed our desires to not live where there are a lot of people. We skirted around L.A. through eight lanes of traffic, high density traffic, at 80 mph. Insane. L.A. was El Ugly as far as I could tell. Too many people all crammed together lighting the sky with that filthy orange-gray glow. Mark mused that there mustn't be any old people simply based on the hairy traffic. We never slowed below 60 mph. The sprawl continued to a degree until we got to San Diego, it thinned out but you could see the glow in the distance (of the L.A. area) just outside San Diego. After a tiring long day of driving and then circling about La Jolla we finally arrived at Kerry's. It was an early night, we grabbed a light meal at a Greek caf�. I went with a vegetarian sampler, tasty. Mark had a grilled vegetable salad with tuna. The night of sleep at Kerry's was the most comfortable and restful yet. We've been crashing on a firm futon mattress on the floor at Martin's. Kerry had a fluffier (relatively) futon,'twas good.