Great to be moving around again, after last week's blip, and exploring more of this marvellous coast. The Devil’s Slide, a notorious stretch of highway running tight to the shoreline from Pacifica to Montara, is closed to traffic now, with that heavy flow tunnelling its way through a mile or so of mountain to regain Cabrillo Highway further south. The old road has been reopened for walkers & gives fabulous long views of the coast ~ when Mo and I walked it, we saw whales blowing and breaching as they moved slowly northward on their migration path. Almost as spectacular as the wave-crashed crags below were the rocks above, swirled in intricate patterns from their complex conglomeration.
California is officially in 100% drought so it feels almost bad to enjoy wandering in sunshine on the headland above Pilar Point among wild strawberries and through the dramatic eucalyptus groves above the bays... but there's been enough spasmodic rain to keep me to my self-set writing schedule too. And here's Mo playing at Classique on Friday morning, after which we went for lunch at a proper diner where boys walk round with pots of coffee topping up your cup and there's hundreds of ways to cook eggs... simple pleasures!English heroes had a good week for birthdays, with Wednesday shared by St George and Shakespeare, and the launch of a free on-line magazine of all things bardic including a Shakespearean tour of Bristol from playwright Tom Phillips. And, unbelievably, this is Star-date 27 of my transatlantic trip, four weeks in and only one to go. We're off tomorrow for a trip to Lake Tahoe, where it's currently snowing... Enjoy your bluebells, England! See you soon...