6/11/16
I knew before I met my other friend Mark that our drive was in jeopardy. I could feel little wisps of water comin
g down in my backyard, which is 8 miles inland from the beach, while I was throwing tennis balls to Jake, our Golden Retriever. I briefly contemplated calling Mark and seeing if we could push our start time back a couple of hours, but didn’t. So at 7:30 we met, fully gassed, and off we went. Our goal was to head up PCH and then up the mythical and mystical Encinal Canyon. On the way the little wisps of water turned into actual drops and I had to use my wipers. Even for June in LA, this was an extreme marine layer. We turned onto Encinal and after about a mile stopped, as the fog and mist was so thick and the road was so wet that it was not safe, let alone fun, to drive.
This was the second time in a row I had designs on driving up Encinal Canyon but did not do it. The last time I couldn’t take the traffic on PCH. This time I couldn’t take the conditions. Funnily enough, I was not upset. I am sure that this will make me sound trite and shallow, but I love driving my GTS. I like the way it feels. I like the way it sounds. Of course, I like it better with the sun out. After a brief cell phone conversation with Mark, one of about 30 we had during the drive, we decided to just head up the coast and have breakfast in Oxnard. Along the way north on PCH I began to notice that there were boatloads of bicycles heading south on PCH. At first I thought it was a few brave souls braving the elements. Then I realized that I was seeing the lead riders on the last stage of the AIDS ride down from San Francisco. As we drove, we saw more and more bicycles. It was an amazing sight.
We made it to Oxnard, whereupon Mark discovered that the restaurant we were head
ing to had moved. After a reset of his nav system, we set off again. Soon we were at Mrs. Olson’s Coffee Hut, a great local’s place that now overlooks the harbor. After a day of Mexican food yesterday, including a carnitas burrito for lunch and super spicy shredded beef in sauce for dinner, I had no choice but to get a chile verde omelette for breakfast.
We decided to head back on the freeway. On the way we were on a back road having another phone conversation. I had the car in manual mode and was letting the engine wind up to 6,000 RPM before shifting. I said good bye to Mark and after a minute or so, I realized he had not hung up so I asked him what he was doing. His answer cracked me up and resonated with me. He said, “Listending to that amazing 6 cylinder boxer engine of yours!”
On the way down the 101 the weather looked like it was drying out, so we exite
d the 101 at the 23 South and headed into the hills. As soon as we hit the first few feet of the twistie portion of the drive, the wisps of water reappeared on the windshield, but at least the fog had lifted, So we had a spirited drive up the hill and over Mulholland Highway to Kanan Dume where we turned right and headed back down to PCH and then home. 139 reasonably aimless miles in total. Great day. Great to give the GTS a workout. Great to just focus on driving. To quote Zac Brown, “Life is Good Today.”