Delusions of Grandeur on Highway 1

A novel idea it was to traverse down Highway 1, the PCH, the asphalt snake that twists and turns and slithers down the edge of the continent where you can smell the salt and feel the pacific’s water spray on your face. We drove by pumpkin patches and corn mazes bordering sand dunes. After hundreds of miles of zigging and zagging the redwoods of Big Sur towered over us.

What we didn’t realize is that riding down hwy 1 from SF to LA almost doubles the trip. In all, without hitting a lick of traffic or getting pulled over once (despite our expired registration – only technically, it’s in the mail) it took us over 10 hours to get to LA. Usually time on Interstate 5 = five hours.

Leaving the Half Moon Bay area just a couple hours into our trip I looked down and saw that we had a half tank of gas. In our Honda civic I figured this would take us about infinite miles; I was wrong. Just getting into Big Sur I checked the fuel gauge again and realized it was on “E.” I pulled over at the only gas station in town and was about to fill up when I realized they were charging $4.99/gallon. I, being the smart man I am, was not about to be cheated out of my precious dollars. I drove off in search of better gas prices.

A few minutes later the gas warning light came on; I started to worry. I assumed we had about 1 gallon to go based on my experiences with past Hondas and that this gallon would take us about 30 miles. Well, we twisted and turned and sweated and worried our way along the pacific keeping our eyes peeled for any gas station. I shifted into neutral and drifted down hills trying to save every last drop of gas. I even had Mylinh pull out the car manual to see how many miles we could go after the light came on – it wasn’t helpful at all except to tell us that we shouldn’t run the car to the last drop because it would damage the catalytic converter.

Long story short, we made to a gas station outside of Big Sur in the town of Gorda. The car made it about 26 miles after the light came on. The bad news was that the fuel cost $6.19 a gallon. That sure teaches me to be a cheap bastard.

The PCH is a gorgeous drive. While I wish I had done it on my motorcycle (amazing twists and turns, but that trip will have to wait for my good buddy Chris), it was almost as good getting to break in our new car (new to us) and start off our roadtrip. Driving out of Santa Barbara the wind picked up and sand surrounded our car like a downpour of sweet brown sugar.

Disneyland tomorrow, but for now we get to lay our heads in a posh LA neighborhood – thanks Kristen!!!

Highway 1 Pictures