Pacific coast highway

Thousands of years ago, when I was young, many people would say one to another, "Let's go for a drive."  And they would.  The import of this is that once upon a time, driving was a pleasure.  For the last decade or so, people have been so "busy" and so obsessively self-important that driving has become combative, an obligation, or hated duty and habit.  The cure for this might be the PCH.

You must find Hwy #1 North from L.A. or South from around SF for example, and drive, drive, drive.  You really get into the spectacular section right about where Hearst's San Simeon Castle is located.  I loved the site of the castle, but thought the (unfinished) castle itself a pastiche of antiques stapled together for a vile, evil  (so said Theodore Roosevelt), nasty egomaniac.
One morning, I skipped breakfast at the hotel to be out on the coast at sunrise.  It was so wonderful.  The hills, sky and even a vulture observing elephant seals' weird habits, turned pink for a minute.  The mama seals were tending their new and recently born,  noisy pups (calves?).  The men were up at a viewing point where I was - about 20' above them . The guys were strewn around among rough rocks snoring loudly as they slept.  One of a length of about 12' (the largest there) and probably approaching a ton in weight, woke up as I watched, rose up and reared his massive head back and roared so that he might be heard over the waves a mile up and down the coast. It was honestly quite a tooth-rattling roar, and then he flopped ungraciously back down to the most unattractive bed of rough rocks and went back to sleep.  I was impressed.

The car driver him- or herself, will be fully occupied just handling the corkscrew drive for many hours.  There are fairly frequent places to pull over and let race cars pass and enjoy the view.  But there is a long, long way without towns, fuel, food or even Starbucks (imagine).  You will think it is the sea, sound and smell that is the great pleasure of this drive.  but I must say the hills are at least as beautiful.  While I was there, the usually brown hills  and canyons were green or turning green and were one of the unexpected pleasures of this drive.

The tourism bureaus said that Feb. March are two of the best months to travel there as the weather is so fine and there are few cars on the road.  From 0700 to 10, there were almost no cars other than mine on the road.  Unfortunately, the few that were there were impatient, wannabe race drivers on their way to their bus boy or rock breaking job up the road a piece.

This is a trip not to be missed.