The Pacific Ocean/Paso Robles (Day 12)

Well, I made it!! I left from Palm Springs, which in the early morning was a much more reasonable 90 degrees. It took about three hours of driving through the LA metro area before reaching the coast. I never actually saw LA - actually, I never saw much of anything over that drive, as there was heavy, grayish smog shrouding everything, which is such a shame. Anyway, I first saw the Pacific on my GPS, as I was approaching Ventura, CA. I could see on the screen that it was there, just to the west of me, but it seemed like ages before I actually got my first glimpse. I won't lie though - as soon as I saw it my heart leaped. I had reached the other side of the country!! I took a pic through the car window on the freeway - above, left, is my first look at the Pacific.

I drove up the coast for a short while before pulling off the freeway to stop in Santa Barbara. I parked the car, went to the beach, took off my shoes and put my feet in the ocean. The air was cool but the water warm; I stayed there for a bit just drinking it all in. While there I met an older couple who were vacationing from Ireland and asked them to take a picture of me standing there on the beach (he took three, but I won't post them here - instead, on the right is one of the pics I took while standing on the beach.) I chatted with these two for a while, and then I went on my way, lighthearted. The Pacific Ocean - wow.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent driving further up the coast to Paso Robles, where I stayed for the night. Paso Robles is a pretty town in the coastal mountains. The hotel I stayed in was a lovely historic old place, and rumored to be haunted which I thought was pretty cool. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, swimming, eating, drinking and enjoying the fact that I had finally made it out here. California - woo hoo!!