Sleepy Morro Bay
stuck somewhere between forgotten and quaint
is my chosen pit stop en route to Big Sur.
I first explored it several years ago when I was stuck on a notes call
and had to pull off the highway to retain cell service.
As luck would have it I found a delicious old school health food restaurant, The Shine Cafe
I have a hunch nothing has changed since it opened it's doors in 1973,
and I hope it never does.
I drive the extra two blocks to the water and park so I can admire the majestic volcanic rock.
The abandoned smokestacks from a shuttered power plant are still a blight on the landscape
giving the town another dubious distinction.
I wonder what it would be like to be on the run and hide out in Morro Bay for a week.
At least I'd have a good place to eat and get my daily kombucha fix.
Beyond Morro Bay some of the west coast's most majestic landscape awaits.
I plan to stop an hour and half before my destination at the southern end of Big Sur
for a much more active stretch - a 3 mile hike.
The precipitous curves have begun
and my heart swells at the sight of a windswept cypress springing forth from the earth.
The car in front of me suddenly stops and I realize on coming traffic has ceased.
Minutes pass with no movement. A few vehicles U-turn.
A message is relayed via highway telephone —
a tractor trailer is hanging from a cliff.
We can expect up to a two hour delay.
Cars and RVs stack up behind me.
The highway has been transformed into a stadium parking lot after a rock concert.
I am fortunate to be close to the Ragged Point rest stop and a bathroom.
The grassy lawn looks like a college campus on the first warm spring afternoon.
An impromptu picnic, a guy with a guitar, a couple doing yoga.
The pacific is our backdrop and there is a calmness as people wait in the splendor.
I decide to pass the time hiking down to the sandy crescent moon below.
A steep and slippery 400 foot drop is not for tourists wearing keds.
I chat with a woman from La Jolla, also stranded,
as she lends me her arm during a particularly slippery patch.
The view is spectacular.
I work up an appetite and enjoy part of my meal from The Shine Cafe.
I read, wander a nature trail and read some more.
I'm antsy. It's been close to 3 hours and I wonder if I need a back up plan.
Will I get to my hotel?
Before I further contemplate my situation,
a cop on a bullhorn tells everyone to get back in their cars.
Plan A it is.
