The Open Road

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.