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Pacific Coast Highway Adventure

November 15, 2011

How does one stay sane in a world full of chaos and pain?  I say “VACATION!”  because it can prove to be of outstanding value since it’s a reprieve from the normal conundrum of life. That’s why we’re constantly on the go. Getting away that is.

We were overdue for a much-needed getaway, so the hubby and I decided to go to San Francisco and Santa Monica, CA.  One of our dreams was to do a drive from San Francisco down to Santa Monica on Pacific Coast Highway 1, so we did, and here’s what happened. It was a long drive but scenic – helping us appreciate how beautiful this country is. I thought I’d share some of this road trip with you.

A funny story {that wasn’t funny at the time} is while we’re going up the winding Highway 1  alongside the ocean cliffs and jagged tall rock mountains enjoying the beautiful scenery,  I noticed the husband looking at the gas needle gauge, cause mind you, we’ve been driving for hours. So, I peeked and realized we were at 1/4 of a tank of gas. Meanwhile, all you can see is just an unending winding road, ocean down below, and no cellphone service. I can see/sense panic in the hubby’s face and body-language – which of course started making me nervous.

Yep, we went over that cool looking bridge in the far distance on the right. Much scarier in person.

Do you see that curve around the mountain there? That’s the windy highway:)

Worse yet, when we tried to locate a gas station on our GPS, it showed that the nearest one was 50 miles away. As we kept on driving  and watching the gas needle drop almost to empty, I started praying for a gas station to appear {to which I’m sure the hubby was doing the same thing} although it seemed impossible, but at the same time my mind was doing this: “I’m sure God won’t let us be stranded…we’re going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere – possibly getting eaten by a black bear…”

Photo by: shutterstock.com

{at least I thought. You see, I have an overactive imagination & it usually runs wild}. We had no clue how we would get in touch with roadside assistance since our cellphones were without service and if we did somehow get to call for assistance, how long would they take to come? Would they EVER find us? It was already past 4pm and the sun was setting quickly. We needed a miracle!

As we continued along with anxious hearts watching our needle gauge dropping to red, and dreadfully waiting for the truck to sputter to a halt…we turned around one more windy road to our pleasant surprise: with smiles and relief,  a little gas-station appeared in the middle of nowhere! 

Hubby: “once again, all smiles and look relieved.”

Me: “I knew that God wasn’t going to leave us stranded here tonight.”

Miracle you say?  YES!!  Now, upon seeing the no-namer gas-station, the new worry was {at least in my head}: “will this gas get us to our next destination without konking out our SUV?”

Sure enough, after a few miles of driving, the car started sputtering as it was going to choke on bootleg gas…I was like, oh Noooo!  The hubby pressed on the gas for it to keep on going, and it did. Vacation was wonderful again as we continued to admire the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, CA {which was fun!}…So we made it to our next destination safe and sound AND HAPPY! 

Oh man, it certainly made the trip a little bit more adventurous FOR SURE! lol

~ “Pleasant sights give happiness and health…”  ~

  

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