Carmel to Cambria

This was not a journey, but an absolute delight. The travel books whet your appetite, the odd photos on the internet of views from here and there tell you it is really pretty, but what is hard to believe is the continuity of the vista, the beauty of everything around you, and how the road is actually made for driving on. Every time the view changes/ gets bettter(like every 50 yards, a turn out (lay by) appears and you can roll off the road irritate penelope by leaving the keys in the ignition, opening the door (causing her to Ping exasperatedly at your sheer incompetence), and get out and take a photo or two.

In truth we should have organised an overnight stop here in advance so we could have pulled off at at least some of the state parks with waterfalls landing directly on to the beach, and had a closer look at what is truly marvellous countryside.

In the event we probably stopped every 5 miles, and less in some cases, to gorge(pardon the pun) ourselves on the precipitous delights that unfolded.

Fair dos. You can't take our word for it. You will have to do it yourselve. But I had forgotten what driving for pleasure was. The road is steep in places , but not like Langcliffe Brow. It has tight bends, but the thoughtful Amercans adjust the camber of the road so that the car leans out from the corner and rolls easily round it, aligning itself for the next surprise.

The thoughtful American have advisory speed limits on every bend that merits lifting your foot from the throttle, yet they want you to enjoy the road, and its sweeping turns without having to mop up vomit from the kids ( or suitcases ) in the back, so the advice is good . Dad enjoys the drive without crawling cautiously round every bend, and mum sits comfortably in the front seat luxuriating in the views.

Without a doubt. This was the highlight of our trip so far. I know the photos will be as meaningless to you as the ones we saw before our departure. The road just goes on and on. Thankfully the fog of Carmel lifted to give us bright unhindered sunshine, and the opportunity to regret not choosing a more all encompassing form of headgear, / sun deterrent.

We stopped for a quick stroll round point Lobos, steak in Big Sur (a blessed relief from seafood), An ice cream at Lucia, and were almost tempted to make a sixty mile reverse drive and part with $400 for a king size bed in a cliff top apartment at Ragged point on the Friday night.

In the event our timing was impeccable and we rolled up at the door of our current abode with 10 mins to go before our host shut up shop.

Do look at the pictures, enlarge them, ponder the scale, and then imagine driving from Birmingham to Kendal without seeing anything other than beauty (unless you were careless enough to catch your reflection in a wing mirror.)