After driving down the side of the mountains in the pitch blackness with hairpin turns and few guardrails, we awoke to find our tires had been on the verge of a blowout. We've been checking the pressure and the wear to make sure it's been even, but California threw too much at them too quickly. From driving through the heat of the desert, to the cold higher altitudes of the mountains, air bubbles must have found their way between the layers of the tires, expanded, and pushed the tread out in places to reveal the inner wire mesh. It's frightening to think of what might have happened up there on those hills. Strangely, this is the third time a potentially serious problem has showed up in a place convenient for repair, and just before we would have had to rely on it. First, the wheel fell off two days BEFORE our trip with time to fix it. Second, there happened to be a junkyard open with the VW part we needed mid-desert, and now a tire-shop is across the street just before we were to tackle to Pacific Coast Highway. We're starting to think your prayers are working for us.

We were amazed when we got to San Francisco to see how cold and windy it was! The cool humid air literally pours over the coastal hills from the ocean, forming thick clouds of fog like a natural air conditioner. It was great finally not having to put sunscreen on for the first time on the trip, but the sky here is completely gray, and the wind is bitingly cold. Also, the thick fog during summer makes it really hard to see the bridge. We were slightly disappointed when we pulled up to the edge of the scenic lookout just north of the Golden Gate, and had to squint through the fog to see the lower part of the bridge. But, we climbed up the hill to get much closer and got one or two good shots anyway. The wind sometimes raised the fog a little and the sun shone a little more on occassion, and when both happened at the same time you could see the signature bright orange/rust color on the base of the towers and cables flowing up into the sky. But the tops of the towers were never visible.

Despite a few letdowns, we thought San Franciso was one of the coolest cities we've seen. We ate at Mel's diner, where they filmed "American Graffiti," but forgot to ask for Rice-A-Roni. We didn't get to ride a trolley car, or even catch a picture of one, but we did get to see all the sea lions down at the end of pier 39. We also couldn't see Alcatraz, because the boats were literally booked up until next Tuesday. So we just walked around admiring the layed-back architecture and unique civil engineering style that makes San Francisco one of the hilliest cities around. And of course, once Matt saw the hills, he couldn't resist driving up and down the streets, e-braking the car to get it moving foreward again after stopping for traffic on a 45° incline. We had a great time putting up the city streets like mountains, circling around the one-way streets, and then we saw the mother of all steep winding roads: Lombard St. We were amazed to find that people actually live on this street. It must be crazy going out somewhere and having to wait in line as a train of tourists test their turning and braking skills on your front lawn. It was nuts!

Tires not looking good...	Over the bridge to San Rafael	Clouds pouring over the hills	Driving through an air conditioner
"So, where's this bridge?..."	Ahh, there it is	The Golden Gate	Backlit
Wow... that's steep!	Don't stop now!	Chia Crab	Loafing on Pier 39
The sea lions have taken over!	Looking up Lumbard St.	Driving down the windiest street	Alcatraz

Of course, the emergency brake chose the worst possible moment to fall off... While we were parallel parked facing downhill on one of the steepest sidestreets in San Fran, the emergency brake jammed in the locked position, and then fell apart when Matt reached down to fix it. It was a bit scarry because for some reason, first gear wasn't enough to hold the car back from rolling. So he had to keep his foot on the brake while reaching over to fix the brake! As soon as we got it unstuck, we took it to a reasonably flat area to put it back together. The clevis pin had fallen out of one side, so the pivot was slightly twisted and mangled. We abused a ratchet like a hammer to get it back in, but it works just fine now. Heh.. that makes four.

E-brake is jammed!

That's not good...

Putting it back together on flatter ground

We ate here where they filmed "American Graffiti"

From San Francisco, we picked up route-1 and followed it down along the Pacific coastline, in and out of hills and water-crashed cliffs. The fog obscured our view somewhat, but it reminded us quite a bit of our drive along the Great Ocean Road on the southern coastline of Australia. There were vista points and gorgeous views every mile along the way. The Australian coastline was by far much steeper in cliffs, and more various in colors, but the Californian coastline definitely had its own unique and attractive style. So, it took us completely by surprise when we saw a sign for Bonny Doon, because there's a similar lesser-known place in Australia with a slightly different spelling, where we once drove hours our of our way across dangerous dirt roads to find. As advertized, all that was there was a dried-up carp-filled lake surrounded by power lines. It was great! So we thought the Aussies would get a kick out of this picture to see that there's a Bonny Doon in California too!

We wanted to camp one more time before we got to LA, but driving for hours in the dark we couldn't find a SINGLE place with vacancy all night long. We checked every hotel, motel, and campground, and were starting to get tired. The twisting cliff-side roads are not at all safe when you're driving on empty so we had a growing problem. The more we drove, the more tired we got, and the less chance we had of finding a place. Out of exhausted desperation, we found a quiet parking lot near Los Osos behind a state park, parked, and slept in the car. Comfort took a back seat to necessity for us in the front seats...

Clouds over the Pacific Coast

These are the views we were hoping for

Pacific Coast Highway

Bonny Doon!