Foggy Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)

I reached Palo Alto, CA and the home of my brother Carlos and his lovely wife Ling mid-afternoon yesterday, and reintroduced myself to their sons as its been years since I last saw them.  Their names are Evan and Nathan and Nathan was but a baby then.

After waking at 5AM PST this morning, did some work till 8AM and then it was time for a short break so my nephews could ride in Scarlett's sidecar and be taken to the nearby elementary school.

After I returned back to their home, my brother went off to his job and I geared up fully to go riding US1 or the Pacific Coast Highway portion from Half Moon Bay to San Francisco.

I took US280 to State Road 92 which takes one via a twisty two lane road through the intervening hills and onto the town of San Mateo and from there one can see the Pacific Ocean!  I rode North on US1, mentally noting the spots I'd be able to safely stop at for pictures on the way back from San Francisco.  It was very foggy on the way up and things really wouldn't get better on the way back.

The traffic wasn't too bad till I reached the San Francisco city limits using US1.  I should have gone around 19th Street as it was bumper to bumper traffic due to repair crews doing something and blocking lanes of travel.  You'd think they could do that at night but what's inconveniencing hundreds of motorists instead right?

I made it to the Golden Gate Bridge and crossed over it without incident after failing to find a parking spot at the vista parking lot on its southern end.

There was no room on the northern end parking lot either, popular attraction, the Golden Gate Bridge....who knew?  ;)

Still, I'd spotted what looked like a great vantage point up a hill to the NW of the bridge and found that Alexander Avenue takes one up that hill which makes up part of a coastal highway.  I think there's a children's science museum in the area somewhere too.

Higher up, one could see the bridge with one end of it shrouded in thick fog but still quite scenic.  I briefly posed Scarlett and got proof she'd been to the bridge:

Scarlett on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A little further down the hill, there's a parking spot for a few vehicles near trails to where a Coastal Artillery Gun emplacement had once been located.  A short walk from the rig and you can get this angle of view on the Golden Gate Bridge

You can see the US101 Highway coming from the hills to the north

in Marin County, feeding to the right and onto the Golden Gate Bridge

It was quite sunny away from the bridge, go figure!

Scarlett and I re-traced our route on US1 once we re-crossed the bridge and this time traffic was much better as we motored southbound.  I soon got on US280 till it got me to the Pacifica exit and from there Scarlett and I motored southwards looking for spots where one could see the ocean.

 In the town of Pacifica I believe, a big beach is available for 

folks to swim and surf.  I remembered Pacific Ocean water as cold, 

so I didn't walk out to the water.

South of Pacific, there's this weird rock "formation" on top

of a sea-facing cliff/hill.

 I've no idea what it's supposed to be.....anyone?

 Further on towards Half Moon Bay, there was this isolated

beach surrounded by steep rock walls with signs warning

folks to stay out, no hiking or climbing!

The rest of the ride was under brightening skies (of course) as I retraced my way back along the Half Moon Bay Road and back onto US280.

Had myself some excitement as I was starting to merge onto traffic on the 280, a bee flew into helmet, under my sun visor and lodged itself between my right lens on my glasses and my eye.  It then proceeded to move around and sting me!  I must have been quite the sight, frantically trying to raise my sun visor and trying to dislodge the stupid bee.

I got off to the side of the road while slapping at my glasses, and looked down to see the stupid bee lying there on the fuel tank, still twitching!  The sting really stung too.

Still, no allergic reaction to speak of, though it hurt like blazes for quite a bit, a very strong stinging/burning sensation.  Still, I continued riding on towards the exit for Palo Alto, stopped for gas, and made it to my brother's place with no further incidents.

This portion of the PCH was not bad in terms of views, the really gorgeous stuff must be further south or north of the area I am in.  I'll have to see about exploring further along US1.