We awoke to another beautiful morning in Big Sur, had breakfast, broke camp, loaded the car and prayed it would take us to safety. As it turned out, the noise from below became even less and as long as the car was in gear with the clutch engaged, it drove normally. The noise only happened when disengaging the clutch and changing gears; but even then, it became less and less as time went on.

We drove south along CA 1 which, along with US 101 up north, is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever seen. The cliffs along the ocean rise hundreds of feet almost straight up out of the sea and at several points you can see clouds rolling in off the sea climbing the cliffs. At one point, we could look out over the ocean which was covered with clouds and appeared as though the sea was covered cotton.

Clouds rolling in off the ocean

The sea covered with cotton

and more cotton

Coast road

Rising our of the sea

Where land meets sea

At long last, we arrived in San Louis Obispo but decided to trust our luck and keep going. We reached Oxnard (just south of Ventura) and began looking for accommodations for the night which, after a half hour google search, found a hotel in Thousand Oaks. We settled into our room for the night and went in search of food. The hostess at the hotel recommended a Jewish deli/restaurant called “Pickles” less than a mile away that turned out to be fabulous. I had two cheese blintzes (crepes filled with different cheeses) that were wonderful. Peggy had stuffed cabbage which she claimed was every bit as good, but being a crepe fan, I wasn’t willing to go that far. All things said, if you are ever in the Thousand Oaks area near US 101, be sure to stop and have a bite at Pickles deli/restaurant.

After dinner, we had our usual story time and tucked into a nice warm bed.