September 6, 2005

ultimate driving machine

Today was uneventful. Except for the north section of Highway 1... 101 becomes freeway as soon as it crosses the border to California and leaves the coast. It is a tedious drive. Not even brief, breathtaking sections through the redwoods can save it. I should mention that I have no redwood pictures because there are no places along the highway to stop and get a snap of the light streaming through the branches, reflected from the golden harps of angels, illuminating the glowing wisps of fog. Seriously.

1 on the other hand, is the best driving I have ever encountered. Each curve exquisitely banked in such a manner that it is physically impossible to resist the urge to push as far as you dare. Of course there are many places where you can’t because you can’t see and the place is littered with RVs and cyclists but, when you can see, it’s usually far enough to link a series of sinuous esses at redline in third. It is orgasmic, and at twenty-two miles of continuous linked turns one can be excused for, at the end, thinking that an impossible orgy has just occurred and that you were right in the middle of it all and are now spent. And what better way to relax than the following leisurely drive down the coastline which opens up as you burst out of the trees like a demon on fire (brakes gleaming red) onto a gentle curve following the ocean?

Then, when finally relaxing in your hotel room overlooking the ocean, drinking beer and eating hearty pasta, you can contemplate the shitty sunset pictures you are about to take.

Goddamn fucking sunsets.