Rockaway Beach, Pacifica California, 61 degrees
I’ve been trying to get back into writing after quite a stint away thus my blogging pace has slowed. However, every now and then I have to get out of the house and when I do I try to snap a picture or two for Norm Frampton’s always entertaining weekly doors party.
My “doors” – a fun cafe in Half Moon Bay
Mural in the cafe. Another flying fish: the Honolulu clipper.
Even when the weather is unbearably hot here in California, the Pacific coast is always at least 15 degrees cooler and so that’s where we headed last Thursday when we needed to put miles on our car so it would pass the smog test. You probably wonder why we hold onto a car which we drive so rarely that it doesn’t pass the smog test. Well, it’s not just any car. It’s a 2001 Lexus IS. Damned addictive to drive and cute as hell. We bought it when we both worked for dot.coms which were supposed to make us millionaires. Ha!
Because we live due east of downtown San Francisco, the most direct route to the coast is through the City. However traffic is insane and then there are all those hills “climbing half way to the stars” with cable cars and buses and Ubers and taxis and trolleys all fighting for a lane. Lest I forget the bicyclists who think they own the whole damn street. So we generally go either north or south and then cut over to the coast via roads less traveled. Last Thursday we drove south then west to the beaches, Pacifica to be exact. The reason, we wanted to see the Tom Lantos Tunnels which were completed in 2013 after many years of struggle and debate, both ecological and financial.
These tunnels go directly through Devil’s Slide, a massive landslide covering the stretch of Highway 1 between Pacifica and Montara. The mountain literally decided to join the sea taking the road with it. For years they kept fixing the road and for years the mountain kept moving. Finally they gave into nature and built the tunnels.
Exiting the tunnel when fog hugs the coast is a bit like seeing that light at the end of the tunnel as you lay dying. On that cheerful note, I’d best be getting back to work!
Saying nothing in particular 
Makin’ me homesick, Jan. Keep it up! I don’t mind this kind of homesickness at all.
I’m sorry! Of course you can always go up into the mountains to escape the heat – I imagine there’s still snow up in them their peaks.
Fifteen degrees cooler sounds wonderful!
I’m patient with traffic, but that busyness does sound harrowing.
Nice doors! Looks like a fun place 🙂
Thanks! Really good crab sandwiches! I’m still licking my lips.
NICE!
I love tunnels. Thanks for sharing this new one. I had read about the slides, but I hadn’t read about the tunnel.
Unfortunately the fog was pretty thick so I couldn’t get a good shot of the slide. It really is huge.
Cooler by the coast sounds right up my alley, I simply cannot tolerate stifling heat.
Flying Fish Grill looks like a fun place for a meal – I don’t think I’ve ever tasted flying fish though 😉
I think you have to go to the Caribbean to eat flying fish. It certainly wasn’t on the menu.
Hi Jan, Nice post. I also live in the Bay Area and appreciate that we can escape the heat by heading to the coast. This summer has been so HOT in the South Bay. Thank goodness it cools down at night (most of the time.)
Donna
I know – the last few nights haven’t been that much cooler than the days! The recent rain – though very light – was nice though.
We had a couple of hot days here but nothing like we used to have when we lived in Spain, Jan. I know how draining that heat can be. I really enjoyed your trip, thanks for sharing. All the best with the writing. 🙂
We have a road near my house that keeps sliding away. I never thought of a tunnel as an option. That’s a little unsettling but I suppose they’re sure the tunnel is strong enough to withstand whatever goes on above it.
They built the tunnels into the actual mountain and not the slide but on a foggy day it doesn’t look that way. Thanks for stopping by!
I really enjoyed the interesting photographs, Jan. Such a fantastic variety! The cool air clouds which are more than fog in the first picture were awesome. The Tom Lantos Tunnels experience was life changing, heh? 😉 I liked that you shared their history, too.
Thanks, I’m not much of a photographer – I just snap and hope. The tunnels weren’t life changing – I’ve been thinking about death a lot recently (something I’m working on for a different blog)
I live in Singapore, so it is hotter by the coast–wish I could take a trip to your cool beach ;). I’m claustrophobic, so that tunnel wouldn’t be much fun, though.
Hotter by the coast – wow. I suppose that must be because of the water temperature. Even in the hottest months, the northern Pacific waters rarely get above 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit.
We’re regularly at 80 degrees F. And also go higher. We rarely go below 60 degrees F, that might be the lowest 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed this San Francisco treat. I live in the North Bay and we go to the coast on the really unbearably hot days, too; usually Bodega Bay or Pt. Reyes. I haven’t seen the new tunnels before, so I enjoyed seeing them here, and hearing about them. And the cable car adventure was really great — all different times of day, all different levels and colors. Great post, Jan.
Thanks Jet! Can’t beat the cable cars – they’re almost as reliable to please as puppies!
I can feel the breeze from your ocean scene! May the weather break into a million misty pieces.
Hotter in SoCal. 101 today!
Took a cable car ride 🙂 It was fun. So far I have only enjoyed bird-eye views 😉
The hills in the video are a lot steeper than they look. Coming down them is like riding a roller coaster!
I can imagine! What a cool city!