the atlantic coast
California State Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, merits every poetic description attached to it. Traveling this road to San Francisco was one of the boys’ stated requirements for the trip. The vistas were on the out-of-this-world scale. Some may disagree with California’s way of viewing everything, but they got one thing right. They know how to protect the wildness and beauty of their coast, at least the portion we saw. The entire coastline was a state park or off limits to human habitation. Water, waves, rocky shorelines contributed to a car ride worth remembering.

san francisco mission district
Google Maps can direct a body to any specific place, but it is terrible in helping a soul find a locale. The first night in the city we wandered an area called the Mission District. We agreed that we were hungry and wanted to eat something that was characteristic to the area. In our wanderings we found something for which San Francisco is known….murals. An alley connecting two major streets provided art, education, and culture. Truly a good find.

best burrito
In a list of favorite foods, I’m guessing that many eaters would list Mexican. In fast food America, people flock to Mexican restaurants because they're cheap, good, and usually fairly fast. Passing up a chance to eat the “best burrito” was not gonna happen on this trip. La Taqueria’s burritos did not disappoint us. We were lucky, too. One minute after we stepped through the outside gate, the proprietors locked it.