05-01-2026 Entry

Travel day. I slept decently, although I did wake up in the night (<!!>), was able to get back to sleep. We got up and were down to the hotel breakfast not too long after it opened. It was okay, the oatmeal was maybe the best serving, other food wasn't hot (eggs) or cold (orange juice) enough. But it was filling. We went back to the room, I had a shower, packed up my stuff, and we still had time to relax before hitting the road a little before 9:00. We ran into just a little slow-down traffic on the 405, skipping the freeways through downtown LA. Then we were moving at spped all the way through the Grapevine, until we got stopped for about 10-15 minutes on the descent (must have been some kind of traffic break). Then we were moving again. Stopped at a rest area for a short break and, later, around the turn onto the 46, for gas. Into Paso Robles, where downtown was surprisingly busy and parking was scarce (never my favorite thing). Had lunch at a little Thai food place that was decent, definitely not fancy. Ann drove the rest of the way into Monterey. Pretty scenery as we got closer to the coast. We arrived around 4:00 and checked into the hotel, which is a historic building and nice in an antique kinda way. Rested for a bit, then we drove to a laundromat to do a load of wash (and have a Slurpee). Ann had found a coupon for a discount at Great Clips, only to discover that it was for the Monterey area. So we drove to Pacific Grove, and I got my hair cut at a salon for the first time since 2020. After we got back we had dinner at another non-fancy Mexican restaurant, and then that was the day.