Day 58: DISASTER STRIKES!

Shit.

Remember #1 and #2 in the last post?

You wake up early, thinking "This is going to be a good day."  We're on the coast, driving the even sunnier southern half of Route 1 to Los Angeles.  Life is good.

Oh, look, roadwork.

Ok well this seems pretty simple.

Looks like no impending doom directly ahead.

AH WHAT NO?!  COME ON!

COME ON!

 Luckily we were all ok.  Here's what happened: a construction vehicle decided to do a U-turn on the highway and pulled out right in front of us.  And it tore our damn face off.  This is what we looked like during hour one of four at the salvage yard we were towed to.  "Looks totaled to me," says the tower.  "Well, we're going to hope for the best," we say.  Little did we know...

Symbolism time.  Our car an hour ago: 

Our car now:

By about hour three, being trapped in the relatively unknown town of Santa Maria, CA got pretty boring. 

 That's what we DID!  AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!

Time for more symbolism:

 Just outside the salvage yard.  We decided it was time to finally find out why people do this.

According to Wikipedia, we should either be terrified or getting ready for vacation.

By hour four, we had our rental.  Time to start waiting for news.  At the time, we hoped we'd be back in three weeks to pick up our freshly repaired journeymachine.  Little did we know this would be the last time we'd see the Highlander.

 

Back on the road.  Car #2 of 3: Kia Sedona.

 She doesn't care what we drive, as long as she gets the whole back seat.

 Really?

Seeking refuge in Santa Barbara.

Surprised to see oil platforms in the distance

I guess we couldn't really find a better place to lick our wounds.

 

The holidays have officially arrived

GIANT ALIEN HAND!

Microbrew number 22 (really)

Beer and brats

My first ever oyster.  Technically an Oyster Shooter.  I haven't showered in three days.  The accident is only a few hours behind us.  This does NOT seem like a good thing to put in my stomach.

Skeptical.

VERY skeptical.

Bottoms up.  Down the chute.  Ganbei.  Here's to taking a few stupid risks.

I've made a horrible mistake.

The next morning... ostriches?

On to Solvang!

Wait, what?

Yes, Solvang, a Danish enclave along the coast of California.

This town OOZES Denmark.

Apparently, while most Danish immigrants decided to settle in the northern midwest of the United States, some decided they wanted a few more hours of sunlight. 

 At one point, Laura says "Oh god I hope they have Aebleskiver."  "What is... that?"  "Aebleskiver.  It's soooo good."  "Can you even SPELL IT?!"

Aebleskiver.

AEBLESKIVER! Fried dough with jam and sugar.  Works for me.

  

Poor Winter has spent basically the past 24 hours locked inside.  Time for an hour of dog beach.  It's like Baywatch without the silicone.

Sandcrab trails -- anyone who has vacationed on an east coast beach should know the fun of hunting for sandcrabs in the sand.

"Pay attention to me!  Pay attention to me!  Pay attention to me!"

"PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Suddenly things get a little complicated with the mileage count.  Fortunately we remembered to check the mileage on the Highlander right after the accident.  It was somewhere around 9,750.  That means we've officially hit ten thousand miles.  Starting to feel bad about our environmental impact...

Reel Inn, just south of Malibu: Sunset Magazine says this is the #1 best fish taco on the west coast.  Arguably "the original" -- we'll see.

Ok, a bit arrogant, but we can get past that...

Dinner?  Is that you?

Ok looking pretty good so far...

Verdict: tasty, but not the best out there.  Good, yes (please don't sue us), but later on down the road we really hit the jackpot.  More importantly, we've made it to Los Angeles -- FINALLY.  A few obstacles, yes, but at least we're here.  Can't think of a better place to be stuck for a few days than the coast of California.  It IS just going to be a few days...right?