Scenic drives

  • Highway 1, Big Sur

    Sights from ‘el sur grande’ or Big Sur

    A long-time ago, there was a place known as el pais grande del sur on California’s Central Coast. This was the ‘big south country’ that lay south of the Monterey Bay area, and was defined by its wilderness and its notorious jagged coast. It neither helped the vessels that sailed that...
  • Patterson Pass

    The hills are alive again

    East of San Francisco Bay Area in California lies a mountain range known for its considerably low hills that are dry in the summer but turn green when winter rains call upon the area. This chain of hills called the Diablo Range is alive again thanks to the many...
  • The road to Mt. Rainier

    The road to Mount Rainier

    It was late-May and we were in the SeaTac area. With Winter behind us and a good part of Spring too, it seemed like a fairly good time to squeeze in a drive to Mt. Rainier. So we drove South for a bit and left I-5S to drive into...
  • Mt. Diablo Summit, CA

    Vistas from California’s ‘Devil Mountain’

     Several Springs ago, we had driven to the top of Mt. Hamilton and seen Santa Clara Valley from a height of 4,200 odd feet. Then last Fall, in what was like a follow-up trip, we drove up the same range, this time to the top of Hamilton’s little brother...
  • Patterson Pass Road, CA

    Snaking through several shades of green

    If you are traveling between the cities of Tracy and Livermore in California, chances are you will take I-580 to your destination. 580 takes you through the hills of the Diablo Range and shows you many of the windmills that dot the landscape.  Say you want more: like roads...
  • When the sun set on WA-14

    One day, I saw the sun setting on a highway (WA SR – 14). Washington 14 (WA-14) runs along that part of Columbia River that flows between the states of Oregon and Washington, in US’s Pacific Northwest. This east -west highway on the Columbia River Gorge makes for a...
  • One mighty river gorge, two scenic routes and umpteen vistas

    Fall means rainy season in the Pacific Northwest. However, Thanksgiving Day (last year) promised to be a fairly sunny day albeit a cold one and we took advantage of this respite-from-the-rain and decided to go exploring the region. We were in Vancouver, Washington and our plan for the day...
  • To Hamilton

    California 130 – The road to Mt. Hamilton Mt Hamilton is one of the tallest mountains on the Diablo Range in California. California State Route 130 is the road that will take you from San Jose to the top of the mountain, which is also the home of Lick...
  • Snapshots from Shoreline Highway

    We got to drive through another part of the famous Highway 1* a few weeks ago. This time it was the stretch North of San Francisco, as we were on our way to Stinson Beach in Marin County. This stretch of the highway is called Shoreline Highway and goes up...
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