Zooming down Highway 1

We had sorted out the whole situation with our car. My mom back in Denmark called our travel agency, and they faxed a letter to Avis in Union Square, which was the closest to us. Early in the morning, we walked over to the Avis office, and suddenly there were no problems at all. There was no unpleasant service here; instead, we were greeted by friendly and knowledgeable staff ready to take care of their customers! So now we could hit the road and experience more of the USA. We drove out on Highway 1, which is a stunning stretch that runs all the way down to the Mexican border. We cruised along the coast, where the road wound around the mountains, so it was important to stay focused since there was a long drop down to the beautiful blue sea. Every now and then, we pulled over to the side of the road. The breathtaking nature was too much to resist, and we had to get out and take a closer look. I was still driving since Mette hadn’t gotten the hang of automatic transmission yet. Later in the day, we found a rest area where she could practice driving with the automatic gear. The first few attempts were like driving with a kangaroo, as the car reacted quite sharply to the brakes. People at the rest area looked a bit oddly at us because it was pretty funny to watch Mette practice! There are many charming little towns along the coast that we passed on our way. We had lunch in Half Moon Bay, where we found a cozy little restaurant called Ketch Joanna. Most of the patrons were locals enjoying their traditional burgers or steaks with a beer. By the end of the day, we made it to Santa Cruz, where we decided to stay overnight. We checked into a really nice hotel on Ocean Street that had a pool. The pool soon became an addiction for us. It was impossible to imagine a day without it. Nothing beats jumping into the pool after a long, hot day. Santa Cruz is known for its amusement park and lovely beaches. The amusement park is just a stone's throw from the beach, so we had to go down there. There was a huge arcade filled with tons of slot machines—just my kind of place. I ended up feeding quite a few quarters into the machines, but it was a blast. Later, we settled down on the beach to relax in the lovely weather. We could definitely feel that the temperature was much warmer than in San Francisco. At the motel, they told us it wasn’t too safe to walk down by the beach after dark, so around 9 PM, we strolled back to the motel, which was a brisk 10-minute walk from the amusement park. The town felt incredibly cozy, and we decided we could easily spend another day here.