November 23, Mill Valley to Paso Robles

My plan was to go to Benicia and then go back to the Coast south of San Francisco.   I left Mill Valley as expected and drove across what is called the Back Bay Road to Benicia.  The weather continued to be lovely and so I drove out onto a manmade spit that has a view back at the town of Benicia.  It is a nice view, and a little sentimental for me, since I used to live there--well, up on the hill with a waterview toward Martinez and the Carquinez Bridge.

This is the view along the spit and toward the Carquinez Bridge, which is a little dim in this picture:

All was going well until I started to get back into the rental car and it was locked.  The keys were on the inside.  I am not sure why it locked.  At least I did have my phone and so I could call AAA for help to get back into the car.  Of course, I didn't have my wallet and so I didn't have my membership number.  It took a few phone calls, but I finally got everything straightened out and the person who I was talking to had NO idea where Benicia was.  She finally got it on the map and dispatched some help.  I went into the Benicia Main Street office to wait.  It is a repurposed railway station, and quite nice.  

I had forgotten that there were so many palm trees!   The guy came fairly quickly and it took him about 90 seconds to open the car.  I was off again.  While crossing the bridge, I was listening to the radio and heard that Highway 1 (down the California Coast) had been closed because a truck had overturned.  It is two-lane almost all the way.  I decided just to go to Paso Robles down Highway 101.  It worked out fine, and I ended up in Paso Robles in time for dinner.  I had tried to reserve a room on-line at the Best Western, but my reservation hadn't gone through.  There were lots of fire crews there for training, but I did get a room.  I had dinner, connected with my sister-in-law Sally Reynolds and took it easy for the rest of the night.  I had planned on staying in Cambria, on the Coast, but didn't take that route, so would have some extra time in Paso Robles.