For breathtaking American vistas, I think Big Sur hovers somewhere at the top of the list. The river running down through the mountains hits the fog covered sea. Sunsets over the pacific are next level. You can feel the magnetic pull of Asia on the other side of the vast water. As you drive down highway 1 - top down, motorway music, the winds whipping - your car bends around each corner discovering a new jaw dropping bridge, private beach, or sonorous mountain. Poets and mystics populate the magic place. And the flora of the California coast is extremely varied. By Big Sur, you have a wonderful micro climate from the heat and the fog. Redwoods and other conifers hide groves off the side of the road. Eucalyptus abounds. But it doesn’t yet smell medicinal like when you encounter the oil in a sauna. It is still thick with green shoots saturated with their perfumed freshness. The long spears of the Eucalyptus dart out from the branch, eventually falling to the floor creating a dry russet underbrush. When it rains, the earth is soaked and the scent of the eucalyptus combines with the fog to make an almost natural medicine lodge. Through the cracks in the trees you can see the sweeping waves.
