Last night I left Lulu’s in Santa Cruz at around 11 PM. I wanted to get a couple hundred miles under my belt late at night so I wouldn’t have to deal with cars and could just soak in the Pacific air under the stars. The Pacific is a heartbreaker. The beauty of that drive is so moving. I’m not sure what’s better– the strangeness of driving it in the inky black night where everything that’s around you is a strange and beautiful mystery, or during the day while you wind around hairpin curves dangling above the ocean.

There was no moon and the stars were brilliant. I bundled up in sweats and rolled down all my windows and carved on– through Half moon bay, downtown San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and then I spiraled my way through the bizarre Point Reyes National Seashore until finally taking a break in the Sonoma region until morning.

The bridge:

The stars:

Lighthouse:

My music, mixed with the salty, chilly air was great company. In no particular order: (fine print: this is not a mix. Just random songs I listened to on the drive

Sing Travis
Us Regina Spektor
Sweet and Low Augustana
Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives Pedro the Lion
Falling Slowly Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Bleeding Bells Delta Spirit
Ring Them Bells Sufjan Stevens
Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl Broken Social Scene
Lover’s Spit Broken Social Scene
How To Disappear Completely Radiohead
Society Eddie Vedder
Milk Thistle Conor Oberst
Peace Like a River Spoon
Eli, the Barrow Boy The Decemberists
Calendar Girl Stars
how do you keep love alive Ryan Adams

Some more pics: