From Mono Lake, we made our way up through the mountains to Tahoe (didn't stop thought) and down through Northern California in search of the legendary Cattlemen's restaurant. We drove for hours and hours and hours and hours, because this place A) had awesome food and B) was "just up the road a little further".  FINALLY, gaunt and weakened by the journey, we arrived at our destination for a lovely meal, well worth the wait.

The next day, we left Mike behind and headed into San Francisco for the day. That place is really hilly.

From San Fran, we made our way down the Pacific Coast highway in California. We saw lots of incredible ocean views, some elephant seals, and one really skanky hotel. For most part, it was awesome.

But seriously, we wandered through Hollywood and Venice beach and downtown a bit. Here's Julia on the Warner Brother's backlot. (That's our tour guide driving away in the background.)

At this point, we weren't expecting to see any tall cactuses. We knew those would come later.