What you are looking at is the San Lorenzo Valley, and, if your monitor is high res enough, the Pacific Ocean beyond that. This is probably one of my favorite places in the world. You're a short drive away from civilization (about 30 minutes each way), and in shouting distance of about 3 state parks, hiking, and general natural grandeur. Particularly at sunset.

But that's not just the reason I'm up here.

See, There's a particular road that runs through the San Lorenzo Valley, and that's California's Highway 9. Once the gateway from San Jose to Santa Cruz, this 20 mile stretch of tarmac offers some of the best driving in Northern California. And I recently got a promotion at work that allows me access to a company car. So I thought I'd take my faithful old Corolla for one last hoon up in the mountains before I sold it off.

You bay area folks, if you're looking for a good car, send me a note and I'll show you where you can buy it.