US101 South in Monterey County

US101 is an official scenic route in many places, but it is an unsigned scenic route in most sections. It is not signed from 156 West to 156 East, but it is legally scenic route.
Southbound 101 is later a scenic route from 46 onwards.

Unlike I5, which follows a straight line most of the time, well most of the time it is in the Central Valley, 101 zig zags, and it zig zags a lot. US101 is a longer ride than I5, or even Highway 99, from Northern to Southern California.

This is a few miles north of Salinas. In the 1990s one of my friends commuted to SJSU through here. And I thought I had a bad commute.

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Almost in Salinas in April 1995.
Mt. Toro is the peak to the right. Sometimes it does actually get some snow, even though it is very close to the ocean.

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This is just south of Boronda Rd in Salinas. I almost never did this in the middle of winter. This is from January 1996, during an impressive rain year. Note everything is green here.
The speed limit is 65 from here to the South end of King City. Then it is 70 until Highway 58, and 65 for most of the rest of the journey to Los Angeles.

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68 West to Highway 1
This is south of Salinas on US101. It stops being a freeway but has an interchange with Abbott Street, which is Old US 101 and the Business route. The hills to the right are the north end of the Los Padres National Forest, which runs down to the ocean to the west. This is from April 1995.

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US101 South
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