The fog was thick, and the thin ribbon of a roadway disappeared around yet another hair-pin turn in less than half the length of a football field ahead of us. CA-1, the Shoreline Highway in Northern California, was empty except for our car and one other, with which we had been trading pull-out slots with for several miles now. But this time, instead of racing ahead, our roadway partner pulled in behind us, unwilling to pass up the views that had all but compelled us to stop.