After picking up Ruby, our Chevy Equinox, we set out of San Francisco and headed down the Pacific Coast highway. Easily one of the most beautiful coastal drives we’ve ever done. And probably the longest because I kept making Sammy stop every 10 minutes to take photos. Note to self: if you need to get from San Francisco to anywhere south in a hurry, take the inland highway 😂
The fog added character to the scenery and towns like Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea slipped past us in a picturesque montage of coastal towns.
Heading along the coast to Big Sur, we went to find Bixby Bridge. At 714 feet long and 280 feet high, Bixby Bridge is one of the tallest single span concrete bridges in the world.
Rocky Creek Bridge is a bonus bridge we discovered which we assumed was Bixby Bridge. And then realised (many photos later) that it actually wasn’t, when driving further up the road to find somewhere to turn the car around safely, we found the real Bixby Bridge patiently waiting for us.
Pismo Beach was our overnight stop and the first Airbnb of the trip. Bethany and Oliver are brilliant hosts and in exchange for two boxes of Nutrigrain, four blocks of Cadbury chocolate and a bag of Minties brought for Aussie Oliver, they gave us a great tour of Pismo Beach and the surrounding area and introduced us to our first American drive-through burgers at In-N-Out. A huge thank you to Bethany, Oliver and Boomer the dog for a great night’s stay.
From Pismo Beach to Ventura, where we walked to the pier and had tacos laden with fresh tuna and popcorn shrimp. Hunger satisfied, it was onwards to Malibu and then Santa Monica. Santa Monica Pier was bright, noisy, crowded and absolutely everything I was hoping it would be.
An amazing two days taking in the sights of the Pacific Coast Highway and despite ending up being hours out of schedule both days, it was totally worth every minute. Even the 2 hour traffic jam to get past Los Angeles.
San Diego, you’re up next.
P&S