California Road Trip - One Year On
A year ago, Sue and I picked up our hire car and headed up California Highway One, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, driving from Los Angeles northbound. We had planned the trip well although very early on it became clear that we would need to come back again one day because a) we enjoyed it so much and b) there is always more you want to see and do along the way.
I produced three videos covering our trip. There is a YouTube Playlist that takes you to all three, but I have embedded them below with some accompanying commentary.
The first one covers our initial trip up the Pacific coast, including overnight stops at Morro Bay and Carmel before a three night stop in San Francisco - we should really have had one more day there. The drive is fairly easy and offers some amazing views although (Pro Tip) think carefully about going at this time of year because there is the “June Gloom” that affects the weather. Morro Bay is a small coastal town and very pleasant. Carmel is beautiful as is the nearby Pebble Beach area and Monterey. As a big fan of all things Apple we had to stop in Cupertino as we passed through Silicon Valley, and visit Apple Park (new home) along with 1 Infinite Loop (old home). We loved San Francisco! Alcatraz was fascinating (book ahead) and it was cool to ride the Cable Car and walk the streets to taste the vibe of the city.
The second part covers our trip from San Francisco to Mariposa, an old Mining Town, that was our base for two full days visiting Yosemite National Park. Quite simply Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places on the planet but all of the parks can make that claim! After Mariposa we drove to Three Rivers which was our base for one full day’s visit to Sequoia National Park. Finally we made the long drive down to Twentynine Palms which was our base for a drive-though visit to Joshua Tree National Park. All of the parks have different characteristics, particularly Joshua Tree. The last section of this video covers the drive from Joshua Tree to our SoCal base at San Clemente.
In the final video we met up with a friend who moved to the US some twenty years ago and we had a fantastic time! He took us around the San Clemente/San Juan Capistrano areas and we took a day trip to San Diego on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner - what a fun experience that was. We finished our trip with a drive up Highway One to Santa Monica where we explored the town, beach and pier, took a trip into Hollywood then prepared for our flight back to the UK.
The videos are set out to show how we spent our days, whether on the road or in specific places. We hope they give you a good taste of what we experienced and please comment or get in touch if there is anything else you would like to know.
