Big Sur, California

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Today we left behind the big city traffic of Bakersfield and headed toward the central California coast. It was a pretty ride. The highway passed rolling golden hills dotted with dark green California oak trees. Here and there black cattle were scattered like pencil points on the hillsides. We had traveled through the orchards and fields of Bakersfield and now we were in cattle ranch and vineyard country: the San Joaquin valley. The road through the valley to the central coast was curvy and had steep grades.
Our first stop on the coast was Morro Rock, a huge volcanic (what else) remnant in Morro Bay. Unfortunately the rock was fogged in and we saw only the lower third of the 581 ft high landmark. We continued to travel north on Route 1. It’s a beautiful ride along the coast. The fog would come and go. Around Morro Bay wildflowers were on the sand dunes and the hillsides; blue, pink, white, yellow. As we traveled north the road was very curvy and narrow with no houses or services. We took our time and stopped along the way. Traffic wasn’t bad and it was an enjoyable journey. We plan to spend several nights in the Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park to take in the scenery and do some hiking. The weather is cool again. Nice to be out of the hot southwest desert.

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Photos

On the way to the coast.
We drove through the mountains and farmland to get to the coast.

Flowers on the Dunes
Wildflowers covered the sand dunes on the beach not far from Morro Bay.

Coastline Views from Route 1
It took 18 years for Route 1 to be built and they did it with convict labor.

Coastline
Parts of Route 1 are very narrow and curvy. We were glad CT was only 21 feet long.