Blogs from Big Sur, California, United States, North America - page 8

THE BIG SUR, MONTEREY COUNTY Sunday 31st August Today we drove down to Santa Cruz, had coffee at a little beach town called Capitola and then on to the Monterey Peninsula and Carmel. Capitola is real hometown America at its most charming. Tomorrow is Labour Day so lots of families were at the beach for the weekend. The old jetty was built in 1857 and like the town itself is unashamedly rustic, basic and simple. Along the riverside people were preparing floats of flowers for the celebrations the next day, whilst others played or watched a “horseshoe throwing” competition on the sand. Other families had made a golf course out of sand castles on the beach. Amazingly, this was all happening by 9 a.m. We had left Palo Alto really early at 7 a.m. because we ... read more

Our day began with a sobering trip to the UPS store in Los Olivos. Shipping wine cross country is very complicated and expensive for those who do not know. Next, was a quick stop at the TJ Maxx in Santa Maria to get a new suitcase, as one of ours will not be making the trip home. I would like to give a special shout out to our TomTom GPS system ( voiced by Gary Busey ). I do not think this trip would be going nearly as smooth without Busey telling us where to go. I am sure many more eloquent writers have described the Pacific Coast Highway 1 than us. It winds from San Luis Obispo to Monterey. Going through Big Sur was the most beautiful and surreal drive we have ever taken. The ... read more

We're in California now! We went from the Grand Canyon to Anaheim, CA. We stayed in the Crowne Plaza Resort (ha, resort.. not quite. It had no free breakfast, we were charged for internet, pool, and fitness room access. $12 a day!! outrageous!) The room was very nice, however, and it was great to be sleeping in a bed, not a cot. The next day we got up at 7 AM to get on the 8AM shuttle to DISNEYLAND! I was thrilled. I felt like a little kid again. When we got to Disney, Jim and I had a game plan. We had purchased Ridemax off the internet. This is a program made by an engineer that loved Disney. He figured out the best times to go to each ride. Well, we followed the schedule that ... read more

Highway One Another whirlwind pack, breakfast and departure, and we left Monterey to head off down Highway 1 towards Santa Barbara. The first area we hit was Big Sur derived from the Spanish name El Pais Grande del Sur (the big country to the South). The coastline was rocky, lined with trees and the sea still highly populated with Kelp. We stopped several times to take in the dramatic views. We had read about Bixby bridge, which was built in 1932 by prison inmates to span Bixby Creek and shorten their sentences (it is also the world’s tallest single span bridge at 260ft), so we stopped there to take some photos. Except then we found we had been a bit premature and snapped the wrong bridge! Bixby Bridge came next, but it was so obscured by ... read more

Today was a relaxing day. We got up later and didn’t drive far. We visited Julia Pfeiffer State Park about 10 miles south of where we’re staying. There was a short walk to a waterfall overlook and a great coastal view. It was a beautiful area, very peaceful and we had it almost to ourselves. It reminded us of Hawaii. There was another short trail with a little stream, wildflowers and huge redwood trees. This is the furthest south redwoods grow. After lunch we did a beach hike at yet another state park about 5 miles up the road. We had to cross the Big Sur River to get on the trail. The park doesn’t put bridges up until mid-June so you have to ford the water yourself. The river was more like a stream. It ... read more