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Published: July 27th 2017
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Here we are, the first stop of the ultimate road trip....it's going to be long...and it's going to be full of new places!
First, a little disclaimer. This is the first trip for Tanya to the States...and if I'm correct, I must have been to something like 18 of the different States...so this trip will be about sharing places I love with my love one...and pinning few places on the map that I really want to visit...for the first time.
The two flights were a total of 23 hours in the air...on Emirates, on packed flights, but not overbooked ones...meaning, we had an exit row each time, but could forget about any chance of an upgrade. Champagne it was, but only in the lounge in Dubai!
We fly into San Francisco....I know that if we wanted to make it shorter, we could have fly into New York. But the plan is to rent for few weeks a convertible Mustang, and those are way more available, and therefore cheaper in California...San Francisco it would be!
I already have to apologize for those who think I have disappeared from Travelblog. No
we haven't stopped to travel...yes I blog less...and yes life at home is pretty amazing. But if tripadvisor consider today that I've seen 86% of the world, I've got to diagree...and admit there is a lot more that remain to be visited. I asked myself few weeks ago...is it possible, that like many people, one day, I'll have to admit that my travel life is part of my life....a far away dream that hurt when you open the photo album, because you dream it was yesterday today and tomorrow...and not past due. Well, not for me, not yet at least, and I don't even think tomorrow.
so where and how long are we going...you'll read it...The all story may take well over 20 blogs to narrate, so just be patient, and as of today, my apologies if in few weeks time, I'm way beyond schedule! We travel first, I narrate after...and sometime, I've got to work or plan future trips in between, at least before I'm sorting out the next blog!
We landed at 2pm at SFO...just before 4pm we were at the hotel....by 6pm we were at the local In-N-Out burger joint, by
8pm we were in bed...by 5.20am we were up....5.50am back on the shuttle to the rental car building....took us an hour just to do the paperwork....it's a complicated rental, aka a good negotiated deal...but sadly they gave us a red Mustang that was low on oil checked...so we exchanged it for a nice blue one...by 7.30am we were on the way....14 degrees and the roof open...let me tell you Tanya hated it....not me! By 9.30am we were at the door of the Monterey Bay Aquarium...at 12 the sun was out, we too...and the drive was just starting!
I've done this part 6 years ago with the kids. Monterey aquarium is still stunning...sadly the little hammerhead, the turtle as well as the mola mola are no more. same thing, I couldn't find the sea dragons, but beside this, the aquarium is still a stunner!
We paid the 10usd to drive the 17 Mile Drive, a road that leads you through amazing golf courses, crazy beaches....even more crazy houses....all this with amazing weather, and the roof of the Mustand still out! I may have seen 10 golf courses from the car today, but I don't have
my golf bag with me. Today, playing Pebble Beach, a public course, is just over 600usd per green fee. If you read me the last few months, you'll understand that i can do way better with 600 usd in South Africa once we speak about golf....well, actually, about wine too! So no golf today, but still some amazing vistas!
Sadly, the winter has been tough on the region. The Highway 1, the truly scenic one is still closed in many parts. so forget about riding direct from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. the road is closed just after Big Sur. I actually went back to check my pictures, I can confirm, the most amazing scenery is between Monterey and Big Sur. So I may have lost some 2 hours in the detour, but did twice this time the best part of the road...so who am I to complain!
I will not tell you today the details of the days and weeks coming. You will discover them with each blogs. You'll have some hints with my facebook...but I'm not either here to post too much on this social media.
Let say....here we
are on the road...we have the wine, we will shop for fresh produces on the way...the bed will always be good, the room may be a little outdated, and the upgrade less than average...but we are in the States...this is not here the age of comfort on a budget....at least not in what we are used in Asia or South Africa...
More to come...soon...
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Pebble Beach
Have fun.... Dave has played there. Enjoy.