Time: May 24-25, 2014
Place: Drive on Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Santa Maria and back. Includes Bixby Bridge, Big Sur, Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, etc.
Company: Wife and Daughter
Highlights:
Overview - Had not planned for the Memorial Day long weekend but yet wanted to utilize it. With a crucial project currently underway at work, I could not plan it ahead since I was not sure if I had to work over the weekend. But on Friday, it was clear that there was no need to work over the weekend. So, a tentative plan of a simple drive on the highly acclaimed Pacific Coast Highway turned into a reality, (amongst other nominated drives). But when I checked for hotel rates, I was stunned to see that none of the hotels were available for Saturday, and the cheapest one I could get hold of was in Santa Maria, which was almost 45 mins away from the end of the scenic CA-1 route (Morro Bay). Whatsoever, went ahead with it. Did not even book a rental car, and trusted on self's 2006 Honda Civic.
Day 1: Left the house at about 10 AM. With the long weekend traffic, reached Monterey at about 1 PM. Had lunch at a Thai and the road started skirting the ocean. The waves were magnificent. The beaches were beckoning but we stuck to the plan.
Our first stop was Rocky Creek Bridge, which is not as famous as Bixby Bridge. But we had our share of fun. Immediately thereafter we came across Bixby Bridge. After some more poses for the camera, we took a pit stop at River Inn. Our initial plan was to cover as much of CA-1 as possible on Day 1 but considering that we hadn't even reached Pfeiffer Beach by 4 PM (and the fact that we wanted to be in Pfeiffer at twlight), we changed the plan of visiting Pfeiffer Beach on Day 2 twilight. So, we thought we might as well have some food and ended up having second lunch at River Inn. Then, much to our delight, River Inn boasts of a small river in the back, and although the water was very cold, it was nice to wade in it, sit on the chairs strewn over the river and relax. It was very soothing and truly wonderful. Finally, at about 5 PM, we left River Inn and headed to Pfeiffer.
As it is known for, I missed the exit and then thankfully had marked down the fact that if I saw Big Sur Bakery, I was too much ahead. So, headed back and got the exit. But there was a Park Ranger who was not allowing cars to go since the parking lot was full. So, we found a spot on CA-1 itself, then started to walk the 2 miles to the beach. When we re-entered the road that led to the beach, the ranger was not in sight any more and passers-by said that we might as well take the car. Sure enough, there was sufficient parking lots empty to park the car now.
Pfeiffer Beach is one of a kind. It is extremely windy. So much so that you need to wear glasses to protect your eyes from flying sand. It is also extremely chilly. It also has Cabo San Lucas kind of arched rock formation. But unlike Cabo, we can sit on the beach and view the waves gushing through the arch. Apart from this, the sand on this beach turns purple as dusk approaches. It was quite remarkable to see that "purply" effect.
By the time we were done with the beach, it was 7:30 PM. In a bid to cover as much of CA-1 as possible with fading daylight, I drove fast and then realized that it really wasn't worth it. So enjoyed the vista points, as needed. After nightfall, I had thought the drive would be easy but unfortunately it was kinda difficult thanks to the set of winding roads and speed limit of 20 MPH. And it was a two-way road too. I wished I had got a hotel on CA-1 itself but had to wear myself out for the next 3 hrs on nightfall to finally reach Santa Maria. Once in hotel, had a good night's sleep.
Day 2: Left the hotel at about 10.30 AM. Reached CA-1 and our first point of interest was the vista point where there were about 100 Elephant Seals. It was a sight to see and very unique. Then, we were back on the 20 MPH mountain (Rugged Point, I believe) where the mist coming off the ocean turned into clouds and hence we were amidst the clouds at sealevel, which is quite unique. We then took a stop at Lucia but the restaurant was so crowded and it was so understaffed that we left without anyone bothering to stop us.
Although we were very hungry, we thought we might as well finish off the next point of interest: McWay Falls. This involved a short trek too. But what greeted us was mesmerizing. We never expected to see such a grand view - it was as Heavenly as it could be. Our pre-schooler daughter too was so happy to behold the view that she said she was seeing the stars on the ocean - referring to the million sunlight reflections on the bobbing waves. Even the history associated to the site is stunning. With that done, we were very hopeful of lunch at Nepenthe (known for its good ocean-viewing restaurant seats) but even that could not be achieved since it was almost 4.30 PM and guests were no longer allowed to lunch.
Starving, we decided to lunch again at River Inn and enjoy some time at the soothing river instead of hurrying through to the last planned point of 17 Mile Drive. So we took it easy thereon and left River Inn at about 6 PM. There was traffic but despite that we were able to reach by 9.30 PM - continuous drive with no stops.
Summary: All in all, it was 584 scenic miles driven in 2 days. There were lots of vista point stops and we saw enough of ocean's beauty along the Pacific Coast Highway. Nat Geo link was very helpful for planning purpose. Truly hats-off for those who made this wonderful road possible. Just goes to show what a powerful combination it is when Man's brilliance works off of Nature's brilliance. And how thankful one can possible be to just experience this...
Place: Drive on Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Santa Maria and back. Includes Bixby Bridge, Big Sur, Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, etc.
Company: Wife and Daughter
Highlights:
Overview - Had not planned for the Memorial Day long weekend but yet wanted to utilize it. With a crucial project currently underway at work, I could not plan it ahead since I was not sure if I had to work over the weekend. But on Friday, it was clear that there was no need to work over the weekend. So, a tentative plan of a simple drive on the highly acclaimed Pacific Coast Highway turned into a reality, (amongst other nominated drives). But when I checked for hotel rates, I was stunned to see that none of the hotels were available for Saturday, and the cheapest one I could get hold of was in Santa Maria, which was almost 45 mins away from the end of the scenic CA-1 route (Morro Bay). Whatsoever, went ahead with it. Did not even book a rental car, and trusted on self's 2006 Honda Civic.
Day 1: Left the house at about 10 AM. With the long weekend traffic, reached Monterey at about 1 PM. Had lunch at a Thai and the road started skirting the ocean. The waves were magnificent. The beaches were beckoning but we stuck to the plan.
Our first stop was Rocky Creek Bridge, which is not as famous as Bixby Bridge. But we had our share of fun. Immediately thereafter we came across Bixby Bridge. After some more poses for the camera, we took a pit stop at River Inn. Our initial plan was to cover as much of CA-1 as possible on Day 1 but considering that we hadn't even reached Pfeiffer Beach by 4 PM (and the fact that we wanted to be in Pfeiffer at twlight), we changed the plan of visiting Pfeiffer Beach on Day 2 twilight. So, we thought we might as well have some food and ended up having second lunch at River Inn. Then, much to our delight, River Inn boasts of a small river in the back, and although the water was very cold, it was nice to wade in it, sit on the chairs strewn over the river and relax. It was very soothing and truly wonderful. Finally, at about 5 PM, we left River Inn and headed to Pfeiffer. By the time we were done with the beach, it was 7:30 PM. In a bid to cover as much of CA-1 as possible with fading daylight, I drove fast and then realized that it really wasn't worth it. So enjoyed the vista points, as needed. After nightfall, I had thought the drive would be easy but unfortunately it was kinda difficult thanks to the set of winding roads and speed limit of 20 MPH. And it was a two-way road too. I wished I had got a hotel on CA-1 itself but had to wear myself out for the next 3 hrs on nightfall to finally reach Santa Maria. Once in hotel, had a good night's sleep.
Day 2: Left the hotel at about 10.30 AM. Reached CA-1 and our first point of interest was the vista point where there were about 100 Elephant Seals. It was a sight to see and very unique. Then, we were back on the 20 MPH mountain (Rugged Point, I believe) where the mist coming off the ocean turned into clouds and hence we were amidst the clouds at sealevel, which is quite unique. We then took a stop at Lucia but the restaurant was so crowded and it was so understaffed that we left without anyone bothering to stop us.
Although we were very hungry, we thought we might as well finish off the next point of interest: McWay Falls. This involved a short trek too. But what greeted us was mesmerizing. We never expected to see such a grand view - it was as Heavenly as it could be. Our pre-schooler daughter too was so happy to behold the view that she said she was seeing the stars on the ocean - referring to the million sunlight reflections on the bobbing waves. Even the history associated to the site is stunning. With that done, we were very hopeful of lunch at Nepenthe (known for its good ocean-viewing restaurant seats) but even that could not be achieved since it was almost 4.30 PM and guests were no longer allowed to lunch. Starving, we decided to lunch again at River Inn and enjoy some time at the soothing river instead of hurrying through to the last planned point of 17 Mile Drive. So we took it easy thereon and left River Inn at about 6 PM. There was traffic but despite that we were able to reach by 9.30 PM - continuous drive with no stops.
Summary: All in all, it was 584 scenic miles driven in 2 days. There were lots of vista point stops and we saw enough of ocean's beauty along the Pacific Coast Highway. Nat Geo link was very helpful for planning purpose. Truly hats-off for those who made this wonderful road possible. Just goes to show what a powerful combination it is when Man's brilliance works off of Nature's brilliance. And how thankful one can possible be to just experience this...
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