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Pacific Coast Highway
I found out about the Pacific Coast Highway (also known as Highway 1 or CA-1) before I arrived in San Francisco. It’s supposed to be a very scenic route and since I’m planning on visiting Los Angeles and San Diego I decided to take this route.
It is definitely one of the best drives I’ve ever done! I loved seeing the mountains and the ocean as I was driving. The weather again was beautiful, a little chilly early in the morning and at night but it gets warmer later in the day and mostly sunny. I followed this route for most of my drive south up to Santa Barbara.
The views reminded me quite a bit of the Road to Hana in Maui and New Zealand‘s South Island. I had a hard time keeping my focus on the road.
There are plenty of stops you can make along the way. There are many sections where you can pull over to enjoy the views or have a Kodak moment. Also, since I was driving in December there weren’t many cars on the road, so this gives you more flexibility on how fast or slow you want to go. You also won’t need to wait for a spot at a viewpoint to open up.
I say the best views are around the Big Sur area. I regret not spending at least a night in this area and do some hiking.
I also met a guy from Israel at the hostel I was staying at in Los Angeles and he took a similar route…on a bicycle! That’s probably an even better way to do it. He showed me some really nice pictures of areas and wildlife that I’ve completely missed while driving.
More pics here: http://www.calazan.com/gallery/?album=8&gallery=42
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Los Angeles
Posted on December 13th, 2011 No comments
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If there’s one thing I remember the most during my stay in Los Angeles, it’s sitting in traffic. I encountered heavy traffic while driving around almost every day I was there (with the exception of Saturday morning when I left the city, probably because everyone was still asleep as they partied too hard the night before).
The guide I was reading mentioned that you really need a car to get around Los Angeles, so I didn’t even bother looking at public transportation as an option (though I probably should’ve given it a try as my guide is a couple years old, maybe it’s gotten better). I really don’t mind driving, but the traffic was just really bad when I was there that I felt like I wasted so much of my time here. I wouldn’t want to live here for this reason alone.
It’s also very rare to find free parking here, so it’s a good idea to have quarters and some cash available.
Here are the places I visited:
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Hearst Castle
Posted on December 11th, 2011 No comments Print
My summer house
Talk about location!
I was looking for things to do while driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and Hearst Castle kept coming up. As I get closer, I started seeing signs pointing to it. It was right off the highway so I decided to check it out.
View from outside my bedroom (it's much better in person!)
I only did the Grand Rooms tour for $25 as it’s supposed to be their most popular one. The tour starts with a bus taking you all the way to the top of a hill where the mansion is located. The view from up there is just beautiful! Must be nice waking up every morning with that view. That would certainly put me in a good mood.
It’s funny how almost no one was listening to the guide as he talks about the history of the mansion. Everyone was too busy looking around the area and taking pictures at the beginning of the tour. I did look up a little bit about its history later that night, but only because the name “William Randolph Hearst” is mentioned in a book I was reading that night and I was curious if he’s related to Hearst Castle. He was the owner and it was donated to the state of California after he died.
After his brief explanation of the mansion, we then went inside and he showed us about 3 or 4 rooms. I’m actually not that impressed with the mansion’s interior. The inside of the mansions in Rhode Island look better. But it’s all about the location!
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