The trip up the coast of California

The trip was really in two parts so this is the first part:
We took Highway 1 which is also the Pacific Coast Highway in LA all the way from LA to San Francisco. We left LA on Monday, Aug. 18th and drove 4 hours to San Simeon where we camped for the first night. We took a trail that was supposed to lead to the ocean but it actually just led around a big hill. However, we did get to see the awesome deer that were all hanging out.

After San Simeon, we drove to Big Sur, CA. Before we got to Big Sur, we went to Hearst Castle which, if you don't know, is where William Randolph Hearst who was a gigantic, really wealthy publishing magnate, built an amazing "castle". And get this, you have to take 4 different tours in order to see all of the castle. We only took one tour because we are cheap and I don't feel the need to buy 4 different tours. But we saw the kitchen, indoor and outdoor pool, a bunch of guest rooms, the libraries and Hearst's private bedchamber which was actually really small and unimpressive. The outdoor and indoor pools were by far the most amazing things there. The pools and much of the grounds can be rented out for a mere few thousand dollars for a few hours. It was very tempting, let me tell you.
(The Outdoor Pool at Hearst Castle)

It was an absolutely beautiful drive. We pulled over all the time to look at the ocean and the breathtaking views. If you have never driven this highway, please do! It's really breathtaking and amazing!! On our way to Big Sur, we came across a ton of sea elephants.


In Big Sur, we camped in an amazing campground that was literally on top of the Big Sur river. We spent two nights here and even walked up part of the Big Sur river but it was really rocky and I was really struggling to just not trip on my own flip-flops. We hiked a bunch while here, especially up part of a mountain and had a really wonderful time though hot and very exhausting. Also, a skunk decided to make friends with us. He hung around underneath my car and in the area for much too long and made me rather nervous since he seemed hungry. Luckily, the idiots camping near us left their food in a tub outside of their tent so the skunk finally found some munchies and eventually left us alone.

(The Big Sur Campground)

We were supposed to spend the next night in Monterey but it was a little too far from San Francisco and really close to Big Sur so after going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and having a really wonderful seafood lunch, we headed up to the "Redwood Resort" in Santa Cruz, CA. It was really more of a trailer park with some limited camping but they did have a shower and bathroom so that's all we really needed and it was super duper cheap which is always a plus.

By now I am tired of setting up and taking down my gigantic 8 man tent. We did develop a bit of a routine but since it was my tent, I took it upon myself to be the tent guru. That got old. Anyway, after the night in Santa Cruz, we headed up to San Francisco for the Beck/Radiohead concert. We ended up getting into San Francisco really early and after we checked in early to our very small, very "economical" hotel room, we went searching for the concert venue. We decided not to drive since everything on the concert website said not to drive and to take all the public transport available. After an excruciatingly long bus ride (well it seemed excruciating because we were excited to get there and very hungry!), we arrived at the Outside Lands Festival. Beck went on first and he was REALLY AWESOME! Radiohead was great too. Will is more of a fan of them than I so that part of the concert was really for him but I did enjoy it.

Our hotel in San Francisco was so tiny that I was a little shocked. Quite honestly, there was room for a bed, a small table, a small TV and bathroom. I pretty much tripped on the bed as I walked into the room but you know, it was clean and all of the lamps and faucets worked. What can you really ask for? Not a breakfast that's for sure. I actually did try and get the continental breakfast the next morning but.... it was only Tang (not OJ) and some bread for toast. Apparently, an hour after being set up, you can't get a bagel or any jelly, not even an English Muffin.