California Road Trip
In August 2016 We headed to San Francisco to begin the ultimate Californian road trip. A journey packed with golden beaches, dramatic coastal highways, buzzing cities, and national park magic. From the palm-lined streets of Los Angeles to the iconic curves of Highway 1, we explored California in all its sun-soaked glory. It was a trip filled with wide-open roads, spontaneous detours, epic views, and more than a few unforgettable moments.
We spent almost three weeks driving to Yosemite National Park, Mammoth Lake, Lone Pines, Death Valley, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterrey and even found time to fit in a short visit to Disneyland California.
The following posts are presented in ascending order. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch
Six weeks and counting till we head stateside for our next big road trip and this time we will be California dreaming as we set out on a 1200 mile round route of the Golden State.
Our first full day in San Francisco was spent walking up some very steep hills ! It doesn’t matter which way you head in San Francisco it would appear you’ll be heading upwards at some point.
Ive been married now for 19 years and known my wife for a good few years over that. One of the first things i learned about her back in 1991 was how intrigued by Alcatraz Prison she was.
After three nights in San Francisco its time to say good bye to the golden city for a few weeks and head inland to Yosemite and start our road trip. Our stay at the Hotel Zephyr has been a good one.
The drive up to Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park was amazing. The roads were lined with pine tree forest to one side and stunning mountain ranges to the other, and on one occasion we had to stop to let a couple of Mute Deer cross the road.
Nestled to the east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California lies the once bustling ghost town of Bodie., or at leat what remains of it. At its height in the 1880's, Bodie had a population of 8000 plus inhabitants from all four corners of the world
Again, not a lot to really report as it was just a scenic drive through beautiful scenery of mountains and forests, passing Lakes and cliffs and sweeping green meadows. I'll let the pictures do the talking this time.
We thought the drive down from Mammoth lakes to Lone Pines would be a good one with quite a few stops at Towns along the way which looked interesting on the map. It actually turned out that most the towns
We had an early start after a lovely breakfast in the hotel. First stop was a quick jaunt into Lone Pine to get the now obligatory fridge magnet for Oz and pin badge for myself. We then made our way to the "Movie Road,
.. travelling through the Angeles National Forest. Yet again it was a gorgeous drive through sweeping bends, up and down hills and valleys and occasionally dodging Porsches speeding towards us ! Pretty soon we were dropping down in to Burbank and Glendale,
Gotta say i'm impressed with my Wuss of a son ! Despite the pre ride nerves and panic he loved the big rides he went on and had it not been for inhumanely long queues we would of ridden them several times.
We then had a tour around the houses of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. We saw Mick Jagger’s gaff, Michael Jacksons house (well the gates of it), Jennifer Anniston, Clark Gables,
The drive from Anaheim to Santa Barbara took showed us both sides of the American dream, from the poverty of South L.A to the riches of Malibu and Pacific coast.
We spent today relaxing in Santa Barbara and around pool at the heavenly Franciscan Inn.
We left Santa Barbara mid morning and headed out on the coastal road through a very nice looking estate. We were soon up on the cliffs overlooking the bay
We woke up to a gloomy and grey day, not quite raining but the weather was more like Scunthorpe in autumn than California in summer. We ate breakfast then hit highway one to begin our journey along the coastal road
