Our California Dream Itinerary

San Francisco to Los Angeles  
Via the Pacific Coast Highway

Ida and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this year by taking the family on a road trip to California.  We will be flying into

San Francisco and spending a couple of days there before starting on the road down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA where we will be spending a few days before flying home.

The Pacific Coast Highway is considered by National Geographic to be one of the top drives of a lifetime. "An exhilarating driving experience, this twisting, cliff-hugging, 123-mile (198-kilometer) route along the central California coast takes about five hours to complete at a leisurely pace."  We're a little nervous about the "cliff hugging" part especially since we will be driving south with the ocean (cliff) to the right. If we were driving from the other direction, we'd be closer to the mudslides!

We have lots to see on this trip so it should be a great family adventure. Everyone enjoyed our last travel blog of our trip out west, so we will be blogging about our adventures and misadventures again. 

Here is a run down of our travel itinerary.

 Monday, June 24

San Francisco Home

We'll be taking an 8 AM flight to LA and then San Francisco where will check into a house we rented in the Cow Hollow/Marina neighborhood.  We ended up renting a house because it gives us a little more space and a free parking spot since the hotel prices in the city are pretty high.  This worked out so well that we are renting a house in the L.A. suburbs as well when we get there.  We plan a leisurely night after today's flights before we start sightseeing tomorrow (at the crack of dawn).

Transamerica Building

Cable Car

Tuesday, June 25

Alcatraz

Coit Tower

Our plans for the day include taking in the sights of San Francisco.  We will be visiting Alcatraz Prison, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiardelli Square, Coit Tower, the Crooked Street and Chinatown.  Its the girls first visit, but I spent a week here before.  It should be a great day, can't wait to get some fresh sourdough bread.

Lombard Street

Fisherman's Wharf

Chinatown

Wednesday, June 26

Another day of sightseeing in San Francisco.  We'll take in the Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Park, the Bridge, and we'll go over to Marin County to see Sausalito and if we have time Muir Woods.  And we'll celebrate a birthday!

Palace of Fine Arts

San Francisco from Twin Peaks

Golden Gate Park

Painted Ladies

Sausalito

Thursday, June 27

Cannery Row

Pebble Beach

Today we start on the road.  We will be driving about 125 miles to Monteray via the Pacific Coast Highway.  Along the way, we will drive through Half Moon Bay, stop in Santa Cruz, and then drive 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach before taking in Cannery Row and the Monteray Aquarium before settling in for the night.

Santa Cruz

Monteray Bay Aquarium

Monteray Plaza Hotel

Friday, June 28

Carmel Mission

Bixby Bridge

Waterfall on the Beach

Our drive today takes us through the most scenic part of the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur.  The first part of our trip takes us through Carmel and then its mostly a rural area. At Pfieffer State Park we'll see redwoods and hike to a waterfall.  We'll have lunch at Nepenthe Restaurant which has outdoor seating with a scenic view.  Then, we'll take a tour of Hearst Castle before finishing the day in Pismo Beach.

Nepenthe Restaurant

Hearst Castle

Pacific Coast Highway

Saturday, June 29

Today's drive will take us through Santa Barbara and inland to Simi Valley where we will visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  Guess who picked this place.  The Reagan Library has a wing with Air Force One so that should be neat to see.  At the end of the say we will settle into our 2 bedroom house in Studio City where we will spend the next four nights.

Santa Barbara

Reagan Library

The Pool

The Plane

Our House

Sunday, June 30

By this time, we will have been on the go for a few days, so today is just a beach day (weather permitting).  We'll check out Malibu and Santa Monica.

Malibu

Today I don't feel like doing anything...Nothing at all

Santa Monica

Sunset

 





Monday, July 1

Today's plans include a visit to Universal Studios.  This is one of the oldest movie studios and they still have their original tour which I took in 1987.  There is a theme park and an entertainment center so there's enough here for the whole day.

Universal Studios

This is how we'll look after 

the cliff driving

Tuesday, July 2

We are back to being tourists again, taking in Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and Los Angeles.

Capital Records

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Rodeo Drive

Los Angeles

Nixon Library

Wednesday, July 3

We have an 8 AM flight so we will be up bright and early.  The last time Ida and I went on a trip to Southern California, we flew out of John Wayne Airport in Orange County and we missed the flight due to traffic. Our luggage made it, though. The plane ran out of fuel (really), made an emergency landing in Brownsville Texas and then we got stranded in Dallas due to a bad thunderstorm where Ida was almost arrested for traveling under an assumed name, Steven Lloyd, (they didn't check photo id's back then).  Ida's work sent her to a conference using someone's else plane ticket because he could not make it. We came home a day late.  (This is a true story, I couldn't make this up.)

Then its home sweet home for the Fourth of July!