Leaving LA

On Wednesday, after negotiating with AVIS we rented a car and hit the road - taking Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with a couple of stops along the way. We chose the coast road which makes it a much longer trip, but OH MY, the scenery is amazing. Places we drove thru that you Aussies might recognise include Santa Monica, Malibu, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

We've travelled along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, but this is truly awesome. The road runs right alongside the beach and for those of you who know my 'road safety' background I have been gobsmacked at the lack of 'forgiveness' of the highways - basically if you leave the road then too bad - no guard rails unless the drop is more than 2 - 3 metres (about 10 foot). The highways are really good, even the secondary one that we were on - mostly dual lanes in each direction - speed limit 65 - 70 mphr.

taken from the Ventura Highway

On the way to Big Sur

When we left the coast much of the vista is stark, but absolutely beautiful - The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. We truly have an awesome God - we rejoice in His handiwork. I have taken photos but they don't do justice to what we have seen. Everywhere that it's possible (flat enough) the land is cultivated. We've seen acres and acres of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, and grape vines growing right up to the highway. Some of the properties we passed by - Hidden Valley ranch, Jack Creek Homestead and Fat Cat Farm - just to get you in the zone.

Last night we stayed at Santa Maria and today, Thursday, drove to Hearst Castle then backtracked a little because of landslips and drove about 200 miles thru Carmel, Monterey and back out onto the coast for an even more amazing scenic drive to Big Sur. google this - it's worth a look.

Here's Johno, the road and the beach!

not a great shot - but the roads goes right round that mountain

This morning we had coffee at Starbucks and met Rich & Mike who told us that Big Sur was sure to give us the WOW factor. They were right - WOW WOW WOW. Mountains, ocean, rocks, wild flowers, rushing rivers, trickling streams, huge brudges, wild waves crashing, amazing eagles soaring - Oh, and did I mention we were trying to remain on the right, yes the right and the correct, side of the road as well. Johno has done all the driving so far and has adapted to the 'left to right' thing really well.

We stopped to take some photos near Big Sur and could hear the sea lions down on the rocks. Tonight we are staying at Monterey and have just had 'clam chowder' at the Fisherman's Wharf. Fantastic!! We sampled the chowder from almost every restaurant on the block before settling on a place to eat, yum! have to get the recipe....After dinner we walked along the borrdwalk and came across a HUGE sea lion resting on the wharf.  They are so big! We were able to get quite close - about 1 metre away - he was very noisy and smelled fishy.

Tomorrow we will get into San Francisco where we will meet up with my great-aunt Mavis. She came to the States as a war-bride. I am soooo looking forward to hearing her story and sharing it with you.

Thanks for following us, be sure to leave a message and pass our address on to those who might want to join us on our trip.

These are for our grandbabes, and any other little ones who might visit us....

Poppa nono's new friend

Some more things we've learned:

• we rent things and hire services (people)
• you can get botox at a sidewalk vendor
• you can buy alcohol at a pharmacy (not that we tried), and 
• you pay for your fuel before you fill up.