Pacific Coast Highway

Sep 4-6, 2010
AC791 YYZ-LAX, US634 SFO-PHX, US275 PHX-IAH

I don't think it should be a surprise to say that we enjoy visiting California and love driving along the coast.  Before this trip, we had covered the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy. 1) from both LA and San Francisco, but had never done it all in one trip.  We landed in LA on Saturday morning of Labour Day Weekend and headed north, with what appeared to be half of the city.  With the delays getting out of the city, it didn't feel like we were going to make it to San Simeon before dark.  Luckily, traffic cleared up by Santa Barbara and with a stop for dinner we got in just shortly after sunset.  Sunday had the most spectacular driving and we took our time getting to San Francisco.  On Monday, we took it easy after our busy days of driving, and I flew to Houston for work while Tom headed home to Toronto.   

Sep 4-5
Flight to LA and drive to San Simeon

Sunset as we approach San Simeon

Beach at sunset

An early morning hike as we head north to San Francisco

Wildflowers along the coast

Looking towards Piedras Blacas Light Station just North of San Simeon

Elephant seals

Coastal trail off the highway

Looking south through the haze

More beautiful coastline

A huge colony of seals from the trail above

A larger beach off the highway

Looking down on some smaller islands

Some islands as we get close to Monterey and the end of the scenic drive

Sep 6
A slow start to the day in San Jose and then on to SFO and home