After spending a very enjoyable six days in San Francisco, Shae, Truffles and I drove down the California coast to Los Angeles.
We could’ve done the drive in a day or two, but there were a few places we wanted to stop at along the way. As a result, we spent eight days driving down, staying in a few places along the way.
We had to work a few of those days too and so didn’t get to explore quite as much as we would’ve liked. We did have fun along the way though, so here’s what we got up to during that time.
March 3-6
The Journey There
We left San Francisco on March 3 and headed down to Monterey – our first stop for a few nights. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell in Pacifica.
However, it wasn’t just any old Taco Bell. For starters, it was a Taco Bell Cantina which serves alcohol, although we didn’t end up taking advantage of that. Even more notable, it has what’s probably the nicest view of any Taco Bell anywhere because it’s right on the ocean and has a deck out back where you can eat your food overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Keep an eye on your food though. Shae went back inside to grab a few napkins and this bird tried to steal her taco! I spotted it just in time and so she only lost a little shredded cheese.
After lunch we continued on to Monterey. Despite it not being nice weather, Truffles enjoyed having her head out the window so that she could enjoy the ongoing ocean view.
Hyatt Regency Monterey
We’d booked a three night stay at the Hyatt Regency Monterey using category 1-4 free night certificates. Thanks to my Globalist status we got an upgrade to a one bedroom suite which had a view overlooking the hotel’s golf course.
It was a nice, spacious suite, although the layout of the hotel was a little goofy. The hotel is spread out over a wide area, with there being many different buildings with rooms and suites. To get to our room we had to go up an elevator, walk all the way through one building to the other side, then walk all the way to the end of that building. The hotel doesn’t have any luggage carts for guests, so we had to lug all our stuff in three separate trips from our car which wasn’t ideal.
Based on comments from other people who’ve stayed at this property in the past, it sounds like some rooms and suites are very run down. Thankfully we had a good experience overall as our suite was fine. The hotel has some great amenities – a golf course, bikes you can borrow, a good-sized fitness room, a couple of swimming pools, an outdoor area with games like giant Connect 4 and table tennis tables, cornhole, etc.
Another nice feature of the hotel is that they have some pet suites that open out on to a pet-friendly area. We asked not to be in one of those as we were concerned Truffles would bark a lot if she heard other dogs, but it was fun getting to take her to that area to run around and play.
My Globalist status also meant we got free breakfast each morning. Their steak and eggs breakfast was so good that I had it on two of our three mornings.
What We Did In Monterey
We spent a few days in Carmel Valley in December with Shae’s mom and stepdad. That’s near Monterey, so we’d already spent a day there visiting the aquarium.
The reason we returned to Monterey is because one of Shae’s Christmas presents was a sea kayaking experience to see the wildlife there like sea otters and sea lions. Check out this post to see why she loved it so much.
Later that afternoon we both went back down to the waterfront and wandered around Old Fisherman’s Wharf.
That gave me an opportunity to see the wildlife there too, with us seeing a couple of sea otters from a distance and lots of sea lions much closer by.
March 6
We checked out of the Hyatt Regency on the Sunday and drove down to San Simeon, making a few stops that day.
Bixby Creek Bridge
Our first was just before crossing Bixby Creek Bridge because there’s a parking area that gets you some beautiful views of both the bridge and the coastline.
Pfeiffer Beach
Next up was a stop at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur. This had the potential to be lovely, but even though it was sunny that day, it was also incredibly windy. We stuck around long enough to have a quick lunch up on the sand dunes where it wasn’t quite as windy, but we headed back to the car shortly after that as it was just too cold.
McWay Falls
About 25 minutes further along was McWay Falls. We wanted to park down in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to walk over to the beach where the falls drop down, but pets aren’t allowed on the trail.
Instead, we drove back up the hill and parked in a pullout by the side of the road. It was then just a short walk down to an overlook where you get a good view of McWay Falls from above.
Walking back up to the car, the view of the coastline was stunning with the ocean having some beautiful shades of blue.
Elephant Seal Vista Point
Our final stop before checking in at our hotel was Elephant Seal Vista Point. As the name suggests, this is an overlook where you can see elephant seals resting on the beach.
Similar to Pfeiffer Beach, the sun and blue sky was misleading. It was ridiculously windy and cold out, so after spending a short time looking at the elephant seals, Truffles and I went back to the car. Shae loves animals so much that she was willing to endure the cold in order to spend more time looking at them and taking photos.
Elephant seals get their name from the large noses on adult males:
Quality Inn Near Hearst Castle
We stayed at the Quality Inn Near Hearst Castle in San Simeon that night, about 15 minutes down the road from Elephant Seal Vista Point. Quality Inns can be hit or miss, but this one was a hit. The manager who checked us in was incredibly friendly and lovely and gave us a room with a balcony facing the ocean.
The room itself won’t win any awards, but it was clean, comfortable and a good size. The hotel had a courtyard, swimming pool and restaurant on site, although we didn’t take advantage of any of those.
It was amazing value too – only $85 for the night including tax. Hotels all over California were expensive, so being able to pay only $85 for a decent hotel by the beach was awesome. Even better was the fact that they didn’t charge a pet fee. If we ever drive the California coast again and need somewhere to stay along this stretch, we’ll definitely book another stay at this hotel.
J.J.’s Pizza
Seeing as it was off-season, it seemed like some restaurants in the area were closed. The hotel had a booklet with dining options and we picked J.J.’s Pizza as they delivered.
We’d eaten pizza a day or two before, so rather than getting pizza again Shae ordered their hot dog and I got their Bronco Burger which came with bacon, BBQ sauce and onion rings, plus we both got a side of fries. We could’ve just ordered one side of fries as the servings were enormous.
I don’t know if we were just super-hungry or what, but the food tasted especially good. The food arrived quickly too, so getting dinner from J.J.’s Pizza ended up being a solid choice.
March 7-10
After that quick overnight stop in San Simeon, we continued down the coast. About an hour south of San Simeon is Pismo Beach and we stopped to check out Dinosaur Caves Park. That wasn’t what we were expecting (it was basically just a public park with a playground), but it did have pretty views of the coast and the sea kelp below.
Pismo Beach
We didn’t stay too long at Dinosaur Caves Park and drove the short distance down the road to Pismo Beach where we walked along the beach for a while.
Truffles has gotten used to dog beaches where she can run free off-leash, but Pismo Beach required that pups remain on a leash. She therefore gazed up excitedly at me for almost the entire walk, anticipating the ability to chase after a ball that never appeared.
Solvang
After stretching our legs on the beach, we hopped back in the car and continued on to Solvang, a cute Danish-style city.
We stopped for lunch at CHOMP seeing as we had Truffles with us and they have a dog-friendly patio. Shae got their burger and fries, while I got fish and chips. Both meals were good, but not mind-blowingly amazing.
Our final stop in Solvang was another pet-friendly location – Royal Oaks Winery to go wine tasting. Their wine was OK, but not good enough to warrant buying a bottle to take with us.
It was time to move on to our next hotel by that point, but if we return to Solvang in the future I’d like to check out Solvang Brewing Co as it looked like a fun place to have a drink.
Carpinteria
That day was a Monday and Shae and I both work all day on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we decided to stay in one spot from Monday to Thursday. We booked a stay at the Holiday Inn Express Carpinteria, a town on the coast about halfway between Santa Barbara and Ventura.
Seeing as we worked on Tuesday and Wednesday, we didn’t explore the area until after checking out on the Thursday. We stopped by the Carpinteria Seal Sanctuary to view the seals on the beach from above. It had been pupping season, so we got to see some baby seals while we were there.
Five miles down the road from the seal sanctuary is Mussel Shoals Beach. We decided to stop there to have a little wander along the beach; Truffles decided it would also be a good time to get wet and sandy.
After spending a week driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles, it was finally time for the last leg of the trip and so we got back in the car and drove down to the LA area – we’ll have more about what we did there in future posts.
Leave a Reply