California Road Trip 2018 ♥️

Claimed to be the ‘crookedest street in the world’, the famous one-block section of Lombard Street in the Russian Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco was our first destination. The steep street was packed with tourists making their way up and down the sidewalks as drivers carefully negotiated the famous switchback bends.

After leaving San Francisco in sunshine, we wandered through The Presidio to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge with its pylons shrouded in low cloud. We made our way across the bridge in damp, cool and windy conditions and decided not to head up to the Marin headland (which was hidden in the clouds) as we wouldn’t have been rewarded with the picture postcard view of the bridge. Nevertheless, crossing the world famous Golden Gate Bridge was an unforgettable experience that we both really enjoyed!

After enjoying the views of San Francisco’s skyline from Dolores Park, we headed down into the Mission District, a bustling neighbourhood full of character. Amongst the independent cafes, restaurants and colourful street art, we found in the Clarion Alley Mural Project.

How the other half lives! On our last morning in San Francisco, we wandered through the affluent neighbourhood of Pacific Heights to The Presidio...passing some huge, luxurious houses along the way

We had thought about making a second crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge to head up to the Marin Headlands but after reaching Crissy Fields we could see that the weather conditions were the same as Sunday so we decided to enjoy the iconic views from the beach...where it was now quite cool.

Probably most famous for being the birthplace of Star Wars creator George Lucas, Modesto had been the base for our unforgettable day trip to Yosemite National Park. The next morning we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at Denny’s before taking in the George Lucas statue and heading off to Monterey on the next leg of our California Road Trip!

Once the morning fog had cleared, we decided to go for a walk along the scenic coastline of Pacific Grove, just south of Monterey.

This stunningly scenic drive took us along the outstanding coastline near Pebble Beach, where we witnessed a beautiful sunset as the waves crashed into the rocky shore.

The drive down Highway 1 was an unforgettable experience and the coastline views were breathtaking. Along the way, we spent time at Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls and Partington Cove as well as taking a couple of pit-stops to enjoy the stunning scenery.

After enjoying the stunning drive down Highway 1 yesterday, we spent the day at exploring Pismo Beach and it's famous pier.

We wanted to make the most of our day so we were up in time to see the sunrise at Stearns Wharf...but it was cloudy! Our reward for an early start was a coffee at Breakfast Culture Club on our way back to The Presidio motel. We really liked this coffee shop and decided that we would go back tomorrow!

We found Helena Avenue Bakery in Santa Barbara’s aptly named Funk Zone. We both enjoyed a coffee and a delicious freshly baked treat while we sat in the hot sunshine in the courtyard.

On our last morning in Santa Barbara we decided to hire bikes from The Presidio and ride all the way down State Street in time for sunrise at Stearns Wharf. Sadly, it was cloudy again but we had so much fun that it was well worth it! On our way back from the Pier to Breakfast Culture Club, we saw huge double decker trains crossing the railroad just yards in front of us...a memorable experience.

We had decided to drive from Santa Barbara straight to Los Angeles, rather than stop off in Malibu. It was a difficult choice but it gave us the chance to spend the afternoon enjoying the hike from Griffith Park all the way up to the peak of Mt Hollywood and the iconic Hollywood Sign, via the landmark Griffith Observatory. It was sunny and hot, but we really enjoyed the epic uphill journey and the stunning views of the world famous sign and panoramas across the sprawling metropolis below. We had an amazing time and it was such an unforgettable experience...a great start to our time in Los Angeles.

On our first full day in Los Angeles, we treated ourselves to a visit to Universal Studios theme park. As expected, it was different to the resort in Florida, but we had great fun and really enjoyed the attractions...and lack of queues. The best ride was the Backlot Tour, which included both Jaws and Fast & Furious as well as a tour of the Studios...and we also had the chance to meet some famous characters!

For our first few nights in Los Angeles, we were staying at the Comfort Inn on Santa Monica Boulevard, from where we could enjoy a great view of the California sunrise.

After wandering along the Pier, we made our way down on to Santa Monica beach and relaxed in the California sunshine for a couple of hours while we made plans for the rest of the day and tomorrow.

After arriving in Venice Beach, we wandered around to the famous boardwalk before walking up Windward Avenue to Menotti’s Coffee Shop...which we had found on Instagram. It was a really cool little place and the coffee was delicious. Afterwards, we had a look in Animal House vintage clothes store next door which was full of cool t-shirts so we bought a Vans original for Katie...for only $20!

After exploring Venice Beach and visiting Venice Canals, we made our way along the stylish Abbot Kinney Boulevard. We stopped for coffee (and an amazing lemon meringue croissant!) at the very cool Intelligentsia...which had an industrial style interior and a stepped seating area.

We were so glad that we had given ourselves a whole day to spend at Venice Beach as there was so much to see and explore - Venice Canals, Abbot Kinney Boulevard, the famous Boardwalk, Muscle Beach...it was a place full of contrasts and surprises!

We spent Saturday morning at Huntington Beach where there was a beach volleyball tournament and a surf competition taking place. After taking pictures of the surfers during our walk along the Pier, we headed into the centre which had a real ‘surfer’ vibe with open air markets, surf shops...and even a Volkswagen convention with rows of gleaming Camper Vans lining the streets.

Late in the afternoon, we drove from Newport Beach on to Laguna Beach which was a lovely seafront town full of independent boutiques and restaurants. We treated ourselves to coffee and cake at Zinc (a good recommendation by a local couple) before wandering down to the beach, then continuing on our journey.

After giving ourselves another early start, we had spent the first part of the morning at Sunset Cliffs before heading into San Diego. We wandered through the historic Gas Lamp Quarter then made our way over to Copa Vida - a really bright and airy coffee kitchen next to the San Diego Padres baseball stadium.

San Diego’s palm-tree lined waterfront looked stunning in the blazing California sunshine but we were underwhelmed by the historic Gas Lamp District and there was no real city-centre as such. We managed to find two excellent coffee shops in the attractive East Village and Little Italy neighbourhoods but after wandering around the city, rather than explore Balboa Park, we decided to head for La Jolla...the nearby resort where we were advised the locals spent their weekends.

On our way from San Diego back to Huntington Beach we decided to stop at San Clemente...and it turned out to be a little gem. The view across the railroad to the stunning beach and historic Pier while we sat in the covered terrace outside Bear Coast Coffee was so memorable. It was such a special little spot that we had stumbled on...we even bought a branded sweatshirt as a souvenir!

On the penultimate day of our epic California Road Trip we drove into Los Angeles where we took a quick trip to the impressive Walt Disney Concert Hall before heading to the Melrose District. We had coffee at Point Five before wandering along Melrose Avenue between Fairfax and Beverley, taking in the murals, street art and vintage fashion boutiques.

After spending the day exploring the Melrose District and Beverley Hills neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, we enjoyed a meal at Sawyer in Silver Lake before driving on to nearby Dodger Stadium. We bought an LA Dodgers cap from one of the street hawkers that were entertaining the queueing traffic. The atmosphere inside the 56,000 seater stadium was electric as we watched the Dodgers take on the Colorado Rockies in our first baseball game.

After our incredible California Road Trip, it was time to go home. We left our hotel at 6 o’clock in the morning and drove to LAX airport where we dropped off our rental car at Thrifty and checked into our flight to Seattle. As we enjoyed a coffee from Starbucks, we reflected on how amazing the last three weeks had been...feeling very different to when we were last in LAX!