California Road Trip Part I – Pacific Coast Highway 1

I’m back in The Netherlands for 2 weeks now but I really miss the wonderful time at the West Coast (of the USA). I had a great the first 2 months in Los Angeles as you can read in all my previous posts here at my blog, but the last 2 weeks where very special to me. My boyfriend came to visit me and together we organized a road trip so we could explore more of the beautiful California. I’ve been dreaming about this moment for many years and I’m so happy we enjoyed this trip together! Of course I made many photos with my Olympus PEN EP-L7 camera with different lenses, my iPhone 5s and my Canon camera with a small pancake (40mm) lens. Luckily my boyfriend loves photography too so we spent enough time to stop on our way to capture the views at the Pacific Coast Highway. This is part II, the first 3-4 days of our Road Trip, where we started in Los Angeles and end up in San Francisco. A 6 to 8 hour drive but we decided to sleep in Morro Bay so we could spend more time at the coast. If I could do this again, I would spend extra (3rd) night, maybe in Santa Barbara or Big Sur because this is the most beautiful road I’ve ever seen and there is so much to discover! Please prepare for a picture overload :)

We traveled during the ‘winter season’ because it was already mid-November. Can I recommend this? See my + and – and decide for yourself!

+ Less tourists!
+ Nice weather, not too hot, not too cold (if you stay in LA or close to the coast) It will be colder in the nature or when going more to the North.
+ Beautiful nature, snowy mountain views
+ Holiday Season, lovely ambiance, Christmas lights

– Some roads are closed from November till Spring
– There might be snow in the National Parks (Yosemite, Seqouia, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon)
– You need snow chains for the wheels, but this is probably not allowed with a rental car, so you are not allowed to enter some roads during cold days.
– It’s getting dark early, around 5 p.m.

LOS ANGELES

PACIFIC HIGHWAY ROUTE 1

El Matador State Beach, Malibu

Santa Barbara

Somewhere on the route during sunset

Morro Bay

San Simeon

On our way to Big Sur

McWay Falls

Big Sur

Beautiful colors before arriving at the Bixby Bridge

Bixby Bridge

Santa Cruz

Arrived in San Francisco! More in the next post!

Click here for part II about San Francisco and Yosemite National Park!

♥