Big Sur in CA
I have to disagree. I've driven all of east and west coastal roads and
Carmel to San Simeon is one of my favorites drives. Views like: http://travel.sndimg.com/static_file...ia_966x543.jpg or http://www.travelchannel.com/interes...hway-road-trip I've done it 7 or 8 times. From Monterey down to San Simeone. Stay overnight at the Cavalier hotel on the water. Fire pits on the ocean at night. THE best apple pie at their restaurant, and drive back up the next day. Driving south I think is the better view, car on the outside and curvy roads are in view ahead and below you. On way north, you're on the inside and sometimes not as nice a view. It is true that it CAN be dangerous to cruise and gawk at same time so pull over often and enjoy it. I DO agree with the advice on foggy, dank conditions. Although when I'm there off season and it is overcast/damp, rather than the drive, I head to Pebble Beach and often get on the course for cheap money. A few years ago I played Spanish Bay for $85 ! Just wait until about 12 noon, as the fog lifts. I'm not an avid golfer but love walking those courses. Spanish bay is a links course so a lot of water views. Saw a poster a few years ago - the perspective was looking down at that coastline and the caption read " View from Heaven". "David Hatunen" wrote in message ... On Tue, 1 Jan 2013 09:44:53 -0600, Dan Stephenson wrote: Belatedly, unless someone is catching up on articles like myself: the Big Sur drive is interesting mostly as a technical exercise. The slope is too steep and the frequently sinuations of the road into valleys, for you to really see anything. And the highly curving natural, steep grades, and lack of shoulder means you shouldn't be trying to make it a scenic drive to take in the scenery, anyway. I thought it to be a miserable and tiring drive. And especially, don't make the mistake of taking the Big Sur route in the summer when coastal fog is prevalent. If you like coastal drives, try instead the pacific coast highway north of San Francisco. The roads are more straight and the slope of the land is more gradual. You can appreciate the scenary, and still appreciate the driving. There is also a pull-over to see elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach Wouldn't that be Point Ano Nuevo, south of San Francisco? And there are plenty of places to pull over, so direct doesn't really matter so much. Hwy 1 north of San Francisco is the "Shoreline Highway", not the Pacific Coast Highway (as you tacitly indicate by not capitalizing the term). It is a very nice drive, and has stops and side trips such as the Marin Headlands, the Muir Woods redwoods, Point Reyes (including effects of the 1906 earthquake), Bodega Bay, Fort Brag and the Skunk Railway, and Mendocino. But it's not really on the way for many travelers in California the way Hwy 1 from LA to SF connects those two sometimes ultimate destinations. Dave Hatunen, Tucson Viva Baja Arizona |
Big Sur in CA
On Sat, 25 May 2013 22:32:36 -0400, "- Bobb -"
wrote: I have to disagree. I've driven all of east and west coastal roads and Carmel to San Simeon is one of my favorites drives. Views like: http://travel.sndimg.com/static_file...ia_966x543.jpg or http://www.travelchannel.com/interes...hway-road-trip Despite the caption, the photo does not show the Pacific Coast Highway. The PCH ends jsut north of Santa Barbara. From there to San Francisco it is the Cabrillo Highway. Once upon a time the state published a map on the web that showed this as PCH and I sent an email pointing out that they, of all people, should know that it is the Cabrillo Highway. I got an email of thanks in return and the map was corrected within a day. The Bixby Bridge is also on the Cabrillo Highway, not the PCH. The mistake seems widespread, and given the glamour associated in minds with the PCH I can understand the mistake by people residing quite far away. I lived for some 16 years in, first, Pacifica and then Daly city and traveled Hwy 1 wiht regularity. The first time I called it Pacific Coast Highway in ftont of some Pacificans my error was quickly pointed out in no uncertain terms. Unfortunately, the actual Pacific Coast Highway, which runs between north of Santa Barbara to San Onofre south of LA, is nowhere near as scenic as the Cabrillo Highway, although I will grant a bit of scenicness around Malibu. I've done it 7 or 8 times. From Monterey down to San Simeone. Stay overnight at the Cavalier hotel on the water. Fire pits on the ocean at night. THE best apple pie at their restaurant, and drive back up the next day. Driving south I think is the better view, car on the outside and curvy roads are in view ahead and below you. On way north, you're on the inside and sometimes not as nice a view. It is true that it CAN be dangerous to cruise and gawk at same time so pull over often and enjoy it. I DO agree with the advice on foggy, dank conditions. Although when I'm there off season and it is overcast/damp, rather than the drive, I head to Pebble Beach and often get on the course for cheap money. A few years ago I played Spanish Bay for $85 ! Just wait until about 12 noon, as the fog lifts. I'm not an avid golfer but love walking those courses. Spanish bay is a links course so a lot of water views. When I first moved to Arizona in the mid-1960s my wife and I made the trip to San Francisco one mid-spring. I came back the the University of Arizona raving about the scenery along what I, too, at first called the PCH, and about the green rolling hills east of the Coast range. A colleague took my advice and drove up the coast in June. When he came back he cussed me out and said the drive was one of the toughest he'd ever made what with the fact tha it was so foggy and, besides, those hills were brown (Californians like to call them "golden"). How was I supposed to know it didn't rain in California in the summertime (the Mommas and the Poppas cover of the song came out later) and that summer was the foggy season on the California coast. |
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