Los Angeles and the Pacific Coastal Highway

After 'roughing it out' in the Grand Canyon, heading back to LA and the de Villiers' was a real treat. 

We arrived on Monday afternoon and had a couple of days of family and home to look forward to. 

When we arrived Kelly was at ballet school and had made lasagna for us, Braam & the girls- we couldn't have asked for a more 'homely and welcomed meal'. 

And sleeping in a bed for a change was heaven. 

Into the thick of things right off the bat!

The next day was clean up day and we spent it washing our clothes, our stinky shoes, tent..well just about everything. Luckily Beatie was around, entertaining us with her no-limits imagination. 

Who knew cleaning stinky shoes could be so much fun!

The afternoon we took the girls to the park and all had another delicious home made meal for supper. 

The air in the de Villiers' house was filled with great excitement because Oupa (aka Wim) was coming to visit, he had just been to Canada for work and stopped via LA en route home. 

Braam and Kelly had rented us bikes to explore the famous Los Angeles coastline , so Albertus, Wim and myself went for a long cycle all along the promenade..

Hermosa Beach 

Starting at Hermosa beach , past Manhattan until we reached the unequivocal Venice beach. 

Cruising along the beach front bike path

On route we somehow missed the signpost for the 'bike route' and took a wrong turn. After a couple of miles when we had loads of trucks and buses storm pass us we realized that something was wrong and that we had somehow ended up on the main highway to San Francisco! 

We quickly asked for help, got redirected and found our way back to the beach and the safety of the 'bike-lane' ...sweat dripping down our backs... Once at Venice beach Wim treated us to a delicious lunch and a much needed beer. 

Iconic Baywatch tower in the background!

That evening Braam was running late at work so Kelly, the girls, Paula (Kelly's mom) and the two van der Merwes went to dinner at their local 'round the corner ' mexican restuarant. As Elouise is attending a Spanish school, she was throwing some Spanish phrases and made us all feel right at home. Clever girl that one. 

Eating out with 3 small children is an adventure in itself and never a dull moment;)

Albertus finally met someone who shares his insatiable love of Nachos chips!

We also got to borrow a car from Dave, Kelly's dad, and while driving to go hike around the Hollywood hills, yes where the famous sign is situated, we got some first hand experience of the crazy LA traffic. Hectic.

On our last night we were treated by the de Villiers to dinner at the beautiful Nelsons restaurant in Ranchos Palos Verde. 

Nelsons family outing

The restaurant is situated right on the iconic Californian cliffs overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean... Watching the sun sink into the distant watery horizon was idyllic and a perfect farewell. 

Once again it is family that gave wind to our sails and now we're reloaded, ready for our last month of backpacking! 

Thank you Braam, Kelly, Elouise, Beatrix and Rosalie!

Route 1 to San Francisco: 

So we had heard great things about the Pacific Coastal Highway (PCH) or also known as Route 1, a very scenic road meandering from LA to San Francisco all along the coast. 

We had rented a car and gave ourselves three days to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Cruising slowly, stopping frequently to enjoy the awe inspiring views and just going where the road leads us. 

Prior to leaving LA we didn't spend much (or any) time planning our trip, booking accommodation or doing any research...we thought we would just 'wing it'... 

Fout. 

We learnt the hard way that being prepared is always a good idea. 

It was weekend, and the route was absolutely packed with people in cars bikes and motorbikes. Everyone needing to stay somewhere. 

So there we were driving around, frantically looking for accommodation- being disappointed when it was full (booked out months in advance), not stopping to enjoy views or a cup of coffee... Tension building up between the newlyweds...Becoming hungry and angry... aka Hangry...get the picture?

Needless to say, at the end of each day we did find some very nice places to camp or a roof over our heads, saw some amazing things and eventually made it safe and sound to San Francisco. 

Things don't always go the way you expected but they always tend to work out one way or another - just got to keep a cool head and open mind! Easier said than done but hey we're learning as we go!

Our first night we got to stay over in a little Danish town, Slovang, which was very strange but also cool in a way! 

Not all is rotten in the state of California...;)

It's like somehow a small Danish village just dropped out of the sky and landed in rural California! We treated ourselves to some delicious danish pancakes early the next morning, which according to Albertus is the best way to start your day!

There was no way we weren't going in...

After breakfast we drove up the coast and visited a small and quaint little village, Morro Bay, with its big monolithic rock gazing steadily over the calm waters of the lagoon...

Morro Bay lagoon

The drive along the coastal highway is quite superb even by our the high Cape Townian standards! For the most part the road hugs the coastline with graceful ease,  showcasing its spectacular views of both the vast Pacific Ocean and the (for the most part) dry, jagged coastal mountains with its scruffy Monterey Pines! Well until it zigzags you up a mountain pass with stomach turning corners, followed by nerve wrecking descents! 

We were hoping to stay in Big Sur but most campgrounds were closed due to a recent forest fire... So we ended up staying in a really cool redwood forest just outside Santa Cruz, called the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, and got to camp in the shadows of these gigantic and magnificent trees. 

Not bad for a camp spot!

The park was only a couple of miles from this really authentic logging town, called Felton which we drove to for dinner the one night and breakfast the next morning - the remnants of the big logging industries are still very evident all over town and did give the town quite a unique feel! 

The logging town of Felton

Our third and last night we got to spend the night with Spencer, Kelly's brother, in a beautiful seaside town, Santa Cruz. 

The town is probably one of the most iconic surf towns in the world. Home of surf wear tycoon Jack O'Neal and Mavericks legend Jay Moriarity, the town has, despite its fame, managed to still hang on to its authentic small town roots, and above all its unfaltering love of surfing...At any given time there are at least 100 surfers in the water catching (or waiting to catch) waves. 

"The Hook" surf spot in Santa Cruz...I know it looks pretty flat...

The vibe is infectious and after watching the locals go at it we just could not resist the urge to get in the water! So we borrowed surfboards from Spencer, rented wet-suits and headed to Pleasure Point which is one of the famous surf spots but one that's also still accessible to the "average joe's". 

All geared up and ready to go!

Albertus got some impressive waves, and I mostly just lay on my board watching all the exciting activity. It was great fun! 

Pleasure Point surf spot...

After our morning surf we got some breakfast and coffee and hit the road north again, to San Francisco. We stuck to the coastal highway once again and passed through the iconic and laid back Half Moon Bay, home to the iconic big wave surfing spot, Mavericks...Which apparently was set to get some monster swells in the coming weeks which was a crazy thought given the benign conditions that prevailed as we drove by...calm before the storm...

We soon entered the busy cosmopolitan of San Francisco, and headed to the airport to go drop off our rental car. The scenery of the Californian coastline was really something to see and it definitely set the tone for our next adventure...a week in Yosemite National Park! 

Thanks for the rad time Cali!