Day 2 and 3...Drive from San Diego to Monterey!

Day 1: San Diego to Grover Beach

First Stop: Santa Monica.
We had a picnic lunch on the beach in Santa Monica right next to the pier. I stuck my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in about 17 years. It was pretty chilly, which is exactly what I remembered it as! Good to know that some things never change! After our picnic we walked around on the pier and checked out some of the rides and little shops. Then we took some time to walk around the down town area. I loved that there is basically a park on the beach. There were swings, monkey bars, slack lines, and more (for both kids and adults).

Second Stop:
Traffic on a freeway that was 16 lanes wide.
This stop happened around the exit for Hollywood and Malibu. And it was horrible, but I managed to drive through all the traffic like a pro. I love Southern California, but the traffic is something I'm not sure I could get used to.

Last Stop:
Pismo Beach State Park
We stopped just outside Grover Beach to watch the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean! It was our first Pacific Ocean Sunset! But thankfully for me, it won't be my last!

Day 2: Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)

The PCH was one of the most beautiful roads I have ever ridden on, it also terrified me. The water color is out of this world, the wild life is incredible, and you never know what to expect around the next corner (as in you may very well find the lane fell off into the ocean)! I recommend that everyone should do it once in their life (just make sure you are with a good driver)!

Wild Life:
Around Hearst Castle we stopped because the sign said Elephant Seal Viewing. The females had taken over the beach! It is molting season right now, so they are all out of the water for a few weeks to shed their coats! While we were here we also saw our first whale sighting! A mom and calf Grey whale pair migrating north!











Our other great wildlife encounter came at Point Lobos State Reserve. We were told by a docent that we must check out Bird Island, so we headed there for our picnic! I hiked the trail out to Bird Island (a large Brandt's Cormorant Rookery) only to find a beach with mom and baby Harbor Seals and Sea Otters swimming in the cove on the way.



On the 17 mile drive in Carmel we stopped at Bird Rock to see all of the sea lions and seals that were overtaking the rock. We also found some more cormorants and sea otters along with Black Turnstones and Black Oyster Catchers! It was an incredible wildlife day!


Sights:

On the PCH basically the entire drive was an amazing sight! But we did stop and see a few things along the way. The waterfall at Julia Pfiefer Burns State Park was Beautiful! And the view across on the other side of the park was just amazing (and yes the water really is that BLUE)!

Bixby Bridge was another one of the beautiful stops that we made along the PCH. This is the view looking back at the bridge after we had already driven over it!

We stopped in Carmel and enjoyed a beautiful beach! Then we took the scenic 17 mile drive. We saw Pebble Beach and a couple of other golf courses, along with some pretty fantastic views of Monterey!

Overall the 2 days were an experience like no other! While both very different, both still worth doing! I still can't get over how beautiful that blue water is! Plus the sightings of whales always makes me happy! And really, who can pass up an amusement park on a pier!