PCH road trip

hello! we are back from our road trip down the pacific coast highway!

we can't stop talking about how much we loved it. it's definitely something that everyone should do at least once! here is a little recap {and guide}.. 

•the well-traveled wife's guide for a
road trip down the pacific coast highway!•

route:

since we already live in the bay, we started down in monterey. our route included:

monterey

carmel

pebble beach

point lobos

bixby bridge

big sur

pfeiffer state park

piedras blancas beach

san simeon

hearst castle

cambria

cayucos

morro bay

san luis obisbo

pismo beach

santa barbara

los angeles

we discovered some of the best stops along the way, from amazing views 

to yummy treats to charming towns. here is our roadtrip in pictures:
 

monterey is too charming! be sure to stop by cannery row in the historic district for shopping and 

lunch//dinner. bike or walk out along the coastal path and take in the views of the ocean + the incredible 

houses there! also..the aquarium is truly the best i've seen. make sure you have ample time to explore if you go! we caught monterey on a rainy day which made it even better this time. we could have spent 

all day there! luckily we live close enough to it that we can come back again and again.

we are always on the search for the best pad thai, so we tried out pacific thai cuisine in monterey before heading 
to carmel for the night. their pad thai was good because it was a little sweeter than usual. i'd say 7.5/10

the next morning we left carmel and started down the real drive...it was breathtaking!

i'll warn you right now that there are lots of pictures and they do not do it justice.

bixby bridge was husband's favorite part. he is a bridge lover and this one was spectacular!

 

big sur was incredible and the forest trees are so tall. we want to come back and camp here..
and run the famous big sur marathon along here!

tall trees + amazing windy roads..

we were feeling lucky to have a prius when we saw these crazy gas prices!!

 

this was me a majority of the time

 

we got out and took a path to this waterfall lookout..if you look close

you can see the waterfall behind us {to the right} streaming into the gorgeous teal ocean! 

 

later we stopped at piedras blancas beach to see the famous elephant seals that are always here.

these elephant seals are huge and white and i loved them and wanted to take one home for a pet.

 
the hearst castle is something i've always wanted to see, and it was amazing! 
definitely a must-see

 

 after hearst castle, we loved discovering the darling town of cambria...
maybe because we had the best lunch ever here!

we saved our appetites for dessert and more yummy food we knew was coming on the way.
cayucos was another fun beach town that we couldn't get enough of! there were even
people riding horses just in the middle of the street..love small towns like this one.

the amazing ocean view coming into cayucos

we were told to come to la parisienne for a chocolate-almond croissant, and we are glad we did!

 

san luis obisbo was a fun college town to see..we especially loved it since some of our

best friends in the bay went to school here at cal poly so we knew of all the good places to check out!

 

one of our last stops before cutting back from santa barbara to los angeles was
pismo beach. we LOVE this place! the best little hidden gem of a beach town.

plus, we had the best clam chowder in the whole entire world here {not exaggerating!}

 

everyone put it on your list to try a clam chowder bread bowl from splash cafe..
it is unlike any other! creamiest, yummiest chowder + grilled bread bowl= heaven. 
husband's exact quote was: "i feel like i'm eating a grilled cheese with clam chowder in it." 

...since we had been to solvang and santa barbara many times, we didn't stop this time..but we recommend both!
see our visit to the little danish town of solvang here, and santa barbara here! 

we love you, pacific coast highway.

thanks for the best memory!

*ALSO: little video of our PCH roadie..i made it on my phone, so it is very rough but shows our fun trip!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_-XVMeU90U

XO