From the UK to the UK via CA, NV, UT and OR

Day 22 – Southern California

Today dawned sunny and clear, so it was a case of backtrack 20 miles to the start of the really scenic stuff that I couldn’t see yesterday!

I have a camcorder on a special mount in the car just for this section of road, so after taking some pictures from the aforementioned Bixby Bridge.

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It’s on with the camcorder and off down route 1.
First stop is Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, there are allegedly some spectacular waterfalls here, but after following the waterfalls trail for nearly an hour I come to the conclusion that someone’s moved them!!

The coastline from one of the overlooks was worth the walk though

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Stopping at another vista point down the road I happen across a stretch of beach completely filled with Elephant Seals

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These once near extinct animals now numbering in the thousands come ashore on the Californian coastline every year to moult, grow new skin and rear their young.
Quite an impressive sight.

I’d been looking forward to the next stop since the first days of this trip.
Much has been written about Hearst Castle and the man whose vision created it.

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Initially intended to be a 24 month project, it still wasn’t finished when Hearst died 28 years after starting it.

I could write pages on this place, I cannot put it strongly enough how truly amazing it is.
I will return to SoCal just to come here again – it’s that good.

They offer 5 different tours, some of which are booked out months in advance.
I did tour 1 which is the 90 minute introduction they recommend for first time visitors, in addition to the tour you also get to see a 45 minute video presentation on the dreams behind the castle and of Hearst’s young life. Truly inspirational.

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It cost Hearst approximately $9m to build and furnish the castle, and everyone who’s anyone has stayed here, from Amelia Earhart to Winston Churchill.
It’s impossible to put a value on the estate now, but they have some single pieces of art that are worth $50m plus

Go… Just go. It’s worth it, I promise you!

More stunning Highway 1 scenery now.

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Last stop of the day is San Luis Obispo – I stop here for a late lunch and a wander around.
They have another mission.

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And a lovely little downtown district full of boutique shops – a really nice place and a fitting end to a great day.
Weirdly they also have bubblegum alley – this is exactly as it sounds, an alleyway completely covered in 30 years worth of used bubblegum… it takes all kinds I suppose!

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A further hour down the road lies Santa Barbara, my stop for my last night on this road trip.

Day 23 – Santa Barbara

The final day of my trip isn’t even a full day as I have to be back at LAX by 4.30pm at the latest.

Three things on my list to do today, all in Santa Barbara

Stop 1 is The Queen of Missions – Santa Barbara Mission.

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On this site since 1786 the mission is a quiet oasis of calm, the self guided walking tour only takes 30 minutes or so, but reveals some interesting bits of history and religious artifacts.

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Next stop is the Santa Barbara courthouse.

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This building takes up a whole city block, and is built in the same style as almost the whole city,

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The reason for this uniform look to Santa Barbara is revealed on the tour – in 1926 there was a really bad earthquake here that basically wiped out almost all of the city.
When the rebuilding started, the city fathers decreed that there should be no buildings over 4 stories tall, and all buildings should be done in the Spanish style of cream walls and red roofs,

It looks lovely!

I get plenty of chances to see the city on my final stop – a 90 minute trolley tour, it’s hop on – hop off and takes in both of the places I’ve already seen today.

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Starting from Stearns Wharf, this is a good tour, containing some fascinating insights into living in Santa Barbara – the price of property here is scary!

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This property isn’t for sale though, it’s the Montecito Inn, famously built and run by Charlie Chaplin it’s in the very upscale neighbouhood of Montecito, where a T-shirt can cost $200

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Back to the car I now have 2hrs 30 to drive to LAX – Sat Nav says it’s 98 miles but the amount of traffic on the road, along with a couple of accidents means that I only have 10 minutes spare when I get to the airport… very tight!

So that’s my mammoth road trip done and dusted.

Total mileage 5812
Total fuel cost $592.73
Total fuel used 258.3 gallons
Ave Fuel cons 22.5mpg
Ave fuel cost $2.285 per gallon

I’ve had fun, seeing so many different things that I really need some time to digest them all.

Join me again in September for the next trip!

Derek,

We really enjoyed this year's adventure -- Thanks for sharing it with us!

Mark

I really enjoyed your report, your photo's are stunning and so much useful info for members and visitors to digest !

Feel free to upload that video down route 1 on a host site like "YouTube" and add a link to it.
Now that I would like to see ;-)

Dangermouse, really enjoyed reading your report -great writing and photos- and have given me a few ideas of places to see on my trip too! - also v envious of the car but the 2 of us will have too much luggage!!
(did you upload the video to youtube ?- would love to see it!)

Emma

As it worked so well on my other thread, I thought I'd add a google map of my route to this trip as well.
Google says 4234 miles, so again you can see just how much gets added on with side trips and extra stuff - 1600 miles in this case!