Mama's Visit: Pacific Coast Highway and Big Sur

On Day Three of Mama's visit, we spent another long day in the car.  Little Bunkey was an absolute champ, taking everything in stride, and never complaining about being strapped in his car seat for hours on end (not that he could complain, since he can't talk!).

This time, we headed South, to Big Sur.  We drove along the Pacific Coast Highway, letting Mama take in the breathtaking views of the ocean and cliffs, trees and wildflowers lining the highway.  We stopped in the River Valley for lunch and to peek in the few shops nearby, and then continued down the road about 20 miles, looking for the spot with the elephant seals that I desperately wanted to show my mom.  That said, I wasn't too keen on driving too far south (and ending up at Hearst Castle!) so eventually we threw in the towel and found a safe place to turn around before we reached the seal sanctuary.  Oh well.  The views we did see were gorgeous (so much moreso than the cloudy, foggy, cold day Hubs and I spent driving along Rte 1 several months ago), so I won't call the trip a failure.

On the return trip, we stopped at a cute gallery area to look at the various works of art, take a potty break, and get a coffee!  We also picked up some tasty cheese to enjoy back at the house!

A Day Trip on the PCH

After a week of mid-terms, Hubs was ready for a break from the books and Bunkey and I were excited for a family adventure! So, since Hubs was able to get a lot of studying done on Friday for his last midterm on Monday, Saturday we were able to go do something fun! We woke up bright and early and got Bunkey fed and packed up the car for a day-trip along the Pacific Coast Highway... Recently I'd come across a wonderful website and we decided to give one of their sample itineraries a whirl!

We traveled first to Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, about 2 1/2 hours South of Monterey. We stopped along the way at what is supposedly a hot spot for whale watching - we just thought it was a cute cafe - for hot chocolate, blueberry muffins, and to feed the baby. I would have liked to take our breakfast outside on the patio to watch for whales, but it was just too cool for the baby and too foggy to really see anything. Bunkey didn't really want to eat yet, so after we were done eating, we got back on the road for the final push to Hearst Ranch! Once we arrived, we sat in the car so Bunkey could finally eat and to change him, but then we found out it'd be almost two hours to tour the property and strollers weren't allowed. So we looked around in the visitors center, saw a neat vintage fire truck and some gorgeous views, and got back in the car to loop back to the north.

We stopped next at Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. While it's not the pupping season, we saw tons of seals laying on the beach, and even a couple bulls playing in the surf! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that, but as you can see, there's a few good pictures of the seals sunning themselves!!

After watching the seals for a while, we drove on to Ragged Point, which is supposedly the place with the best views of the coast, but we weren't able to find parking close enough to get a view without having to carry the infant seat a long way, so we just looked form the car. We'd seen the views on the way to Hearst Castle, and they were really pretty (I can only imagine what they'd look like without fog!)...I wish we'd stopped then since there were plenty of places to park earlier in the day! Oh well! We continued down the highway and stopped a few other places with pretty views and parking right on the edge of the cliffs!

We drove past several state parks on the way to Big Sur, but we didn't stop since hiking the nature trails with the baby is just too difficult! We stopped in Big Sur along the riverbed for lunch at the River Inn and to stretch our legs. Hubs and I were starving since by then it was close to 2:00 and we hadn't eaten since we stopped for muffins in the morning! We got back home around 4 and relaxed after a long day in the car.... It was a really pretty drive, but we both agreed we'd at least like to drive through Big Sur again some time when it's not so foggy!

We had a great day and enjoyed the scenery and exploring the area! We're looking forward to more weekend adventures like today!!