My California Road Trip - Day 1 of 6: San Francisco to Santa Cruz
We had flown into San Francisco airport with the intention of renting a car to drive the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1). We had 6 days to drive South along the coast to L.A and then blast back up the motorway to San Fran for our flight out again.
THE TRIP
Our plans were pretty flexible, follow the coast as much as possible along Highway 1, enjoy the drive, stop and look at anything interesting we see along the way. I didn't book any accommodation as I didn't want to feel tied to a deadline or a need to make it to a particular place. We would just stop at the end of each day wherever we ended up. The only thing I booked in advance was the car.
THE CAR
For the classic American road trip, I wanted a classic American muscle car, so I had booked in advance a convertible Mustang. I was imaging top down with the wind in my hair driving...however, for reasons unknown to me, the rental company had given my car to another customer??? I thought that is what booking was for??? UGH! Not a good start to the trip, and after some annoyance and disappointment the rental company managed to find me a 2017 RS Camaro. It was a hardtop not a convertible but we would have to make do and get on with it. The black Camaro did actually look pretty good and provided ample boot space, which came in useful. I typed "Santa Cruz" into our sat-nav and figured that we should get there about 9pm.
THE DRIVE
It was a fairly non-descript drive for our first leg as I came to grips with the car. Now, I've been driving for 25 years, but I was used to driving right-hand drive cars on the left side of the road...this was all backwards. Left-hand drive was going to take a little bit of adjusting. We pulled onto the highway and people were driving fast. I was trying to settle on 60 and most cars were flying past me at 70 to 75 mp/h. I kept finding myself sitting too far right in the lane, and got beeped by a few motorists who were worried i was going to drift into the side of their car. However, after I adjusted this for my driving position, the drive was uneventful and smooth. As we pulled off the highway into Santa Cruz town, I encountered my first roundabout. If it wasn;t for my lovely wife, I would have driven around it in the opposite direction...That would have been awkward. Shortly after we made it to the beachfront of Santa Cruz and I felt that was enough for my first stint of driving on US roads.
THE HOTEL
We pulled up at the Coast View Inn which was located on the shore-front between the pier and the legendary Santa Cruz boardwalk. It was your standard strip-motel with 2 levels and about 20 rooms. We were lucky enough to get the last room for the night.
DINNER & BOARDWALK
By this stage we had been travelling all day, so there wasn't much left to do except grab some food and take a quiet stroll down the boardwalk amusement park. Thankfully there was a little mexican restaurant just around the corner serving hot food and cold beer.
The temperature was rather chilly but the air was fresh and clean. I wrote another steemit piece about the SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK.
That's all for today, and honestly it wasn't much of a driver's day, but our trip had begun. Stay tuned for Day 2 as we continue south along Highway 1.
For more Travel, Food, Drinks & Adventure..Be Sure to Follow
Click here to:
THE TRIP
Our plans were pretty flexible, follow the coast as much as possible along Highway 1, enjoy the drive, stop and look at anything interesting we see along the way. I didn't book any accommodation as I didn't want to feel tied to a deadline or a need to make it to a particular place. We would just stop at the end of each day wherever we ended up. The only thing I booked in advance was the car.
THE CAR
For the classic American road trip, I wanted a classic American muscle car, so I had booked in advance a convertible Mustang. I was imaging top down with the wind in my hair driving...however, for reasons unknown to me, the rental company had given my car to another customer??? I thought that is what booking was for??? UGH! Not a good start to the trip, and after some annoyance and disappointment the rental company managed to find me a 2017 RS Camaro. It was a hardtop not a convertible but we would have to make do and get on with it. The black Camaro did actually look pretty good and provided ample boot space, which came in useful. I typed "Santa Cruz" into our sat-nav and figured that we should get there about 9pm.
THE DRIVE
It was a fairly non-descript drive for our first leg as I came to grips with the car. Now, I've been driving for 25 years, but I was used to driving right-hand drive cars on the left side of the road...this was all backwards. Left-hand drive was going to take a little bit of adjusting. We pulled onto the highway and people were driving fast. I was trying to settle on 60 and most cars were flying past me at 70 to 75 mp/h. I kept finding myself sitting too far right in the lane, and got beeped by a few motorists who were worried i was going to drift into the side of their car. However, after I adjusted this for my driving position, the drive was uneventful and smooth. As we pulled off the highway into Santa Cruz town, I encountered my first roundabout. If it wasn;t for my lovely wife, I would have driven around it in the opposite direction...That would have been awkward. Shortly after we made it to the beachfront of Santa Cruz and I felt that was enough for my first stint of driving on US roads.
THE HOTEL
We pulled up at the Coast View Inn which was located on the shore-front between the pier and the legendary Santa Cruz boardwalk. It was your standard strip-motel with 2 levels and about 20 rooms. We were lucky enough to get the last room for the night.
DINNER & BOARDWALK
By this stage we had been travelling all day, so there wasn't much left to do except grab some food and take a quiet stroll down the boardwalk amusement park. Thankfully there was a little mexican restaurant just around the corner serving hot food and cold beer.
The temperature was rather chilly but the air was fresh and clean. I wrote another steemit piece about the SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK.
That's all for today, and honestly it wasn't much of a driver's day, but our trip had begun. Stay tuned for Day 2 as we continue south along Highway 1.
For more Travel, Food, Drinks & Adventure..Be Sure to Follow
Click here to:
Nice! Yeah, rental car places advertise "similar or like" not "exact" car. they tricked you.
Yeah, I was pretty annoyed with that.
Amazing pics. I live here. I'm so excited to see your visit. Saturday we are going to Hulu's restaurant in downtown SC, then taking the trolley to the Boardwalk for my cousin's birthday.
I would be really honored to answer some questions or send you to some local spots if you want.
Cheers. Have a great trip.
PS If you want to drive North out of Santa Cruz a little bit, there some cool spots. I just posted a video called "Slow Coast 3 California Hidden Gems". Or something close to that title. You will recognize the title if you go to my page.
Cheers. Journey On!
Wow! You are lucky to live in such a great place. Thanks for the tips but we have already moved on, I'm posting a few days late. I'm just writing now about the Pier. Loved SC! Following you now also.
Awesome! Have a great trip. Cheers
That must have been a great drive, certainly different to what you are used to in Thailand!
haha, very different mate!
Haha I think Bangkok and LA traffic are same same, they both suck. But more arrogance in US versus more passive aggressive in Thailand lol! Have fun guys :)