The Big Sur & Santa Barbara

We made our way out of SF via the Internatipnal Airport. We were on a quest to get another phat SUV. It was with sadness that we said our good-byes to our long wheel base Yukon. 

The thing was ace. I gaffawed to anyone who would listen that I needed something equally as fully sik. I looked at a few different varieties but nothing tickled my fancy. I then considered my position. I figured that whatever I got next was going to sit in my Hotel carpark for the week of Disneyland. With that in mind, I requested a downgrade. They agreed, gave me A$400 back and let us take our pick of any of the vans. We hunted till we found one with Satnav.  We got a Chrysler something with heaps of gadgets. 

All our stuff just fitted. It was a bit like doing a Chinese puzzle, but we got there. We were greatly assisted in our quest by Travis. He was a 20 something former commodity trader who seemed to speak English, French & Spanish. And here he was renting me a mini-van at Alamo car rentals. Unique. 

Charlie had been researching and located a massive factory outlet plaza in Gilroy for a spot of shopping. It's all about the shoes! (And perfume & handbags) Spent at least a couple (maybe 3) hours hunting through all manner of factory outlets. Adidas, Nautical, Saks Fifth Avenue and others. Lots of bargains had. 

      Re-charge your Tesla while shopping

We also smashed down an In-n-Out burger each and some fizzies.  It was a warm day (39 degrees) and so an arvo of shopping worked well. 

             Yes - that's the upsize!

After this little detour, we set off for Monterey. It was an easy drive. There we had a nice little Best Western with much thicker walks than the San Fran Travel Lodge. William & Gracie enjoyed the pool.

After settling in we headed down to the wharf. It was awesome. A beautiful night and nothing like the craziness of San Fran. Kind of a pimped up version of Mornington. Very touristy but fun. We had tea on the wharf before a little visit to a Lolly Shop. I know it sounds like a junk food fest. And it is. William has re-discovered  sugar. Everyone will be on a serious detox upon our return. 

                   Monterey pier

We set off today after breakfast to reach our destination of Santa Barbara. We went via the coast road (The Big Sur). It's quite a long way (about 400 kms), but much of it is slow and busy. A bit like the Great Ocean Road on Boxing Day. We went via the coast because of the spectacular views. Sadly, a misty fog rolled in from the ocean and for about 375 of the 400 kms all we could see was cloud. Virtually no views at all of the ocean for the majority of the day. Major bummer. I'm sure it's a spectacular drive. 

Before leaving Monterey we visited Canery Lane and the Bubba  Gump Shrimp Company - complete with Forrest Gump's Nike's, a suit case and a box of chocolates.

         Life's like a box of chocolates

We then headed to Lovers Point beach where we mucked around on the rocks & threw the footy. 

                     Lovers Point 

We then had a lazy trek along the 17 mile tourist road through Pebble Beach (where we had lunch) and Carmel by the Sea. We marvelled at the homes (big and small) and their unique story book qualities. 

We also stopped at Ragged Point and a myriad of other spots, most of which related to spew or toilet (or both) requests. 

The Portal to the Big Sur at Ragged Point

     Our cloudy view for most of the day

     Elephant seals lazing on the beach

Arrived at our Ramada Hotel in Santa Barbara about 7.00 pm. Good sized room. Some how, Lara and I ended up on the foldout, while the kids got the good beds. Still scratching my head on that one. Likely to need a back and neck brace for the next few days as a result.

Had a swim and a spa with William & Gracie before bed. Pool is fantastic. Will have a look around here tomoz, before heading for our 7 day Disneyland adventure.