Soberanes fire - horrible. We've been making the most of smoke clouds in Monterey. Today much ash in the air. We were bound for Big Sur Thurs, staying in Cambria. Due in SB with non-refundable res Fri. Thinking of needing to ditch that plan and salvage things. Wine tasting in Santa Ynez? Stay in Solvang? Keep Cambria and head north on rte 1 as far as possible?

Also any afvice for smoky Monterey would be lovely. Awuarium today - absolutely amazing.

TIA.

That's a dreadful fire.

I think heading for Solvang and the Santa Ynez calley would be a good alternative to Big Sur, but you might also see about a visit to Hearst Castle/Cambria.

If you have to be in Santa Barbara, why head north first?

Here are articles about smoke reaching SLO county:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/lo...e92031297.html

http://www.ksby.com/story/32535778/s...-obispo-county

There are reports of smoke haze in the Pismo Beach area as well.

Of course conditions can change rapidly depending on wind.

The smoke level today is not as bad as yesterday in Carmel. Haven't smelled any smoke and not seeing any ash so far vs yesterday when we were keeping windows closed. A friend in Monterey is coming over later so we can go down to Carmel beach.

Also I was at Elkhorn Slough yesterday and it wasn't smoky there. Not sure about today though.

I'm not understanding why you'd want to ditch paid reservations in SB to stay in Solvang....SB is only 35 or 40 mins further.

La Quinta Inn Paso Robles is very nice and allows cancellation up until 6pm, just in case you want to lock something in just in case you need it. It's going to be slim pickings anywhere along the coast at this point.

Also if you call your SB hotel and give them 24 hrs notice that you're stuck north of the Big Sur fires, maybe they'll do a free cancellation for you? Worth a try if indeed you want to cancel SB.

I think the OP is considering ditching Cambria tomorrow not SB on Friday but I'm not sure. I wouldn't go to Paso in lieu of Cambria. It's more likely to be smoky inland than on the coast.

I would never ever substitute Solvang for Santa Barbara.

Google offers a Monterey-Cambria itinerary via US101, which will take about 2.5 hours. Probably faster than doing Big Sur on CA1 and gives access to Hearst Castle if that is your aim. It's a pity that you cannot take CA1, but otherwise the fire should not be impinging on your original itinerary and plans.

Oops, I'm two days too late.

Updated an hour ago:

http://calfireinformation.weebly.com...e-updates.html