Hi!

We're just finalizing our plans for the 3-day central coast leg of our 16 day California trip - we're flying out on Saturday and I'd love some critiques of our plans (particularly how to split up day 1 and 2 - and whether there's anything we're missing that we shouldn't miss!)...

We will be leaving from Paso Robles on a Friday morning and have planned the following:

To be split between Day 1 & 2:

- First, head over to the coast via Cambria and stop at Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals

- Then, we'd like to do the Pacific Valley Bluff Trail (Pacific Valley Station, Los Padres National Forest). Can anyone comment on this trail? It's apparently only 0.7mi, so totally do-able. Can someone confirm that this trail is SOUTH of the Pfeiffer parks?

- we'd also like to do the short Sand Dollar Beach Trail off of Hwy 1 and spend a bit of time on the beach with our little son... (I think this beach is very close to the Pacific Valley Bluff Trail)

- We'd like to stop and have lunch at some point at Nepenthe... Is it closeby to the above areas? Would the above activities be do-able before a late lunch?

- Continue driving with plenty of stops along the way to gaze at the coast and take lots and lots of photos

- Then head to Julia Pfieffer State Park. We'd like to do both the McWay Falls Trail and then the Ewoldsen Trail (can anyone give me an idea of how long this loop actually takes to complete? I'm thinking about 3 hours with our little one...).

- we need to pick a spot for dinner somewhere on our way up the coast...

The clencher is that in late afternoon/early evening, we need to continue up into Pacific Grove - we are staying in a 1-bedroom cottage at Andril Cottages.

Is all of this do-able? I know that a lot of the "hikes" are really short, but I want to be realistic. We sort of thought we'd do "southern" big sur on day 1 and then "northern big sur" on day 2, but it seems like most of the above activities are pretty central. So, should any of our planned Day 1 activities be moved to Day 2? Here's what day 2 looks like so far...

Day 2 (Saturday):

- early morning, head to Point Lobos to do some hiking and enjoy the area. It sounds so beautiful here that I imagine we'll want to spend at least 2-3 hours. Any suggestions for a spot for lunch? Maybe we'll do a picnic somewhere...

- head back down into Pfeiffer Big Sur State park (I know we're backtracking a little bit, but hey - if you have to backtrack, it might as well be on the central coast of California, right? . Hike some trails there, enjoy Pfeiffer Beach. Does anyone have any specific recommendations?

- this is actually our 5th wedding anniversary and so we'll need to be back at our lodging to get ready for dinner by about 5:00.

- dinner at Montrio Bistro at 6:30

- want somewhere romantic in PG or nearby to enjoy the sunset - ANY RECOMMENDATIONS??? (will we miss the beautiful part of it while at Montrio? What time is the most beautiful view of the sun setting over the coast at this time of year?).

Day 3 (Sunday):

- breakfast at Katy's place - do you know whether they take reservations? I don't think we could convince our 1-year-old to wait in line for an hour

- arrive at the Monterey Bay Aquarium around opening time to have the least crowds. Spend unlimited time at the aquarium (I'm assuming about 3-4 hours).

- head into Carmel in the afternoon for a late lunch and to explore the downtown shops, galleries, mission.

- walk along Carmel beach.

- explore PG and take a walk along Ocean View Blvd. (or should this be moved to Day 2?)

On the morning of Day 4 (Monday), we head out of PG and head to Yosemite!!!

Looking forward to hearing what all of you have to say!!! Thanks so much for all of your help, as always!

Just a quick revision - we've decided to do Katy's Place on the morning of Day 4 before heading to Yosemite. That way, we'll avoid the Sunday crowds and we'll also be able to get to the aquarium in good time on Sunday...

Sorry that my original post was so long - I promise, it's quick to read!

Hoping to hear some critiques... Thanks!!

Sunset will be after 8pm. The best (most fun) place to watch it is at Spanish Inn at Pebble Beach as they have a bagpiper to pipe the golfers off the course (a la St. Andrews). Problem is with your dinner reservations at 6:30 (don't know the resto--is there an ocean view?)--you will miss the sunset. If you wish, plan to bring the kidlet, sit by the firepits (you'll have to get there early) and enjoy! Oh, wait, it's June--it could all be foggy and gloomy.

Thanks TrvlMaven! Very useful information! Unfortunately, Montrio Bistro doesn't have an ocean view... perhaps we should bump our reservation to 6:00, so that we can be out of there by 7:30 (with the little guy, we won't be lingering over dinner anyway ) and get to that lovely spot in time for sunset... it sounds like a fun time!

p.s. - it's so funny that you mention the fog and gloom! Up here in Toronto, we've always heard about the "constantly lovely" weather in California... but now that we've booked a trip there, all we keep hearing about is the gloomy weather

Katy's Place is a great place for breakfast in Carmel. The California Market at the Highland's Inn would be a great place for lunch if you don't do the picnic at Pt. Lobos. We were just there at the Tickle Pink Inn in the Carmel Highland's area last month, we had gorgeous weather for kayaking in Monterey! ***kim***