Patty

Glad you had a great time! Are you going to do a post about PG?

janisj

I'm so glad you had a great time.

>>Uh oh, took a wrong turn 'somewhere' and ended up on 99 (very boring road) and took 140 into Yosemite anyway!

susieQ122

IMO, the problem is that he is totally into the damn GPS, which he insists on following, and I really hate that thing. Oh well...

We rented an Explorer, but when we got to the rental counter, they 'upgraded' us to a Lincoln SUV because there were no Explorers to be had. Good enough, I guess. Cars don't float my boat; I've driven Jeeps since 1994.

susieQ122

So onto the Monterey Peninsula...it was great! After leaving GP, we took the ride (on boring 99 again) and arrived in PG around 7, checked in, went out to dinner and called it a night. (Had a great room). The next day, we planned on taking a ride down Big Sur to Nepenthe, and much to our surprise, low and behold, another rock slide, another closed road! So we rode down, stopping at the State Park whose name is escaping me at the moment, spent some time there watching the seals, etc., and then continued down to the point where the road was closed, turned around and had lunch at the River Inn. I had wanted to stop at Rocky Point, just for the incredible view, but we were hungry and the River Inn was right there, so...but the view of the Pacific ocean is unparalleled, IMO.

The next day, we drove the 17 mile drive, which Hub enjoyed immensely. (I'd done it years ago), then went into the Carmel Valley and spent a good part of the day doing wine tastings. Being the nice wife I am (lol!) I volunteered to be the designated driver and enjoyed watching him enjoy himself. I wanted to go into Carmel, but when we drove through it, good luck even getting a parking space. It looked really sweet, but honestly, I don't go on vacation to shop. We went to Passion Fish that night for dinner and I had my best meal of the trip.

On our last full day, we decided to give the car a break and just hung around PG and went into Monterey, did the Fisherman's Wharf thing (had a really good lunch, actually), went to the Aquarium (I know most people love it, but honestly, I've been to many that I liked more (Atlanta and Baltimore to name two), and just had a nice, easy and relaxing day.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I know it won't be my last visit to California. (I think I'm a California girl at heart). Any suggestions as to where our next trip should take us? I'm thinking doing the Big Sur road trip down to San Diego, but as always, am open to any and all Fodor suggestions. They are always good ones!

janisj

>>Any suggestions as to where our next trip should take us? I'm thinking doing the Big Sur road trip down to San Diego, but as always, am open to any and all Fodor suggestions. Sonoma > Alexander Valley > Mendocino/Ft Bragg and the redwoods.

susieQ122

We split a week between SF and Sonoma a few years back. Loved it! Haven't been further north. Maybe Oregon down into Northern California?

janisj

>> Maybe Oregon down into Northern California?

Patty

You probably saw the harbor seals at Point Lobos. There's a new shuttle/hike/shuttle option to Nepenthe that just started this month. Glad you enjoyed Passionfish.

You may have to wait a while for the Big Sur road trip. The collapsed bridge is expected to be rebuilt this fall but there's still no solution for the massive Mud Creek slide farther south.

I've only done the inland route from OR to CA and there are some nice stops like Mt Hood, Bend, Crater Lake, Lassen (keep in mind the latter has a very, very short season when everything is open). We live on the coast so often prefer mountain scenery when we travel but need to do the coastal route some time.

jamie99

How about California Gold Country? We spent about 5-6 days doing that one year and especially enjoyed Nevada City and Columbia State Park. There are also some very nice wine tasting areas east of Sacramento near Placerville and Amador County.

mlgb

You can do the lower part of the Coast Hwy

From San Diego I'd include Torrey Pines State Park and Beach
San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach, Downtown LA and Griffith Park, Santa Barbara County using 246 or US1 west of Hwy 1(eg Sideways country/Santa Ynez, Buellton, Lompoc Wine Ghetto), Surf Beach if it isn't closed due to snowy plover protections, Pismo Beach, SLO, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Harmony, Cambria, San Simeon (Hearst Castle/Elephant seals), ending at Ragged Point.

For the return you can use 101 and include SLO, Santa Barbara etc.

Some of these places get less attention from the northern CA Fodorites who dominate the forum but with a little research you an easily fill two weeks.

susieQ122

Sounds really good. When I'm ready to start on my Southern California adventure will surely refer to all your good info. Thanks1