Pacific Coast Highway

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P A C I F I C   C O A S T

H I G H W A Y

 

If you’re not the kind to take the scenic route, this one should at least make you think about it.  Highway 1 hugs the California coast.  It eventually changes to Highway 101 and continues through Oregon.  It’s an old, two-lane road, and there’s not much opportunity for making good time.  It’s slow going most of the way.  You might spend 3 hours going 60 miles.  It’s not always traffic.  The road can be switchback after switchback for miles.  The stretch contains many historic bridges and passes through some of the most well known communities in the U.S.

The beaches along the West Coast are not like the Gulf or East Coast.  It’s cold water here and mostly rugged coastline.  It can stay in the 60s all day along the coast in the middle of July.  Go 10 miles inland and it’ll be 85.  There are cool little areas to stop by and grab a bite or do some shopping, if that’s your thing.

P A C I F I C   C O A S T   H I G H W A Y

C A L I F O R N I A   &   O R E G O N

The Bixby Bridge at Big Sur.  Probably the most famous.

The are MANY signs warning you of entering and leaving “Tsunami Hazard Zones”.  Makes you feel safe.  There’s also A LOT of construction on the road...not routine maintenance either.  Many areas have gotten washed out, so it turns into a one lane road.  You will sit at many stoplights anywhere from 5-15 minutes waiting on opposing traffic to pass.  It gives you plenty of time to run to the back of the car to grab a snack.

Keep going north, and you’ll pass through Redwood National Park.

The whale at the Klamath River Bridge.  The whale had come up from the ocean with a calf.  The calf left.  The whale hung out here for over 6 weeks and eventually died.  They aren’t sure why it died yet.

Oregon.  DO NOT TRY TO PUMP YOUR OWN GAS HERE.