Driving up coast from SoCal to NorCal, need suggestions.

anonymouscuban · December 8, 2008

My wife and I decided to drive up to her sister's house for Christmas in the Bay Area. We usually either fly or take Highway 5 when we go. It's been about 10 years since we've taken the coast up so we decided to this time.

We will be driving up to Santa Barbara first to check out the Mission. From there we want to hit Big Sur. We will also be hitting a few places once we get to the SF. Someone posted a google map with places to shoot in SF so I think we're good there.

I'm looking for suggestions of places to shoot on the way up to SF from Los Angeles. Like I said, we will be stopping at the Mission in Santa Barbara and also Big Sur.

Any other places we should check out?

Thanks,
Alex

a110p0 · December 9, 2008

Places to visit
From Santa Barbara north to San Luis Obispo is wine country
so you may want to drive some of the country roads between
Solvang and Santa Maria.

Solvang is a Danish themed town that caters to So Cal tourists
on short getaways.

At Pismo Beach you can see thousands of Monarch Butterflies
that migrate to this location from the far north.

San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles are very nice towns to visit
along Hwy 101. SLO has a mission right downtown.

If you opt to drive to Hwy 1 from SLO, Hearst Castle is worth a visit.
Also north of San Simeon is a beach that's populated by elephant seals.

Another option is to continue north on Hwy 101 to Fort Hunter Liggett.
to visit my favorite California Mission, San Antonio de Padua. You'll
miss the southern part of Big Sur though. Here's a my gallery map.

You'll need proof of insurance and identification to enter the military base.
Also next to the Mission is "The Hacienda" which was designed by the
famous architect Julia Morgan for William Randolph Hearst. You can
stay at "The Hacienda" too. I stayed there one night and it was quiet
but a little rustic.

From there, you can drive Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to Big Sur.
It's a dinky narrow road that crosses the Coastal Range all the
way to Hwy 1. It's an adventure, but it's paved, at least when I last
drove it (~8 years ago). You might want to check on the road conditions.
Probably don't want to drive it on a rainy day.

Once you hit Hwy 1, every photographer stops at Julia Pfeiffer Burns
State Park. That's where you'll find a fantastic cove and McWay Falls
which flows straight into the Pacific Ocean.

Further north, there's Garrapata State Beach.

You can also hike inland at Garrapata State Beach to see Soberanes
Canyon.

Also the Bixby Bridge is worth stopping to see.

I also like stopping at Nepenthe to take a break and enjoy their beautiful
deck.

Continuing north, Point Lobos has some beautiful scenery and hiking, then
onto Carmel and Monterey.

Monterey has it's famous Monterey Bay Aquarium that's worth visiting.
Also touristy Cannery Row.

Those are some of the major stops and options. I'm sure others can
add their favorites.

Alvin

anonymouscuban · December 9, 2008

Holy Moly!
Wow Alvin. This is amazing information. You don't know how much I appreciate the info. This is a little unexpected getaway my wife and I decided to take and it sounds like it may measure up to be very memorable. We plan on leaving very early Saturday morning (12/20) and we don't really have to be in San Francisco until Wednesday.

I'm going to map your suggestions and hopefully we can hit most of them. Some we've been to before. Like Hearst Castle and SLO. We will probably skip the castle but may still drive through SLO to see the Mission.

Thanks again. I will be sure to share the pics I take.

Alex

straehle · December 9, 2008

anonymouscuban wrote:

My wife and I decided to drive up to her sister's house for Christmas in the Bay Area. We usually either fly or take Highway 5 when we go. It's been about 10 years since we've taken the coast up so we decided to this time.

We will be driving up to Santa Barbara first to check out the Mission. From there we want to hit Big Sur. We will also be hitting a few places once we get to the SF. Someone posted a google map with places to shoot in SF so I think we're good there.

I'm looking for suggestions of places to shoot on the way up to SF from Los Angeles. Like I said, we will be stopping at the Mission in Santa Barbara and also Big Sur.

Any other places we should check out?

Thanks,
Alex

On the way to Santa Barbara, you might want to check out downtown Ventura. I live in Santa Barbara and went to Ventura for the Scott Kelby Photowalk. The downtown is quite interesting. You can see examples in my gallery here.

While in Santa Barbara if you have some time, I'd check out downtown, particularly the Courthouse and El Pueblo Viejo area.

a110p0 · December 9, 2008

Hey Alex,
Sounds like you'll have time to do some exploring.

I forgot to mention Morro Bay, west of SLO if you choose to go that way.

Have a great trip.

Alvin

Angelo · December 11, 2008

Nepenthe is a definite must see and stop hungry as their lunches are great.

Carmel is another quaint town you'll want to see and it has another in the string of coastal Missions.

But mostly, your drive along the coast will be filled with beautiful vistas.

.

good luck

a110p0 · December 11, 2008

Where?
Hey Angelo,
Where is this location? Looks like somewhere I will need to visit.

Nice photos.

Alvin

good luck

[/quote]

anonymouscuban · December 11, 2008

Great info... thanks guys.
I have mapped my route up to Monterey. Your information has been very helpful. So far this is looking like it's going to be a very nice little trip. My wife and I are native Southern Californians and it's sad to say that we haven't really experienced a lot of these beautiful places in our State. Sure, we been to Monterey Bay, SLO, Santa Barbara, but never really took the time to really experience them. We've made a point recently to start enjoying the stuff in our own home state.

I surf, well... not as much as I used to, but I made bring a couple of my boards along and hit some of breaks on the way up.

Angelo · December 11, 2008

the drive on PCH, north of Santa Barbara, is particularly beautiful. Leave plenty of time for the drive as the road gets narrow and winds quite a lot. You want to take your time enjoying the scenery.

Angelo · December 11, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

Hey Angelo,
Where is this location? Looks like somewhere I will need to visit.

Nice photos.

Alvin

good luck

[/quote]

It's a private ranch along PCH. I don't recall the exact location but it would have been not too far south of the Carmel area.

this is the westward view from the same spot:

scottV · December 11, 2008

don't forget to stop and see the elephant seals... north of hearst castle iirc.

a110p0 · December 11, 2008

Hey Alex,
Since you've been to some of the major places, this trip will give
you a chance to see some of the smaller places, explore new roads
and maybe hit the surf too.

:

If you're into water sports, you can also go sea kayaking in Morro
Bay, Monterey Bay or Elkhorn Slough.

You'll often see otter in Monterey Bay or Elkhorn Slough.

Go with a good outfitter, like Monterey Bay Kayaks to get instruction,
or to take a tour.

This is December, so the weather can be very unpredictable.

Looking forward to your trip report.

Alvin

anonymouscuban wrote:

I have mapped my route up to Monterey. Your information has been very helpful. So far this is looking like it's going to be a very nice little trip. My wife and I are native Southern Californians and it's sad to say that we haven't really experienced a lot of these beautiful places in our State. Sure, we been to Monterey Bay, SLO, Santa Barbara, but never really took the time to really experience them. We've made a point recently to start enjoying the stuff in our own home state.

I surf, well... not as much as I used to, but I made bring a couple of my boards along and hit some of breaks on the way up.

a110p0 · December 11, 2008

Alex,
You should check out Scott Vickers' blog. He posted the image of the
elephant seal.

He has some nice photos from Hwy 1 and some surfing shots.

Alvin

anonymouscuban · December 11, 2008

Angelo wrote:

the drive on PCH, north of Santa Barbara, is particularly beautiful. Leave plenty of time for the drive as the road gets narrow and winds quite a lot. You want to take your time enjoying the scenery.

Yes... My wife and I decided that the point of this trip is to take are time driving up to her sister... to enjoy all the little things to see on the way up. We really don't have any deadlines other than being at her sister's by Christmas Eve. That gives us from early Saturday morning until Thursday to get to San Ramon. Should be a nice leisurely drive.

anonymouscuban · December 11, 2008

f00sion wrote:

don't forget to stop and see the elephant seals... north of hearst castle iirc.

Definitely won't forget them. My wife and I both love animals so these are things we really enjoy doing... checking out the wild life.

anonymouscuban · December 11, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

Hey Alex,
Since you've been to some of the major places, this trip will give
you a chance to see some of the smaller places, explore new roads
and maybe hit the surf too. :

If you're into water sports, you can also go sea kayaking in Morro
Bay, Monterey Bay or Elkhorn Slough.

You'll often see otter in Monterey Bay or Elkhorn Slough.

Go with a good outfitter, like Monterey Bay Kayaks to get instruction,
or to take a tour.

This is December, so the weather can be very unpredictable.

Looking forward to your trip report.

Alvin

I am into water sports... actually pretty much any sport. However, my wife is deathly afraid of water where she cannot see the bottom so I am not too sure that I will be doing much kayaking. Who knows, I've talked her into rocked climbing, snowboarding, and she even skydived with me so maybe she'll kayak.

anonymouscuban · December 12, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

Alex,
You should check out Scott Vickers' blog. He posted the image of the
elephant seal.

He has some nice photos from Hwy 1 and some surfing shots.

Alvin

Definitely... checking out his blog right after this post. Thanks for the suggestion.

Man... these next two weeks waiting for the trip are going to be long. I'm getting pretty excited. Look forward to sharing the pics I take with all of you.

BTW, as far as gear goes... I'm taking my

Nikon D300
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 wide angle
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5
Sigma 30mm f/1.4

I plan on renting a long lens... probably the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8. Of course, extra memory, my laptop to download to and extra battery.

Anything I'm missing?

a110p0 · December 12, 2008

Gear
With a 70-200 you have pretty wide coverage.

I would suggest a tripod and polarizing filter, maybe a 2 or 3 stop
grad neutral density filter, though you could do HDR if you use a
tripod. How about shutter release cable too.

Flashlights are helpful for night photography.

If you're shooting animals, you may want to consider a teleconverter,
maybe a 1.4x or 1.7x.

Alvin

anonymouscuban · December 12, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

With a 70-200 you have pretty wide coverage.

I would suggest a tripod and polarizing filter, maybe a 2 or 3 stop
grad neutral density filter, though you could do HDR if you use a
tripod. How about shutter release cable too.

Flashlights are helpful for night photography.

If you're shooting animals, you may want to consider a teleconverter,
maybe a 1.4x or 1.7x.

Alvin

Doh... of course I will bring my trusty tripod. I do have a shutter release cable which I always have in my bag so that will come along as well. Polarizing filter... check. ND filters unfortunately I do not have. I've been shopping online for one but am a bit confused as to which to get. I'd prefer to get a set that I can use will all my lenses... not the screw type basically. I do dabble with HDR so I may just go that route.

Teleconverter I guess I could rent, but I did once before and I wasn't too happy with the degradation it caused in image quality. I may just rent a lens with a longer range than 200mm.

Angelo · December 12, 2008

anonymouscuban wrote:

Yes... My wife and I decided that the point of this trip is to take are time driving up to her sister... to enjoy all the little things to see on the way up. We really don't have any deadlines other than being at her sister's by Christmas Eve. That gives us from early Saturday morning until Thursday to get to San Ramon. Should be a nice leisurely drive.

5 days? Yes I'd say so.

you planning on sleeping in the car or at a few inns along the way? Because to SF it's at best a 12 hour drive, even at a leisurely pace.

anonymouscuban · December 12, 2008

Angelo wrote:

5 days? Yes I'd say so.

you planning on sleeping in the car or at a few inns along the way? Because to SF it's at best a 12 hour drive, even at a leisurely pace.

OH... we plan on staying some place. We're not really planning on any place in particular... kind of the whole point of the trip. We just want drive and go where ever the trip leads us. I'm thinking we will probably stay some place just before Monterey and then spend a full day in Monterey/Carmel area. Then from their, head towards her sister's, get settled their and then head into San Francisco a couple days.

Angelo · December 14, 2008

highly recommend:

http://www.madonnainn.com/

Jzazzi · December 16, 2008

The Monarch Butterflies are in season at Natural Bridges just west of Santa Cruz. There are thousands upon thousands of them concentrated in a little grove of trees. If the weather is good and temperatures are 60+ degrees then they will be flying. Worth a quick stop, but very difficult and frustrating to shoot while in flight. We had a roughly 700mm equivalent from teleconverters and crop bodies and could barely fill a frame when they landed on foliage. There is wi-fi access apparently too.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541

Also north of Santa Cruz towards Pescadero is Bean Hollow. There are lots of crags and textures in the rocks here with semi-tide-pools and a spectacular pebble beach. I could spend hours there.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=527

-Justin

anonymouscuban · December 19, 2008

Leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn!
I'm really excited guys. We have everything packed and ready to go. I have my GPS setup with all of the sites programmed in. Our journey begins first thing tomorrow morning. I want to thank everyone that gave me suggestions on places to see.

I'm hoping that I can upload a few pics here and there during the trip but that will depend on internet connectivity. I will definitely post some pics and the gallery link when I get back.

Thanks again everyone!

Alex

My wife, Jen, also thanks all of you.

Angelo · December 19, 2008

Have a safe and fun-filled trip. Merry Christmas.

a110p0 · December 19, 2008

Have a great trip
Alex,
Happy Holidays, and have a wonderful trip. Drive safely.

Weather should be interesting. Looks like a chance of rain everyday
starting on Sunday through Saturday.

There are a lot of microclimates in the Bay Area, so who know's what
it will be like where you are. Changeable weather can be a real
opportunity to shoot.

Alvin

anonymouscuban · December 20, 2008

Yeah... were not overly concerned with the weather. I'm just hoping it will stay clear all of Saturday and most of Sunday. A little rain won't kill us. If it get's bad, we will just head to my sister-in-laws in San Ramon a bit earlier than planned. And like you said, the weather may make for some interesting shots.

Happy Holidays to all of you.

Talk to you soon.

Alex

a110p0 · December 20, 2008

Tri-Valley Area
If you're out in the Tri-Valley area there's Mount Diablo State Park.
Also Danville has a neat auto museum (Blackhawk Automotive Museum).

Alvin

anonymouscuban · December 24, 2008

Just checking in... so far having a great time. As you know, we left Saturday morning... a tad later than we wanted but early enough. We hit Santa Barbara, SLO, Pismo and ended up at Morro Bay. We decided to stay there. Weather was great. Hit a few of the Missions on the way up.

Sunday morning, we headed out and spent some time at Morrow Bay. Nice little town. Then we headed out to see the San Antonio Mission. That was our favorite. What a great place. Out of the way though. Unfortunately, we got a bit turned around and lost some time. We then hit some bad weather so we we headed straight for Monterey and ended up going to the Aquarium because the rain was bad. Had a fun time there. We then decided to drive to my sister-in-laws.

Monday, the weather cleared for a little while so we took advantage and went to the Oakland Zoo. Spent a few hours there with my 2 year old nephew. Had a nice time. Nice little zoo.

Today we had some real nice weather so my wife and I headed to SF. We went to Alamo Square and Lombard. Also drove to the Marin side of the Golden Gate bridge. Got some good shots. Nice clear day with some puffy clouds in the sky. We then headed to China town but got caught in some wicked traffic and weren't able to find parking. We then head to Treasure Island where I got some fantastic night shots of the Bay Bridge and Dowtown SF.

Tomorrow the wife wants to go to Jelly Belly and we may also check out the Black Hawk Museum as suggested by Alvin.

Sorry no pics yet. I don't have PP software on the Laptop I'm posting from. Will post as soon as I get back though.

Alex

a110p0 · December 24, 2008

Great Variety
Hey Alex,
Nice variety of activities.

Treasure Island's view of the Bay Bridge and of The City skyline
is terrific this time of year. The Embarcadero Center is lit up for
the holidays.

At the Jelly Belly Factory, you can buy the Belly Flops jelly beans
for cheap. They are the ones that didn't pass QA. The flavor
mix can sometimes be odd though.

The Blackhawk Museum costs $10. They offer a discount for
KQED members (SF public radio/TV), maybe for KQED (LA public TV)
too, wouldn't hurt to ask.

No tripods at the Blackhawk Museum.

Alvin

Driving up coast from SoCal to NorCal, need suggestions.

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