25thousandmiles – USA

Before I continue I must mention that I am now back on Scottish soil. It’s Sunday 4th October, 9.30pm.  I’ve got work tomorrow.  I’m still in denial.

So, let’s continue our roadtrip!

Monterey was pretty uneventful, apart from being chilly and foggy.  The morning was brighter though and as we made our way towards ‘17 Mile Drive’ the weather was getting better and better.  This is where we found ourselves walking along the 18th hole of the world famous, championship Pebble Beach Golf Course.  Angus was so excited I thought he might cartwheel across the green.  It was friendly and unstuffy but had so much class and even though I’m not a golf fan I was very impressed.

The journey along 17 Mile Drive is like moving through a beautiful watercolour painting.  It’s wild and serene all at the same time, with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and…..  Ok, I’m full of cliches, my vocabulary can’t do this place justice.  On one side of the road was a fantastic wild coast, full of sea birds and sea lions, on the other side were some of the biggest, most stunning/ostentatious/vulgar (depending on your taste) houses I’ve ever seen.

If you leave 17 Mile Drive at the Carmel Gate, it brings you into the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, a very quaint, pretty chocolate-box type place.  It’s probably most famous for Clint Eastwood being the mayor at some point.  I did have a really good look for him mum, but I couldn’t find him.  We stopped for a short picnic before continuing on our way to San Luis Obispo (SLO).

I must admit that I fell asleep during some of the drive between Monterey and SLO, which is a shame because  this section of Highway 1 is one of the best.  Wild coast, waves battering the rocks hundreds of feet below and windy roads right on the edge of the steep cliffs.  Again, Angus’s photos will say more than I can (they’ll be availble very soon).

We checked into our accommodation in SLO at about 4.30pm, which was good as it meant we could get settled and then have an evening out.  Although when I say get settled I mean in the most basic sense.  We were staying at a hostel for the night.  Private room (We’re too old for anything else) and shared bathroom (can cope with that for a night), but we were informed on arrival that we had to check out by 10am and to strip the sheets off our bed and put them in the washing basket before we left.  Okaaay.  Beer o’clock then.

Buffalo Grill was our first stop – the smallest burger they do is a half pounder.  Following a meal for four we stumbled across The Library, a bar/club type place that served the strongest vodkas we’ve ever had.  I had to get extra glasses of Sprite to weaken it, which was free by the way.  Three hours later, once we’d digested some of the food and vodka, we went the the Frog and Peach, a pub rather than a bar, with very loud live music.  We loved it!  We had a good chat with some locals, and one guy from Fresno, whose mouth gets him into all sorts of trouble I’m sure.

I opened my eyes at 9am and realised that we had been fairly sensible the evening before as we didn’t feel too bad.  So, after stripping our bed (I wondered if I should dust the furniture too) we loaded our Jeep and headed to Laguna Beach.  Our last stop on the roadtrip, but having five nights in the sun, by the beach, felt like a whole other holiday.

That’s for the next blog though.  If you don’t want to wait for it all I can say is that Laguna Beach is a chilled out town with a myriad of rocky beach coves, artists shops, very friendly people  and a real community feel – especially when they are getting done over by the ABC.  Stay tuned if you want to hear more.