Day 3: Pacific Coast highway

Mark: While day three was mainly a driving day down the Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. No hiking of any significance but plenty of stops along the way. First stop on the list was the Bixby Bridge. You may not know what this is but you have all seen this bridge. If you have ever watched a car commercial with a car crossing an arch bridge spanning a coastal gorge you've seen the Bixby Bridge. We stopped just long enough to get some photos of the bridge and a video of me driving across. I may put together my own commercial featuring the stylish Ford Focus we rented.

Along with many stops at various overlooks we stopped at Mill Creek to scramble on the rocky shore and look for sea life in the tide pools. We spotted several crabs and anemone. We skipped Sand Dollar Beach and drove directly to the Elephant Seal beach. Here we observed hundreds of seals lounging on the beach, fighting, and doing what can only be described as "the worm" as they moved their blubbery bodies all over the beach.

Our next stop was the overlook of McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer State Park. This is one of two tidal falls where the waterfall spills directly onto the beach. The other being Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Monument. We also got to see an older man doing his best Captain Morgan pose while looking at the falls. His pose entertained the girls so greatly they had to do a few of these poses themselves.

Finishing up our drive of the PCH we ended the drive at Morro Bay and Montana de Oro State Parks. At Morro Bay we walked along the beach under Morro Rock, a volcanic plug, collecting sand dollars and shells. At Montana de Oro SP we did a short hike to Hazzard Point which was popular with surfers as it had substantial waves breaking on the point. After that we went to Spooner Cove where Jessie and I collected more shells and enjoyed a nice walk along the beach.

On the way back to the hotel I took one last detour to Perfumo Canyon Road. This was something I saw on the show Motion that I like to watch. It was a 30 minute drive that got you high above the coast with some stunning views of the hills and fields below. This was also the first time all day where we got above the marine layer which hugged the coast all day. All in all a good days travel with many memorable stops.