California Road Trip - The Pacific Coast Highway

at the miami airport we get reminded one more time why we like to travel on the road our flight is delayed several times over the course of the night as we end up roaming a deserted conkers finally we depart nearly seven hours late to delta's credits they did reopen the starbucks and got us free coffee and snacks but still there is no excuse we are finally airborne and by the crack of dawn we are landing in lax los angeles international airport we were supposed to be here by 10 pm or so last night so we've lost our first night at the hotel hello everybody and welcome to southern california los angeles we are driving uh on the 405 which is a very important highway freeway like they call here and we're driving from the airport in lax hotel in hollywood our next exit is santa monica we decided to make the most of it and enjoy the scenic route through santa monica boulevard at sunrise passed in by century city formerly the backlot of 20th century fox studios we also passed by the famous beverly hills we make a left onto fairfax avenue with a great view of the famous mount olympus which is populated by many celebrities then we turn right onto hollywood boulevard after a quick stop at our hotel we decided to have breakfast at a superb argentine deli cafe of cahuenga boulevard called solar de cajuenga that gives us enough energy to hike the hollywood hills our goal to reach the summit of kawenga pick home of the hollywood sign we drive the senior streets of the hollywood hills admiring the luxurious homes eventually we find north beachwood drive which ends at the hollywood ranch the beginning of our coveted trail to the hollywood sign the sign originally used to read hollywoodland and amazingly enough is not all that visible from most of allay but here's the capital building we've all seen the sign in the movies so we've gotta go there so we begin the long and strenuous ascent to los angeles quintessential landmark the hollywood sign the hike turns out to be a little more than we've bargained for but in the end it is worth the exercise from the trail we can see the griffith observatory which we will visit later we are also treated to commanding views of la and the san fernando valley on the riverside we finally make it to the top from above we enjoy a hazy view of los angeles including the hollywood reservoir and down we go again once we've descended the hill we take a stroll on hollywood boulevard and the famous walk of fame this famous landmark is so commercialized and overly touristy that i find it annoying and almost not worth visiting maybe just once just to say we were there there are people soliciting every step of the way especially for tours of the homes of the movie stars to take pictures with actors dressed in costumes in my opinion this detracts from the enjoyment of the place there's some kind of event happening in front of the grommen's chinese theater so we'll have to revisit this venue moving on here's the dolby theater formerly the kodak theater and for a while mockingly called the chapter 11 theater because of the ill-fated codec we explore the adjacent mall called highland center it's one of the best places to see the hollywood sign besides hiking yes and we were up there a few minutes ago we continue walking now in the opposite direction going east on the corner of vine there is a special monument commemorating the apollo 11 moon mission and from that same corner we can see the iconic capitol building the design of the building represents a stack of records on a turntable stars honoring the beatles are visible in front of the building back to our modest yet centrally located motel 6 for a most needed nap remember we didn't really sleep much last night hi after we visited the hollywood sign and some of the hollywood boulevard now we're going to take a stroll around downtown l.a so we are kind of stuck in traffic here on this freeway the 101 going south so we're going to show you a little bit of downtown we park our car which i have named the california cruiser i mean look at the size of that thing i reserve the medium not a full size but at least it's comfy we decided to walk around a little bit around this area this is the los angeles music center and the dorothy chandler pavilion where they used to hold the academy awards in the past this older building is los angeles city hall angel supreme court angel supreme court yeah i really meant to say los angeles a little further down is the walt disney concert hall with its unique architecture it is also part of this music center complex besides its phenomenal architecture it's supposed to have superb acoustics we drive around downtown a little more we cruise along broadway street one of the city's oldest and most important streets nowadays a little rundown we continue on broadway until we reach the dragon gate to chinatown on a previous trip we visited this area in a lot more detail olvera street and union station are also nearby and definitely worth a visit there are links to those in the show notes okay it's time to go on at night we visit the griffith observatory where they are holding a stargazing event we get another commanding view of los angeles they even opened up the big scope for us in the morning we pay another quick visit to the hollywood boulevard area and we finally get to see the footprints and handprints in front of the grommen's chinese theater imprinted on the concrete for posterity some recent some dating back to the silent movies era moving along we have breakfast at a famous jewish-style cantor's deli in fairfax ok we had to do it although we don't have time to take the tour at least we pass by one of the studios paramount pictures on melrose avenue for the photo opportunity next we revisit beverly hills and rodeo drive this time we are not really interested in the shopping area the residential part of rodeo drive is beautiful our point of interest is this time is the beverly hills hotel famous for the picture on the eagles album hotel california yeah this is it if you want to see the shopping district in more detail please refer to the video in the show notes we were there a year ago we decided to visit another well-known place the playboy mansion that is our big car we have rented big boats as we can see the tour comes here as well moving on we also cruise the streets of bel air just great mansions with great landscaping and we don't really know who lives there so what's the point continuing in this team let's take a quick drive on mount olympus many celebrities as well as russian families live here okay time for one of our last ports of call hippie town venice beach venus beach what a place it's great for people watching and i guess it could be a little bit of a culture shock for some people with all the medical marijuana being pushed and all the different colorful characters this is the famous boardwalk where all the action is souvenir stores medical marijuana clinics tattoo shops street performers scam artists restaurants bars let's hear some of the local music ah yep that's venus beach for you fully recommended for a summer afternoon stroll a short drive north is the santa monica pier especially beautiful at sunset and may i say at least on this night the latino hangout there is a famous amusement park and the beautiful pacific coast santa monica beach take a picture there are also a bunch of performers some okay some not so good after all the ferris wheel steals the show time to get on the road we are now driving on the pacific coast highway we are cruising along malibu with its lavish hilltop mansions here we have a fortuitous encounter with the google street view car check it out towards the north end of malibu we approach county line beach a very popular spot for surfing let's check out the surfers doing their thing here was but a peculiar plane near oxnard at this point we reach emma wood state beach campground in ventura county this looks like a great campground and in our future life as full-time rvers we shall definitely pay a visit our next stop is summerland and the summerland winery for a well-deserved wine tasting after such a long drive the offshore oil rigs are also quite a sight the next point of interest is historic santa barbara santa barbara is quite picturesque we decided to take a walk along the pier there is this guy doing solar carving very artistic the weather is perfect one of the reasons why santa barbara is called the riviera of the west we are not going to be here for long our goal lays further north but this place is definitely on our to-do list for the next time we come to california the most notable landmark that we have missed is the spanish mission we definitely have to go there we go on the road again as it is our goal to reach the town of solvang in the santa ines valley we learned about solvang through the movies sideways mostly about two best friends on a road trip of this area drinking wine and breaking hearts the restaurant the hitching post was also made very famous by this film solvang which means sunny fields in danish was founded in 1911 by a group of it's dings 4 p.m which means we have about an hour most wineries close at around 5 p.m there are plenty of bakeries restaurants and merchants but let's not kill ourselves here the reason we came to solvang is to taste wine there are plenty of tasting rooms featuring the best santanez valley has to offer we spend the next hour walking around sampling delicious pastries and fine venus however there is absolutely no nightlife in this city as everything closes at around 5 30 pm that's our queue to drive north to neighboring los olivos for dinner at los olivos cafe and wine merchant also featured in the aforementioned movie as the sun sets it is time to color the night and get back to our hotel the king of frederick we're now saying goodbye to the king frederick we're getting back on our big boat we are leaving solvang at san luis obispo we get back on california state route 1 the pacific coast highway after our santanez valley wine drinking detour we arrived to morro bay originally named el moro by portuguese navigator juan rodriguez cabrillos because the big rock resembled the turban worn by north africa's moorish people there's another theory also because morrow also means pebble or round the rock in spanish either origin works for me the main industries are tourism and fishing and the town's most striking feature is the moral rock a reserve for endangered species the peregrine falcon we are hungry for some seafood and this place looks nice enough the clam chowder was very good actually angkor memorial park and naturally there is an anchor anchor memorial park the park was developed as a memorial for fishermen lost at sea we continue our journey north we arrived to the town of cambria which features a pretty interesting dwelling that meet with rich it's a house built actually out of junk thousands of found objects by one man arthur harold beal over the course of 51 years it is considered a fine example of fall cart and actually a california historic landmark a poor man's herd's castle we'll see the real hurst castle soon enough we stop every few miles to admire the scenery and this is the famous hearst castle built by newspaper millionaire william randall hurst as his private paradise probably worth a visit but not this time we prefer to hang out with the elephant seal at their private beach near piedras blancas apparently and according to the park ranger on site these are adolescent male seals just playing and getting ready for mating season fascinating creatures back to the car we approach the big sur where the santa lucia mountains rise abruptly from the pacific ocean we are treated to some of the most striking landscape this coast has to offer we are traveling alongside the pacific coast on the pacific coast highway one of the supposedly one of the best road trips one can make in the united states i am going to get back into the into the california cruiser now because we are about to to continue on our road on the road hey true we are about to cross big creek bridge an impressive double arched bridge further north we stop at another vista point overlooking the mcquay rocks near julia pfeiffer burns state park our next stop is the big sewer coast gallery and cafe for a much needed espresso snacks local beer and of course to stretch our legs next we cross historic and iconic bixby creek bridge we are finally arriving to monterey california as opposed to monterrey mexico this one is spelled with only one r instead of the two on the one south of the border monterey was the first capital of california both under colonial spain and mexico it also had the first theater brick house public school public building public library and printing press in california we have dinner at what looks like the local tourist trap the fisherman's wharf at this italian place called isabella's which is actually not bad as the day ends and the moon rises we say good night we explore the nearby city of carmel by the sea mainly the sea part we arrive to the beach later we visit the mission ranch owned by clint eastwood this is the place where we really wanted to eat the night before instead of the tourist trap but we called ahead of time and found out that we couldn't make it on time as we arrived a little bit late and it closes a little bit early later we found out that dirty harry himself had been entertaining the night before what a fail but moving on let's visit world renowned monterey bay aquarium its main exhibition is the jellies featuring all kinds of exotic jellyfish let's admire these fascinating creatures okay donations oh of course there are many other attractions at the monterey bay aquarium like these giant fish tanks displaying sea life in action there is avian action as well is fishing birds another great exhibit are the seahorses or hippocampus such an exotic species some of them can even disguise themselves as plants as spock would say fascinating as the sub descends its lights illuminated the size of a basketball too large to collect so the size cameras capture images okay look at their in the main lobby there are life-size representations of sea creatures giant ones oh my god another highlight of the aquarium is the penguins very funny little guys thing oh now they're all going swimming is of course not all penguins know how to behave themselves in public oh give them two minutes and with that we say goodbye to monterey and its fabulous aquarium the cannery road and the monterey bay aquarium back on the road we continued to north half moon bay we make one last pit stop at half moon bay for a late lunch famous lobster roll at sam's chowder house we've been driving all along the pacific coast highway now we reach a city which in my book ranks up there with all the great cities in the world ladies and gentlemen welcome to san francisco we begin our tour of the city on the high ground we drive up to twin peaks the second highest point in the city to get a commanding view okay maybe i was exaggerating a little bit but not by much it did take great effort to remain upright the wind's a little too strong for comfort we made it all the way down to the parking area where we get a more relaxed view of the city and what a beautiful city this is from up here you can see the whole market street all the way from the embarcadero to the castro the bay bridge on the east downtown the russian hill a little further alcatraz island at the west end one of the most famous bridges in the world the golden gate wow it's like being at the eiffel tower in paris you can almost see everything at least most of the city sharp quest oh my god down we go the steep hills of san francisco the lombard street we make a quick stop to checking out our hotel and taking advantage of the good weather we go out again it is our intention to cross the golden gate bridge to get a view of the city from the other side of the bay it was really lucky we went to twin peaks earlier when we did as it is now covered in fog we are on the summit of huck hill probably and i would say hands down the best view of the city and the bridge we are treated to the most beautiful sunset as the shadow of the mountain makes its way through the city below the moon shang's on the lighthouse turns on and the sun disappears behind the mountain leaving the city bathed in alpenglow we end the day in salsa little with this beautiful view of the city at dusk good morning san francisco today we are taking the tour of alcatraz island and its famous prison we decide to walk to the pier which takes about half an hour but the morning stroll gives us a chance to admire san francisco's unique architecture the famous and touristy fisherman's wife we'll be back here later but now we are ready to board the boat the alcatraz cruise lives from pier 33 near the coit tower on telegraph hill the national park service welcomes you to alcatraz island the cruise offers outstanding views of the san francisco bay we are approaching the rock as the island is also referred to the thing that he was involved in was the loading and unloading of army uniforms that were sent here to be cleaned after a quick orientation we take a very informative guided tour of the former prison this is the first known photo of alcatraz from 1853 we begin appropriately with the morg it is all under renovation so there is noise and many areas are not accessible supposedly for our safety we learned how the typical cell used to be like and also about all the famous inmates the tour includes testimonials from guards and former prisoners we step out to the recreation yard part of the punishment was having this great view of san francisco they could see the life outside some nights they could even hear the sounds of the city if the wind was right so close yet so impossibly far inaccessible forbidden back inside we are in the deep block solitary confinement this is where the most dangerous inmates spend their days and nights we learn about the battle of alcatraz in which a group of inmates took a bunch of guards hostage let's just say that it didn't end up very well there are still grenade marks on the floor more cells more history some prisoners read some learned music some took up knitting we get to see the administration building once again a great san francisco view we also learn about the many escape attempts and the many ingenious methods and tools used to that end please help me escape we finished the tour at the dining block and this was the last menu alcatraz was closed on march 21 1963 the tour is of course much more extensive than what we can show you here so we encourage you to come to san francisco and explore the rock we are doing some outdoors exploring ourselves the island is a breeding home to many species of birds some of which are protected the flora is quite diverse as well we head back to the mainland our next challenge is climbing the filbert steps of telegraph hill to reach the top of the koi tower for another commanding view of the city the climb is quite challenging i'm going up these stairs must be interesting living up here we take the elevator to the top the 360 degree view of the city is spectacular i take advantage to take a few pictures and stitch them into this panorama there is a statue of christopher columbus at the foot of the tower now we're going downstairs we zoom in on lombard street which we will visit later but right now we are going towards columbus avenue for lunch at chinatown yeah we're hungry and we pick out at the house of nanking fully recommended then we walk around a little more all the way to the transamerica pyramid there is uh this restaurant called the stinking rose where everything is cooked with garlic even the dessert talk about bad breath and that's it we take the bus to the hotel and literally collapse sometimes you need a break from your vacation and that's exactly what we did we arrive at golden gate park hoping to be able to see the japanese garden but it turns it's already closed so we walk around this area a little bit and continue exploring golden gate park is over one thousand acres twenty percent larger than central park in new york it was conceived and built in the late 1800s in 1903 two dutch style windmills were built to pump water into the park one of them has been restored we are at the dutch windmill golden gate park after seeing the dutch windmill we reach ocean beach which runs all along the west coast of the city there's the cliff house with its famous camera obscura and the sealed rocks driving along the streets we arrive at alamo square famous for its postcard view of san francisco kodak moment if i may perpetuate the cliche we continue roaming the city through japan town we drive down lombard street famous for being the crookedest or most winding street in the world we'll be back here up the hill we go as night falls we continue driving around we pass once again by chinatown then we stumble upon atnt park under the moonlight just at the end of a giants game and yes believe it or not the t-shirt guy is eating some fried chicken we also pass briefly by the castor the united states largest gay neighborhood a virtual rollercoaster ride takes us back to our hotel our hotel is the travel lodge golden gate cheap but very well located right on lombard street in the morning we do lombard street one more time this time however we are lucky enough to land the parking spot with the california cruiser on the steep incline so we can admire the view of the street from the bottom next we go downtown to ride on what has to be the last unsafe hence fun mode of transportation in the civilized world the cable car we're standing at the powell street terminus to this day they still turn the car by hand like in the olden days enjoy the ride right there in the front first floor walk on up okay guys on the left side we got a cable car coming down to your left this cannot be safe san francisco is a city which has what i call character it cannot be confused with any other city it has this unique architecture the steep hills cable cars after our joyride along the hills of san francisco we arrive at the fisherman's wharf and delhi square the area is full of shops and street entertainment and of course there are the famous seafood stands and restaurants there is also the famous boudin bakery self-proclaimed the original san francisco sourdough french bread established in 1849 by french immigrant isidor boudin it combined the french technique with the prevalent sourdough although it has changed hands along the years it is still an iconic place in fisherman's wharf and i must say they have a great publicity scheme in texas all righty ladies and gentlemen hey nice catch don't mess with those cowboys right all right where's that guy across the street again where's he at okay oh you sure you got this are you sure you got this i don't want to waste my arm in this blood here we go one two three what a catch after all this fun it is time to take the cable car back we end a ride by union square one of the city's oldest establishments is john's grill famous for the classic movie the maltese falcon we're cruising down market street it is time to leave as we cruise down market street we've left our hearts in san francisco now it is time to continue north we begin our journey at the wine country on this particular occasion we visit the hess collection vineyard in napa valley it's a little bit of the beaten path but very well worth a visit not only because of the quality of the wines but also because of the beauty of the states our next stop is domain shandong established in 1973 by moet chandong of france naturally they specialize in sparkling wines moving on we were here once before back in 2008. on that particular occasion we passed by sonoma valley on our way to napa valley stopping at vjb for some fantastic chardonnay next we visit the visa tui winery back in napa valley for a fabulous tasting they also have a very well supplied deli market with a great assortment of cheeses and a lot of other stuff but the highlight of the trip is sterling vineyards located on a hilltop in the middle of napa valley we take the aerial tramway to the top from the state the views of the valley are fantastic there is a very informative tour on the arts and science of winemaking and did i mention the views by the way the wines were really good too back in the present we passed by saint helena we also visit calistoga but by now it's past 5 p.m and all the wineries are closed so we continue north tonight we are sleeping in clear lake in the evening we get to see the 4th of july fireworks from the hotel unfortunately all i have is the iphone to shoot the video and well some drunken companions hanging out with the parking lots there it is today we are driving around the lake clear lake is the largest freshwater lake that is entirely contained in the state of california the lake is supposed to be very popular for water sports but we haven't really seen much of that in fact the whole area looks kind of deserted wrong time of the year maybe here we have arrived at lucerne the switzerland of america around the lake here's the california cruiser the next town is called nice but i wonder if it's pronounced nice like its french namesake a little further to the northwest we encounter smaller lake mendocino which is bustling with activity going back south towards santa rosa and peraluma our next destination is the twit brick house home of the twit network which stands for this week in tech its founder radio host leo laporte started podcasting back in 2005 from a table at the 21st amendment bar in san francisco during mac world now he broadcasts live on the internet from his multi-million dollar studio i'd say this guy got this online media business figured out he's inspired many people to put original content online myself included let's listen in it's time for twit this week in tech we're the show where we cover all the week's tech news and boy there was a lot of it this week with with some of the great minds the pundits the commentators the great thinkers in the industry starting with a guy who's a regular on this week in google a professor of journalism at the city university of new york the author of what would google do and a brand new book called public parts jeff jarvis it's good to have you and welcome it's good to be here i wore my borg shirt in honor does that mean you're in the borg or you're what's it actually means i went to stockholm but why stockholm bjorn bjorn bjorn borg oh that bjorn i almost said that if i was facebook the same way what they do is that they roll out a feature whether it's a copy simulated thing or whether it's some the studio was partially financed by the cell of this sponsorship bricks which give the studio its name the brick house unfortunately we have to go but you can watch leo all the time at tweet.tv going back to san francisco there is one more thing as the late steve jobs used to say let's pay a quick visit to silicon valley view california where there's no mountain and there's no view we visit the obvious the google campus called the googleplex the hewlett and packard garage which is considered the birthplace of silicon valley historic landmark we also visit the apple garage where steve jobs and steve wozniak founded the apple computer company and next of course we visit the mothership itself they have a store where you can buy t-shirts mugs and other stuff with the apple logo on it pretty cool but the gem of this silicon valley journey is without a doubt the computer history museum the exhibits are very extensive from the first calculator which is the abacus to the early pocket calculators classic video games the altair the apple one the apple ii the original ibm pc early digital gadgets failed robots and so much more so much stuff i mean i'm i'm in heaven giving the presentation this guy was standing right in front of me looking right in my face but i allowed it because his name was steve wozniak last but not least we have the babbage difference engine the baba's difference engine is an early mechanical calculator designed by charles babbage in the 1800s but the machine couldn't be fully built until the year 2000 lo and behold it worked welcome to the computer history museum's presentation of the babbage difference engine number two serial two that's its official name now the first three words of that baptist difference engine babbage is the name of the guy who designed it and that's his portrait over there and my guess is that was taken in london around the time of our civil war that's about how it looked at that time the third word engine you may have your own concept of what an engine is but mine is this something that relieves you from having to do that we got a lengthy explanation of how this incredible machine works and so i will leave you with some of that although i will post a longer version and nearly uncut very soon so look for that on youtube if you're interested now we are saying goodbye to california as always thank you for watching and see you on the road so we've come through five iterations now the reason for that is we have a computer prepared set of answers as to what it's supposed to be and we have them for 5 10 15 20 and so on so we don't have it for all the answers and here's where i've got okay so forget all the zeros at the beginning five nine six seven four eight eight zero one 801. yeah that's what i said so you have just verified that the the bandwidth is verified the computer is correct or is it the other way around you

Channel: Traveling Robert

Views: 1,658,795

Rating: 4.801795 out of 5

Keywords: california road trip, pacific coast highway, best california road trip, california highway 1, living in an rv, micro minnie, microminnie, 1706fb, los angeles to san francisco, pch road trip, pch roadtrip, california roadtrip, wine, big sur, monterey, star trek, cali roadtrip, cali road trip, west coast, california, california state route 1

Id: zgUm1Cf6g90

Length: 66min 33sec (3993 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2013