The Pacific Coast Highway, California

The drive from Arizona to California took us through some pretty weird territory on our drive to Joshua Tree. The mostly desert terrain was peppered with abandoned huts, funky trees, and mountains everywhere. Dr. Seuss I totally get it, Joshua Tree and its surrounding areas were ripe with inspiration! Joshua tree is made even weirder with artists popping up installations on cheap land. We took a detour to pop by Noah Purifoys' “garden”, acres of land behind his house filled with his sculptures made out of what some might call trash. A few of his pieces were actually missing because they were on view at the LACMA in LA. Some might not appreciate it, but I found the yard to be pretty cool. It’s crazy what people’s imaginations can come up when they see a broken tricycle or a spare tire. Feeling slightly inspired, but mostly hungry, we headed to another bizarre attraction, Pioneer Town, for lunch. Pioneer Town is exactly what it sounds like, a tiny town resembling something in the Pioneer day, complete with a saloon and sheriff station. The main attraction here is Pappy and Harriet's, a BBQ joint that often also has some pretty great bands roll through playing live music on the weekends. Unfortunately, we did not get to catch any live music, but and Roux did make friends with a biker gang while we took down some ribs and brisket.

We had debated, up until this point, if we were going to stay in Joshua Tree for a night or in Palm Springs. The 110-degree weather made that choice really easy. We darted for the Avalon Hotel in Palm Springs to dunk ourselves in a pool and get Roux in some AC. We quickly realized why it was “off season” in Palm Springs and spent the day in the pool. The hotel had originally been designed by Kelly Wearstler and despite it being under a new name and under priced, it was still pretty sweet. The next morning we decided to check out the Ace Hotel for breakfast and spent most of the day ducking in and out of mid century stores, antique shops and air conditioning. Out of time, we decided on our next visit to Palm Springs we’d take an architecture tour and pool hop! We couldn’t help but stop by the Cabazon dinosaurs and Hadley's for a date shake. See ya later Pee Wee!

We only had a few hour drive to our next stop at Laguna Beach. There were 2 important aspects to this stop. First, we finally reached the west coast and the OCEAN! From sea to sea, we had made it. Second, we were here to see the Pageant of the Masters. For those of you unaware of what this is, let me explain. Remember that episode in Arrested Development where the dad, George Bluth, and Buster are dressed up as a famous work of art? Ok, what about the episode where George Michael decides to take Busters spot and strolls around in his muscle suit? YES, now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you that what they were partaking in is REAL! Every summer, The Pageant of the Masters takes place at an outdoor amphitheater in Laguna Beach. 100% volunteer based, people dress up as works of art that range from paintings to sculptures. The craziest part is that it’s life-size and they hold their pose for 60 seconds. Each character is dressed, painted and positioned EXACTLY that way the piece of art depicts. It’s bananas, it’s magical, it’s awesome. It’s so good, m sister drove in from Los Angeles and met us for dinner and the show. If you ever find yourself in southern California over the summer, definitely get a ticket.

After staying the night at The Pacific Edge Hotel, we started our drive north up the PCH. We only had a few days left so unfortunately did not have all the time we wanted to do a proper drive. We drove the 2 hours North after a quick breakfast at the Orange Inn and stopped in Santa Monica to check in on a few friends! My friend Jaclyn and her boyfriend had just moved into an apartment in Santa Monica and had a spare bedroom. We dropped our bags off and headed to Main Street for some dog-friendly drinks and food with my sister. Areal had cute patio outside and great happy hour, plus right across the street was our dinner spot, Hinterland, also puppy approved. We had a great night in Los Angeles, although pretty tame given we had 2 days to get to SF and wanted to capitalize on daylight hours. On our way out, we stopped at a dog-friendly beach in Malibu for a few rays and some seafood. Roux loves the ocean and would play on the beach for hours were it not for excessive sand her mouth and not really being able to swim. Completely exhausted, Roux passed out while we logged a few more hours up north.

We made a quick pit stop in Santa Barbara for some peel and eat shrimp and clam chowder at Brophy Brothers. A seafood staple, I couldn’t let Tim pass up the opportunity to for some fresh shrimps now that we had reached the coast. On the move, we hit the gas up the coast to San Luis Obispo. Erica had read about the Madonna Inn and was desperate to stay in their cave dwelling room for our last hotel night. Much to our dismay, the Inn was not dog-friendly. Slightly defeated, we retired to a Motel 6 nearby. Refusing to let her dreams die, we woke up early and got breakfast at the Madonna Inn and roamed as much of the hotel as they would let us. You aren’t able to see any of the rooms unless you stay in them, but the restaurant, lobby and gift shop are more than enough to understand the vibe of this place. Colored glassware, pink velvet sofas, Xmas lights year round and fake flowers galore, this place sure is special.

Our last day of the road trip was here and although super bummed to be ending our adventure, we were also excited not to be living out of our car anymore. Don’t get us wrong, the Subaru was a dream, but after a month on the road, we were ready to stretch out more than a reclining car seat would allow. Speaking of, our final stretch was through Big Sur, Carmel by the sea and Santa Cruz, before landing in corporate housing in Sunnyvale for the night.

The PCH on this leg of the journey was incredible. Loads of ocean views, bluffs, and jagged cliffs edges, we spent a lot of time rubber necking. Doing the drive South would be even more exciting, the entire drive would be spent watching the ocean…next time. We stopped at almost every view point and were lucky enough to spot elephant seals and even a whale off the coast! It’s pretty crazy how vastly different the east and west coast are - the beauty of the west coast is unrivaled! We rolled into Big Sur just in time for lunch, grabbed sandwiches at the Big Sur Deli, and headed down to Pfeiffer Beach one of the locals had given us tips about. The beach, while so different than the fine sand sprawling views of the east, was beautiful in a completely different way. We got up to be up close and personal to rock formations and cool vegetation we had never experienced before lounging in the sand. We packed up our picnic lunch and sprinted off to Carmel By the Sea for dessert.

Carmel by the Sea is an adorable little town just north of Big Sur and south of Monterey Bay. Just to be clear, by adorable we also mean expensive. We opted for the 17-mile drive through the famous golf course, Pebble Beach, filled with Mansions and stunning landscaping. All of that day dreaming had made us thirsty so we heading into the town proper and stumbled upon a little wine tasting room, Galante Vineyards, nestled in a small alley. Just when we thought we had found a hidden gem, in walks Matthew Weiner (director of Sopranos and Mad Men) with his family. It finally hit us, welcome to California. we grabbed a real desert at the local bakery to make sure our bellies were full of food and headed for our last stop, Santa Cruz. Perfect timing was on our side and we pulled up to a parking spot on the edge of a cliff in Santa Cruz to watch the sunset and take a final bow on a great adventure.

As the sky filled with colors and the ocean grew dark, we spent some time reflecting on the awesome opportunity we were given to drive across the country. 9, 800 miles later, we had reached the end of our journey. A new chapter was about to start, filled with the unknown. While planning has its advantages, so does the thrill of the unknown. We experienced so much more than we had anticipated and walked away appreciating what our country has to offer. From friends around the country offering us a comfy couch to cooking under the light of our headlamps and tucking roux in our sleeping bags, we are so fortunate and grateful for the adventure of a lifetime. Hopefully we’ll get another chance to do it all again and will remember to bring bear spray. That was one hell of a ride. Remember, the road writes the rules, just play along. Until next time!

Hotels: Avalon Hotel, Ace Hotel , The Pacific Edge Hotel, Madonna Inn
Restaurants & Bars: Pappy and Harriet's, Hadley's, Areal, Hinterland, Big Sur Deli, Galante Vineyards
Fun Stuff: Noah Purifoys, , Pageant of the Masters, Pfeiffer Beach, 17-mile drive