April Trip Along the California Coast?

RFCN2 wrote:
Weather will vary depending how far north you are. If it were me I would fly to San Luis Obispo and drive north from there. Hwy 1 from San Luis Obispo north to Carmel is the most famous part of the coast route. To me the most spectacular views are Hearst Castle to Carmel. North of San Francisco you get more trees and somewhat less cliffside views. This is IMHO.

I Would fly to San Luis rent car. Drive to Cambria. Stay in romantic B&B drive up coast, see Hearst's Castle, drive on and stay night in Big Sur. Drive to Carmel and spend night. Go to Monterey Aquarium. Drive north next day to 101 where it splits west to the coast on Rt 128. Drive to the coast through lovely groves of Redwoods. Stay in Mendocino. Stay on Rt 1 to Legett and go north. Drive north through Humbolt Redwoods Park. Stay in Ferndale. Then north through a couple more coast redwood parks and fly back from Crescent City. Don't worry about the weather just go. April is many times a very good month.

X2 on this advice. We live in Morro Bay and the trip from SLO to Cambria is maybe a couple hours. Depending on when your plane lands, have a bite to eat at the Madonna Inn. Not out of your way if you're heading north on 1. In Cambria there are a lot of nice motels and B&B's on Moonstone Beach. They're across a two lane local road, not more than a couple hundred feet from the water and most have a view of the ocean. For a sweet tooth fix go to the Red Moose Cookie Company. You can actually taste the butter in the cookies.

Ragged Point Inn is a great lunch stop if you have an early breakfast and leave Cambria late morning. Only about 45 minutes but the view from the restaurant is spectacular. Make sure you gas up and pack the tank to the top of the filler as you go through Morro Bay as the gas prices from Cambria north are outragous. Hearst Castle is definately NOT a tourist trap. Anyone who can read knows it's where William Randolph Hearst transported a real castle from Europe in the early 1920's. Worth the visit to see where history was made. The family still works the several thousand acres that surround the Castle as a working cattle ranch today.

Just past Monterey on 1 is Moss Landing (you'll know it by the large gas fired power plant that towers over the harbor. Phil's Fish Market is the place to have another lunch. From there to San Francisco you'll need to rely on others for local knowledge.

Safe trip and enjoy the coast.