Pacific Coastal Highway By Joey Salvucci

There’s a reason we are giving ourselves a full 48 hours for the Pacific Coast Highway. After months of drives ranging from typical to scenic, this joyride is certain to range from scenic to incredible, and I am so happy to have the time to take it slow and enjoy the scenery to its fullest.
To try to catalog each attraction or scenic view of this great 655-mile American coastline in a single “where we’re going” page would be foolhardy, which I am, but I still won’t. It wouldn’t do justice to the endless series of views, dining establishments, wineries, gardens, wildlife, cities, beaches, and other attractions if I tried to pick a few notable ones. So, on a broad level, I am looking forward to the views, dining establishments, wineries, gardens, wildlife, cities, beaches, and other attractions.



I can get a little more specific in one area at least.  It stands to reason that this will be the only place in the continental US to see an ocean sunset.  I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Joey, there is a whole nother coastline that you live pretty close to now.”  Well, first of all, “nother” isn’t a word, and second, the only event you can see on the east is a sunrise.
And we plan to spend a decent portion of time inside Redwood National Forest (at right), which lies in the northwestern portion of California. Some of the country’s oldest, tallest trees stand in this vast stretch of land, and we’ll certainly stop to do some appreciating.
I will make sure we are taking it slow, with our speed inversely proportional to the scenery that surrounds us at any given point.  If someone behind us has a heavy foot, I will make sure we let them pass rather than speed up.  If we see something we really want to have a look at, we will pull over and look.  Our experience will be wholly determined by what we feel like doing and what we see around us.

I think this is going to be my favorite.


(From top) Photo by John(ny) D courtesy Flickr.com; photo by nosamk courtesy Flickr.com