California Trip {Day 1}

We started our first full day in California with breakfast at our hotel. We purchased our stay at the Hilton Bayfront San Francisco through Priceline. We had a choice of getting a room that included breakfast for about $10 more than a room without, so for convenience we opted for the one that came with breakfast. Well, when we checked in, the staff told us that they don't offer breakfasts with any of the rooms. The next morning, Chris called Priceline and they made arrangements with the hotel for us to have breakfast.

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and started our scenic drive down the California Coast.







We stopped at a beach along the way. There was an $8 parking fee, so we chose to keep on driving. A little bit further, we found Pescadero State Beach which did not have any parking fees.


We used the timer feature on our camera quite often on this trip.


We had never seen a tsunami warning sign before.


The beaches are so different from the Florida beaches we have visited so frequently. The kids would have a blast climbing on the rocks.


We stopped at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse which is also in Pescadero. Thankfully, the lighthouse wasn't open for climbing. I did that at Tybee Island this past April. It's one of those "Been there, done that" moments for me that I don't need to repeat. There is also a hostel at Pigeon Point for those interested.

We saw harbor seals out on the rocks.

Another timer photo of us.


We needed food. We stopped for a snack at Emily's Bakery in Santa Cruz. I had a chai latte and the best coconut muffin I have ever had. To be honest, I had never had a coconut muffin before. I had never heard of coconut muffins before. Now, I am obsessed with coconut muffins. Look for future blogs on the subject.

We drove by fields and fields of fruits and vegetables along Highway 1. We saw artichokes, strawberries, cauliflower, cabbages, lettuce, and more. The fields were huge! Here are some purple cabbages - they looked more purple in person.

I knew that I wanted to stop by at least one mission on our trip. The first one we found that was located right off the highway was the Soledad Mission.



The interior of the mission.


The olive grove at the mission.

We passed by lots and lots of these bells. At the mission, there was a placard labeling one as "El Camino Real". Thanks to technology in the form of smart phones, I was able to look it up on our drive. The bells mark the trail to the 21 missions in California. Evidently the monks used to sprinkle mustard seed to mark the trail with yellow flowers.

We arrived at our hotel in Paso Robles at about 3:30. Check-in was supposed to be at 4. We checked with the front desk and our room wasn't ready yet. We hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we chose to walk somewhere and find some food.

We ate our late lunch at the Odyssey World Cafe in downtown Paso Robles. Our hotel was perfect walking distance to all the restaurants.

After our lunch, we went back to the hotel. It was about 4:10 and our room was still not ready. So walked around downtown some more. Sometime after 4:30, our room was finally ready. We got settled in, then explored the hotel grounds and the Paso Robles area.

Around 9pm or so, we decided it was time for dinner. Nothing was open! It was a Sunday night, but all the restaurants in the downtown area were closed. We got in the car and drove around until we finally found something open. And we had to break one of our travel rules. When we are on vacation, we only eat at new restaurants. We don't eat at chains or places we've been to before. We had to add an exception to our rule, we don't eat at chains or places we've been to before when at all possible! We found a Panda Express that was open in a strip mall a few miles away.

And thus concludes our first day in California.