We began our drive up the coast with a visit to La Jolla Cove. This had been recommended by a friend from work as well as appearing near the top of every “things to do in San Diego” list, and was definitely worth a visit – the beach itself is, like most California beaches, beautiful but the highlight is the cove absolutely full of seals and sea lions (they helpfully explain the difference) all frolicking around in the sea or soaking up the sun. They are pretty cute although they certainly do smell!

From here, a couple of hours up the coast to Santa Monica. The pier is a highlight and it marks the end of Route 66 but the whole place is lovely, with a massive expansive beach and a nice, chilled vibe. I could easily spend all day here, but we have so much to cram into this trip that Santa Monica becomes a whistle stop and we head off again along the infamous Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1).

On our way to Santa Maria, our stopover on Wednesday night, we stopped off at Santa Barbara (apparently California loves its saints!) where we explored the harbour and grabbed some food. Again, it was lovely as everywhere on the coast here seems to be, and we ate well in a nice cafe that serves extremely local seafood – and a burger for Kirsty who hates seafood!

Thursday we had a tip off to go and check out Solvang, a quirky little town that has a load of Danish-style architecture. We stopped off at Hans Christian Andersen Park, which we thought might have some interesting things in it in reference to the famous children’s writer but it turned out was literally just a park! There was a nice replica of the Little Mermaid statue in the town though, as well as a great windmill.

The day then took us along the iconic stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, from Morro Bay up through San Simeon and Big Sur, and eventually into Carmel and Monterey. I’ve done this drive before but, on a clear and sunny day, it is impossible to overstate how beautiful this stretch of road is. A deep blue sea to the left, and hills and valleys stretching as far as you can see ahead and to the right, it really is a drive that should be on everyone’s bucket list.

A bite to eat in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a bit of sea-otter-spotting in Monterey – we didn’t see any, but did see more seals! – and then made our way to tonight’s stop over, San Jose.

Next up is hitting Yosemite Park and then heading up to Lake Tahoe and around to California’s state capital, Sacramento. I’ll update again then! Thanks for reading and thanks for the comments on the last one, we enjoy reading them 