Enjoying California's Pacific Coast Highway

After a laid-back weekend, we hit the road again this morning. Blue skies, sunshine, and a high of 72ºF - now that's an improvement!

We again took the scenic Topanga Canyon Rd down to the Pacific Coast Highway. We travelled through Malibu, and planned to take the coastal road up to Santa Barbara. Greg keeps mentioning what a great road it would be to ride his motorcycle. Ironically though, we see very few motorcycles here.


I checked Google before we left to make sure there were no road closures on that highway, as there had been a mudslide a few weeks ago. Well, Google let me down, we missed the detour signs, and we ended up at a "road closed" sign. However, we only had to backtrack 10 miles to the alternate route, and we really enjoyed the additional scenery.

Check out the winding road on the left that leads to this home on the hill. It wasn't an unusual sight on this journey; we saw lots of large properties perched on the sides of mountains.

Our detour took us through three tunnels cutting through the mountains

 And great views of the valleys below

In 2008 Greg and I made an unplanned stop in Santa Barbara, assuming we'd stay overnight ... we stayed five days. I love Santa Barbara! So, today we planned to stay overnight ... and we've already paid for two nights! There's so much to see and do here. 

Greg and I on the Santa Barbara pier in 2008

We returned to the same hotel we'd used in 2008. When we checked in I mentioned that I thought this was their slow season, and yet there were lots of people everywhere. He laughed and said "This is Santa Barbara - there is no slow season." If only Niagara Falls could say the same thing; sadly, that's not the case.

I'm looking forward to lots of walking around town tomorrow ... in the sunshine!