Long Vacation in USA - Part 5 - Pacific Coast Highway

The Pacific Coast Highway, the epitome of the American love for open road, cars and road trip. I was told there are several significant roads in the States. It was like a rite of passage for road trip lovers to do the PCH (west coast south to north) and Route 66 (east to west along the middle of USA).

This is really a very very nice road trip. The mist covered winding roads, offering spectacular views when the mist cleared up. The abundance of wildlife. The meadows and orchards. Of course, who can ever forget the sea, beach and sea cliffs that dot this coastal road. My only grouch, simply not enough time. We've scheduled a 3 days 2 nights journey along the short stretch of 460 miles.

We left Hollywood around late morning. Stop by a grocer to buy some food for our road trip and we're off to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a town by the sea filled with wealthy yuppies and retirees. Picturesque as it is, the frequent forest fire marred our visit. We were reaching the Santa Barbara Mission located amongst one of the many sea-facing hillsides when we noticed black smoke in the skies. There's a forest fire just started not too long ago nearby our destination. We still managed to take some pictures of the Santa Barbara Mission with the thick black smoke as background. Later on after we left Santa Barbara, we heard over the radio that an evacuation order was given for residents in that area as the forest fire could not be contained.

Thick black smoke of the forest fire looming over the Santa Barbara Mission.

Along the way we stopped by some nice vista points and small towns/residential areas which comes with nice sea cliff views and seals as well.

One of the many beaches that line the western coast!

Beautiful yet strange flowers blossoming all along the coastline.

Houses by the sea right next to a cliff. On top of that, there's an abundance of wildlife ranging from seals to seabirds a few steps away from their doorstep. How novel!

The misty, dreamy sunset of our 1st day along the PCH.

Our first night along the PCH was spent in Cambria. It's a small touristy town. The weather in Cambria is cool and misty. Somehow reminded me of Fraser's Hill, just cooler, bigger and better. It was the eve of Rain's birthday as well. We searched high and low for an affordable restaurant that's still open at 8.30pm and had a nice dinner. The Bridge Inn Hostel (H.I) was really cozy. It would have been perfect if we could secure a private room instead of sharing room with some snoring dudes. Otherwise, it's really a 100% satisfaction and recommended lodging.

Sweet Frozen Margarita for the birthday girl! :)

Spicy Jambalaya. Something like chinese fried rice just that it wasn't fried.

This is really special. Fried avocado with chipotle dipping sauce. A great way to serve avocados.

Our hostel for the night in Cambria. Two thumbs up! Great hospitality, cozy and comfortable environment.

The beach a short drive from Cambria. Good for a late morning stroll.

Then, it's off to Hearst's Castle but not before we had a picnic by the beach.

This Hearst is some rich dude. Some kind of newspaper tycoon. He had a serious retail therapy addiction. Bought tonnes of stuffs and build a castle among the clouds (it is literally among the clouds when there's thick mist in the summer) in order to display his stuffs. There are still stuffs he bought that couldn't be fit into the castle and were stored in some warehouse. Anyway, this guy is history and the family donated the castle and all the antiquities inside to the National Park. That's why we get to visit it now.

The outdoor pool at Hearst's Castle. The name. Neptune's pool! Can't find a more suitable name!

The view from Hearst Castle. Imagine a misty morning and I'm really looking out from a castle in the clouds.

Casa Grande, main building of the Castle.

This statue is put in such a way and place that it's almost like a couple stealing a kiss in a hidden corner.

The indoor pool, tiled with GOLD! We actually get to walk on gold! ...if only I could pry some tiles home.

The elephant seals viewing area is just a short drive away. It was molting season for the female seals. So all we saw were hundreds of huge smelly elephant seals lying on the beach shedding their skins.

Hundreds of huge, stinky skin shedding female elephant seals.

The view from above the clouds (or mist). The drive along this coast is so nice... ... ... if only we had more time.

We didn't really expect spending so much time at some of the view points and ended up really behind schedule. So much so that we had to miss Pfeiffer Beach. It didn't help that this beach is pretty secluded with no road signs. This beach is supposedly very nice with purple sand and well-known only among locals. By the time we finally reached our hostel, it's already way past night fall. It was a scary experience looking for our lodging that night, a lighthouse that is not functioning at night, in an area that is enveloped in total darkness and not shown on GPS.

Where we spent the night. The Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

Long Vacation in USA - Part 4 - Mickey Land

I should not be the one writing this post for I have no love for that old rat. Nevertheless, I have no choice just as I had no choice but to include Disneyland in my itinerary. The first place that crosses Rain's mind when planning her trip to US is Disneyland. It seemed that the idea of a hairy & sweaty dude beneath that Mickey/Minnie/Donald/Daisy/Pluto/Goofy costume is not a deterrent.

The Disneyland in Los Angeles is said to be the first Disneyland in the world. That being said... it actually just meant that it's old. I was told that the size is nothing compared to Disney World in Orlando. On top of that, I've already been to Los Angeles before. Therefore this stop in Los Angeles is purely to satisfy the inner child in Rain.

Well, reluctant as I was, I'm actually glad we made that trip. Especially when we were going through Haunted Mansion, Snow White's scary adventure and all other mildly scary/adventurous rides. It's like all those movies I saw where the guy purposely bring the girl to a scary movie in order to "take advantage" of her fright. Hehehehe...


Happy face that didn't last very long. Funny how these things can scare someone who used to shout out march commands during secondary school.


The Haunted Mansion. Love this ride!

Anyways, here are some pictures of the happy moments before Snow White scare the living daylights out of Rain!


Right after the entrance. That's the town center railway station.


Bunch of characters in a truck. Right after the legendary character showcase in front of the castle.


There...snow white and her castle. :P


Or is it Arthur? Alas...not the chosen one.


Remember this sight. Avoid it at all cost! This ride is known as "It's a small world" with the song "It's a small world" as the theme song. Being played back in different languages repeatedly for ETERNITY! Trust me..run away while you can. Once you are in, you'll have to spend an eternity in it being brainwashed with that blasted song...in every freaking language!!!!!

Of course, the loveliest part of Disneyland is actually the Toon Town. It's like being transported into a scene of Disney's classic cartoons. Nostalgic.


Ahh... Toon Town, Rain was having so much fun here she almost didn't want to go anywhere else.


This place is kinda nice actually, with talking mailboxes and screaming doors.


Damn, busted. And what's with the kid? Am I hallucinating? Am I seeing double?


Taking a pic with Mickey in Disney is a must do. So well, here it is.

We were told that the highlight of any Disneyland visit would be the fireworks at night around the Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Alas, we were in LA. One of the places worst hit by the economic recession. NO FIREWORKS. Period. In its place is a kinda lame parade. Sigh.....



The crowd waiting waiting for the parade to begin. Spot the odd one!


Cute balloons.


Parade of toon characters.


The sky. Without any fireworks...sigh....

The next morning, we manage to catch a few sights in Hollywood before setting off on our journey along Pacific Coast Highway.


Self explanatory. See here and here for more LA pics from my previous trip.


Never knew that American Idol is held here, until Rain told me about it (I know I'm very out).

Long Vacation in USA - Part 3 - Grand Canyon

Drum rolls please ...
The next destination is none other than the biggest, the grandest, the one and only ...Grand Canyon in Arizona. This bad boy is shaped through million years of pure unadulterated hydraulic power! Generated by the relatively teeny-weeny Colorado River. You can literally see the age of the earth from the layers of the cliffs.

Exciting introduction, if only the drive from Vegas to Grand Canyon could be just half as exciting. We started our journey from Vegas quite early ... ~9 am, eager to reach the magnificent canyon by 1pm. Yes, it's a freakishly boring 4 hours drive away! Alas, that's not all, by 10 am we were stuck. Road construction brought the traffic to a standstill for an estimated 2 hours. After much consideration and with the help of the trusty GPS, we managed to find a detour. 5 more hours of hard driving, stopping only for gas, forbidding Rain from drinking too much water in fear of unnecessary pit stops (sorry!); and we are there.


Typical view of the long endless drive to Grand Canyon.




The view that greeted us at Mather Point & Yavapai Point. Impressive!!

The view is just breathtaking! There is no wonder it's known as the "Grand" Canyon. All this is due to the water flowing through the Colorado river.


The Colorado River, one of the co-designers of the Grand Canyon.

It's just one breathtaking view after another after we arrived. We made one silly mistake at this destination. Not wearing enough clothes. It's a mistake that Rain will definitely remember. She was visibly shivering in the cold as we wait for the sun to set.


Rain about 1 hour before sunset. Clearly not wearing warm enough for 36deg F + strong winds.


The magnificent view before we had enough of shivering.

We were exhausted and slept so late the next morning that we missed the sunrise. All is not lost though we still manage to drive to Desert View as well as took a bus to Hermit's Rest. Both are lookout points at both the western and eastern most of the Grand Canyon (South Rim) National Park.


Half awake, in at least 5 layers of clothing. It's only ~6a.m.




Rain "trespassing" on ancient Indian grounds.


What's left of an ancient Red Indian community.


A bunch of deers crossed the road right in front of us. They nearly became roadkill!


Desert View watchtower.


This place is known as the Abyss. One step forward and it's just air beneath you for 3000ft.


Click to have a better panoramic view at Pima Point.




The view at Hermit's Rest. Managed to catch a glimpse of a condor.

Only regret for this destination is that we do not have the time to actually hike/take a mule ride down to the base of the canyon. Friends who have been there said wonderful things about it. For those with tonnes of cash (~usd300 per pax), you could even take a chopper ride all the way to the bottom of the canyon.