BIG SUR

One of the things Mr. W wanted to do on this trip was drive the coast through Big Sur. We moved from Yosemite Lakes RV to another Thousand Trails park in San Benito.  The park was a nice, secluded park.  Verizon worked most of the time.  AT&T did not.  You can buy Wi-Fi at your site for $10 for 4 days and it worked great.  We did make a few calls and sent several texts through the wi-fi with no actual cell service. The staff is very friendly.  They do, however, require you to show your registration and insurance coverage on your vehicle and your RV before you can enter the park. Never had that before.  It is a great park if you want to just get away from it all and relax.  It is a true "camp" ground.

We drove from there to get on Highway 1 and drive the coast.  This part of the California coast is awesome.  They do have some road construction going on (part of the road was totally closed because of a rockslide), but it wasn't bad.  The cliffs going out to the edge of the beach, the wildflowers, the water breaking on the rocks, all of it was gorgeous. 

The section of Highway 1 running through Big Sur is widely considered as one of the most scenic.  driving routes in the United States, if not the world. No billboards or advertisements are permitted along the highway and signage for businesses must be modestly scaled and of a rural nature conforming to the Big Sur region. The state of California designated the 72 miles section of the highway from Cambria to Carmel Highlands as the first Scenic Highway in 1965.In 1966 first lady Lady Bird Johnson led the official scenic road designation ceremony at Bixby Creek Bridge. In 1996, the road became one of the first designated by the federal government as an "All American Road" under the National Scenic Byways Program.

The Bixby Creek Bridge

Due to its beauty, the road during summer vacation periods and on holiday weekends is often crowded and traffic is slow. Most of the highway is so narrow and the sides so steep that there's no shoulder, limited turnouts, and no passing lanes.

Most of the 4 to 5 million tourists who currently visit Big Sur each year never leave Highway 1, because the adjacent Santa Lucia Range is one of the largest roadless areas near a coast in the entire United States. The highway winds along the western flank of the mountains mostly within sight of the Pacific Ocean, varying from near sea level up to a thousand-foot sheer drop to the water. 

It is considered to be one of the top 10 motorcycle rides in the United States.

McWay Falls 

Despite and because of its popularity, the region is heavily protected to preserve the rural and natural character of the land. The Big Sur Local Coastal Plan, approved by Monterey County Supervisors in 1981, states the region is meant to be an experience that visitors transit through, not a destination. For that reason, development of all kinds is severely restricted. Gorgeous area that I hope always stays underdeveloped.