California Coast Road Trip

Herbie

Adventurist
Some of my fondest memories as a child were of the epic multi-day road trips we'd take as a family. Dad would drive us across the desert to see Arizona's natural and archaeological wonders. Mom would blast through Nevada in an effort to maximize the number of days spent fishing in Colorado or Montana. Annika has proven to take after her mom a bit - prone to motion sickness, and not as enamored of long car rides as her old man. That notwithstanding, I figured we were due for a good old fashioned Family Road Trip.

Prep for this trip included crossing off a lot of items that had been on the punch-list for the van for years. I figured, if we're going to spend a week and a half in the van, I should probably sort out some of those comfort items I'd been putting off. You know, little details like finishing the forward headliner (we've actually driven around with exposed metal roofing for close to six years). I also reconfigured the rear door racks to hold a cargo box and move the gasoline and propane to the passenger side, where I could plug in the camp-kitchen under the awning more conveniently.







Originally, our itinerary had included a lot more camping as we moved up the coast, but fire in Santa Barbara county burned right down into El Capitan State Beach, so we made do with last minute reservations elsewhere, and made sure to just enjoy as much of the road as we could manage, instead spending a couple of quiet nights in Pismo beach - taking day trips and reading. (Hey, I was on vacation too, so I polished off three books.)


Many of the highlights we'll keep just for ourselves, but this video should let you in on some of the big ones. Enjoy!

 
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Wow, I think the first time I met you guys was at a trip to a private campground near Julian. Your baby girl has grown a bit since then!
 
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