Posted December 2, 20159 yr Part 1: Reno and Death Valley Part 2: Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and Valley of Fire Part 3: San Diego Part 4: Downtown LA and Hollywood Part 5: More LA and Long Beach Part 6: Santa Barbara and the California Coast Part 7: San Francisco Part 8: Sacramento Time to leave Greater Los Angeles and head north along the California coast: With a stop in Santa Barbara: (I'm not sure what typeface they are using on their street signs but it has to be the ugliest I've ever seen.) And back on the road along the Pacific Coast Highway... Next stop... San Francisco!
December 2, 20159 yr Great shots, Travis. I went to Santa Barbara quite a bit on business. Great place. If I lived in California, that would be my choice.
December 2, 20159 yr That Morro Rock picture turned out great!!! Okay, all these pictures turned out great but you know what I mean! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 13, 20169 yr I need to go back to Santa Barbara, ideally in the dead of January lounging around in 70 degree weather 8-). Did you get to see the Hearst Castle?
January 13, 20169 yr Did you get to see the Hearst Castle? No, our stop in Santa Barbara was very brief, but that looks amazing. Will have to check it out next time.
January 13, 20169 yr Looks like the Mediterranean coast from Spain over to Greece...if anyone ever has the chance to take the train along the coast from France to Barcelona, the route is spectacular. The line goes through at least 10 tunnels and there is no parallel road. You're hundreds of feet above the ocean and there are towns down on the shore that can only be reached by boat.
January 14, 20169 yr Its probably not as good as the european train, but the coast starlight and some pacific surfliners in California do the same thing: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xy3f9KeudCw/maxresdefault.jpg Some people even call the Santa Barbara region the American Rivera, because the climate is basically the same and its one of the few areas of coastal California where the coast line is to the north and the ocean to the south. The area is wonderful, its pretty much right where the LA trashiness ends.
January 14, 20169 yr epic roadtrip. its comfortable anywhere between la and sf around there for sure. definately the american riviera area.
January 20, 20169 yr Fantastic shots. Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places-- California is such a beautiful state.
March 25, 20169 yr The only coastline in North America that can compete with Big Sur is some of the stuff on Lake Superior (particularly Lake Superior Provincial Park, Pictured Rocks, Keweenaw Peninsula, and Sleeping Giant). Some of the stuff on Lake Huron (Bruce Peninsula, Killarney) and Lake Michigan (Sleeping Bear, Silver Lake) can also hang. The northern Great Lakes contain the closest parallels to the cliffs, hills, and beaches of coastal California (though with different vegetation). Monterey is totally a Michigan beach town transplanted to California. Big Sur is overall my favorite part of California. If there is one area to hit on the coast, that is it. Santa Barbara is also an excellent town with a great party school nearly on par with Ohio University. All of coastal California is beautiful. It also smells great. After living in the west side of San Francisco, I always long for the smell of eucalyptus trees.
March 25, 20169 yr The only coastline in North America that can compete with Big Sur is some of the stuff on Lake Superior (particularly Lake Superior Provincial Park, Pictured Rocks, Keweenaw Peninsula, and Sleeping Giant). Some of the stuff on Lake Huron (Bruce Peninsula, Killarney) and Lake Michigan (Sleeping Bear, Silver Lake) can also hang. The northern Great Lakes contain the closest parallels to the cliffs, hills, and beaches of coastal California (though with different vegetation). Monterey is totally a Michigan beach town transplanted to California. Big Sur is overall my favorite part of California. If there is one area to hit on the coast, that is it. Your completely forgetting Maine with a similarly rugged coastline to the ones you showed from Lake Superior...
March 25, 20169 yr ...and Oregon...and Washington...and British Columbia...and Newfoundland...and Quebec...and Baja California (+ Sur)...and hell, all of North America along the Pacific Coast through Costa Rica. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 25, 20169 yr ^The water is not as pretty in those places (except for Baja California and Costa Rica). It's much murkier compared to Big Sur, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan. They also lack the white sand beaches. There is an abnormally high silica content on some of those Great Lakes beaches which makes the sand insanely high quality (Michigan's Little Sable beach for example compares favorably to Gulf Coast Florida). Oregon and Washington generally have darker, rougher sand, as does Maine/Newfoundland. Oregon's Cannon Beach is excellent with big hills and cliffs around it, but the water clarity is not that great. White sand + clear, tropical-looking water + dramatic cliffs with vegetation + coastal waterfalls is a rare combination in North America. Though I should have thrown Hawaii in too. I forgot about it, and it's similar to parts of California's Central Coast. Most of California's water is much murkier than Big Sur. Once you get north of there, the Pacific takes a turn for the worse... LA and San Diego waters are also murkier, though they have some great beaches. In terms of diving, California's Central Coast between Monterey and Santa Barbara is the best on the Pacific. It shares this with the famous dive spots on the Great Lakes like the crystal-clear Bruce Peninsula. *I haven't been to Maine in forever, but I don't remember clear, tropical-looking water. It seemed pretty clean though and Acadia was gorgeous. Maine's coastal formations do remind me of northern Lake Superior and the La Cloche Mountains on Lake Huron (Acadia is almost a clone of Lake Huron's rugged, mountainous northern coast). I think it's fair to throw Acadia National Park in with Big Sur, Lake Superior, and Lake Huron. Washington and Oregon have some nice beaches and coastal cliffs, but nothing really as pretty as Big Sur. There is a more ominous feel to the Pacific Northwest. It's powerful-looking and impressive, but it doesn't make me want to hang out on the beach. :| Their coastal areas look like San Francisco and Marin County beaches (beautiful, but threatening). For example, Point Reyes National Seashore, while visibly jaw-dropping, is also kind of creepy and scary. Monterey Bay is a big dividing point on the Pacific... I guess it's all personal preference. I like the unique mix of ruggedness and tranquil beauty achieved at Big Sur and in parts of the northern Great Lakes region. They are areas where different environments collide, creating dynamic compositions.
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