California Road Trip Day 1: SFO to Morro Bay

Before we got serious about Wind-Lass and had to make a beeline for Annapolis, the original plan for Thanksgiving was to fly out to San Francisco for a few days in the city and then a road trip south down the coast.

Instead, we took a red-eye flight across the country to be there in time for the vessel survey, then flew back to Minnesota with my dad to stay for the weekend. I was so happy that it worked out for us to be able to spend time with family and even have an early Thanksgiving dinner!

But come Monday, it was time to head out to California for the original trip I had planned, albeit slightly altered now. Instead of staying in San Francisco at the start of the trip, we were opting to begin our road trip upon arrival and get our city fix at the end.

We flew Delta on a 4.5-hour, non-stop flight from MSP to SFO. At the airport, we hopped the airport train to another part of the airport to the car rental center and then took a free shuttle to the off-site car rental place. Doing this saved us over $100 and only took about 30 more minutes.

Then we hit the road, taking the first major highway west, 92, right through some hill country and into Half Moon Bay (population 11,324 as of the 2010 census), a small town on the coast.

 First look at the ocean in Half Moon Bay, CA

We didn't stop at that point only because we'd only been driving for half an hour and wanted to make some more time on the road. Still, we drove on reluctantly after spotting an authentic-looking seafood counter on the corner and hoped we'd have a chance to check it out on the way back.

Once we hit Santa Cruz, after just over an hour's worth of driving, we stopped for lunch. We got... what else? Tacos!! Pretty good stuff, a nice dark Bohemia Mexican beer each, and all for less than $20. I heart California.

Taco plates at Taqueria La Cabaña in Santa Cruz

The sun began to set while we were still driving.

Of course, I made Scotty stop the car about a million times to ooh and ahh and take a "few" pictures. He was a pretty good sport about it. ;)

Our goal was to make it to Morro Bay, a coastal town halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We didn't have any reservations or even a place to stay, but figured we would find something once we got there; one of the many great reasons to travel in the "off" season if you can swing it.

I'll be back soon with more of the next leg of our trip and why Morro Bay is one of the prettiest and most relaxing places I've ever visited.

Sunset over the Pacific from Highway 1 ~ November 2012