One day after I flew home from my trip with Rachel, Vu and I flew down to Los Angeles.  We had Vu’s car shipped down a few days before and we were driving it up the west coast from LA and back home along the 1 and then the 101.  Vu really wanted to try out the curvy coastal roads in his car, since you know that is the kind of road his car was “meant” for.  🙂  We of course spent the first day in Disneyland, because we can’t go to LA and not go to the magic kingdom.  We missed the Halloween celebrations by one day.  But it was a pretty good day to go.  Vu has wanted to go to Disneyland the third week of September since we got married.  Because according to his research that is when you can virtually walk on to the rides.  I kind of think those days are gone, but it was still a pretty low crowd day.  The lowest that we have been to so far I think.  Sadly Space Mountain was closed, both of our favorite ride.

We started our drive the next day and when I was planning it, since the driving was the main focus, I chose just one or two things to stop and do each day, and kept the driving as short as possible so it wasn’t too much in one day to be enjoyed.  I have to say that the Pacific Coast Highway section (San Diego to San Francisco) is actually my least favorite part of the whole drive.  Although it does have some pretty spots, I don’t think it is as pretty as the northern section and you have to pass through so many really crowded California cities with so much traffic.  However, the road into Big Sur was closed so we missed almost all of it.  We did drive down into it a little bit from the north, so I could see the Bixby Bridge, and that was really nice, so I am guessing we missed the best section.

The first day we didn’t stop until Morro Bay where we had the best french dip sandwiches ever (thanks to Vu’s coworkers recommendation who grew up in the area), and I love french dip.  We stayed the night in San Simeon so we could go to Hearst Castle in the morning.  We got there really early and were the first ones there and had a tour with only one other couple, which was so nice.  The drive up to the castle was fun, winding up the hills, catching glimpses of the castle.  It was cool to see, but definitely much too ornate for my tastes.  My favorite part was the study, which was actually more like a library.  And of course the actual library.  Oh and the indoor pool with all of the blue and gold tiled mosaics.  Sadly the Neptune pool was closed for renovations.

The third day was when we went down to Bixby bridge and then had lunch in a cute little shopping area in Carmel.  We then drove to San Francisco and Vu was a really great husband and braved San Francisco traffic in his precious so we could drive across the Golden Gate bridge.  We stopped at a few different view points for the bridge as well.  My very favorite view is the one from Marshall’s Beach with the big rocks around it.  But it also is a nudist beach, so you know, you have be strategic and pay attention to what you are getting in the picture… 😵 And of course I made Vu walk out on the bridge with me.  It was the Great Wall of China all over again.  I don’t understand how someone can be there and not want to walk on it… but that’s Vu.  😂 Again he was a great husband though, and accepted his fate courageously.  We stayed in San Francisco the next day as well and went into the city to do some of the touristy things, you know, Trolley ride, Lombard street, Fisherman’s wharf and Pier 39.  I love this city so much and could have spent a whole week here, but since this was a trip for Vu, I limited myself.  However it just moved it’s way up towards the top of my twin trip list.