Central Coast, California 1000 miles road trip in 4 days.
My birthday was coming up & my wife Claire told me that we needed to do something big.
As we both come from the hotel industry, she was imagining a nice restaurant or a stay in a 5* resort. She wasn’t ready to learn what I had in mind.
Since we moved from France to OC, driving up the coast has always been my dreams. After a ton of research & planing I thought I was ready to let her know that I wanted to get a camper van and spend 4 days in the middle of nowhere.
Knowing Claire I new it was going to be a hard sell. I created an itinerary, that you can find here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wjcpmcp14zMh8zx_scgVz1hSZhw1z_jP/view?usp=sharing
I knew it wasn’t enough to convince her to join me on my crazy adventures. So I cooked her a nice meal, put our girls to bed, opened a nice bottle of wine from Clos Solène in Paso Robles that we discovered a couple years ago and love, and presented her my vision with a power point presentation on our TV. You can find the presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t7KPcluuHhAMAwzHLROx2nPQRP6xoUDZ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106633671196356243870&rtpof=true&sd=true
Well my 5* hotel wife was not convinced but she joined me on this amazing trip.
We rented our Thor Tellaro https://www.thormotorcoach.com/tellaro camper van through Outdoorsy & GoCamp (At gocampcampervans.com enter the code FRIEND at checkout for $50 off and in the comments enter Greg Bringardner).
Cris was amazing! This was our first time renting an RV. Check out his camper here https://www.outdoorsy.com/rv-rental/costa-mesa_ca/2022_thor-motor-coach_tellaro_270926-listing
He walked us through the entire van, making sure we were all set for our trip & knew how to use everything. Even let us pick up the van the night prior to our departure as we were living early.
We left OC and drove up to Morro Bay to kick off our trip. Then headed inland to Paso Robles for a beautiful wine tasting at Clos Solène. Their wines, with French savoir faire are honestly the best Californian wines we had the chance of tasting. We of course left with a couple bottles and set up camp in the middle of the vineyards here: https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/california/campsite-in-the-vineyard/campsite-in-the-vineyard#group_size=5&adults=5.
We were all by ourselves surrounded by rolling hills of vineyards.
I woke up early in the morning to go on a quick walk and had the chance to see a lot of wildlife.
Day 2 was the beginning of our immersion into the Central Coast small town vibe. We discovered Carmel by the sea, witch reminded us of Laguna Beach with a lot of art boutiques and large ocean front promenade. We then, thanks to the recommendation from our friends Johnni and Janna Dideriksen, explored the 17 mile drive in Monterey. You have to see it. It’s a huge gated community with amazing properties but they are nothing compared to the views at each turn of the road. From the cliffs, to the woods and the golf course it is simply stunning.
We spent the night at New Brighton State Beach https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=542.
The campsite is on a bluff overlooking the ocean. There is a short trail that leads down to a secluded beach with beach wood and only a few surfers.
Day 3 was the highlight of our trip! We left our campsite early & started to make our way back down south. As soon as we passed Carmel, buildings became more and more scarce and the nature & landscapes are preserved. It is truly hard not to stop at every turn of the road. We stopped at Garrapata state beach, Bixby creek bridge (there is a off road trail to get an amazing perspective of the bridge), Hurricane point of view, Point Sur Lighthouse, Pfeiffer Beach (at the end of a one lane bumpy road), Partington Cove, McWay Falls and Gamboa Point.
We were so happy to arrive to our campsite for our last night, it was the best one of our trip. It is nested on the side of the 1 in the middle of the trees. We got there before nightfall, crossed the street to discover an amazing trail. It leads you all the way to the top of the cliffs. There are no signs, you are completely surrounded by nature and the elements.
After spending the night with the sound of the waives, we left for the last part of the drive through Big Sur. Stopped at ragged point for some coffee and to said goodbye to the unforgettable views. Then drove through San Simeon and Cambria before heading back down home and the dreaded LA traffic.Cris was waiting for us at the drop off point for the Van and all we needed to do is to refill the gas tank. Cris made the rental experience so easy, thank you.These couple days went by so fast, we created memories for a life time discovered the Camper Van experience & truly loved it. Having the flexibility of stopping wherever we wanted & being surrounded by nature definitely convinced us to do it again.
Next time we will absolutely take our 2 girls with us for our next family adventure