Our journey took us through the hills outside Los Angeles, from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library From here, we continue along Highway No. 23. You'll need a strong stomach here, especially the last stretch just before the coast. The switchbacks are not to be underestimated! You can find yesterday's post, where we drove Highway No. 1 from Morro Bay to Simi Valley. here.
El Matador Beach – Highway No. 1
Our goal was the El Matador BeachUnfortunately, the parking lot directly at the cliffs isn't free, but you can easily park on the side of the road along Highway 1. The few meters along the highway are no problem and safer than you might think. Then, descend the wooden steps along the cliffs to the beautiful sandy beach.
Here, you can clearly see how the coast is slowly being eroded by the sea. Some of the remains, half submerged in the water, form small caves and grottos. The sun blazed down from the blue sky, but the water was still quite cool. We only went in up to our ankles.
A model was lounging beneath one of the rock formations, constantly being directed into different poses by the photographer. It was fascinating to observe how such a shoot unfolds.
We walked up and down the beach a bit, watching the birds on and in the water. If you have enough time, you can spend a great day at the beach here.
Back at the car we decided to drive through the middle of LA and LAX to eat burgers and watch the planes. So, off we go into the fray.
In-N-Out at LAX
When we arrived at In-N-Out, we had to wait quite a while for our order. It was also packed. It's pretty popular, after all, because what could be better than burgers and airplanes! ;) We sat outside in the sun, our cameras always at the ready.
Drive to San Diego – Highway No. 1
Full from the food and watching the planes, we continued on towards San Diego. The traffic jams were really bad; it took us forever to get out of LA. The journey continued along Highway 1 through beautiful coastal towns and then onto Interstate 5. From here on, the route unfortunately became quite monotonous and boring, which was probably due to the military zone we were driving through. The only highlight were the oil rigs off the Pacific coast visible in the distance. Certainly not the view you'd want from your beach house, but quite interesting for us, as we're not used to seeing anything this close to the coast in Germany. We actually wanted to go to Balboa Park in San Diego today, but it was getting later and later and slowly getting dark.
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in San Diego?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, otel.com or Venere.com.
Our hotel for this night is the La Quinta Inn & Suites San Diego Mission BayA recently renovated hotel, pretty close to the interstate, but still quiet. The room is a decent size, and everything is super clean.
Pingback: Travelogue Highway No. 1: From Morro Bay to Simi Valley