6 May 2009 SLO to Mission Viejo

266 miles; 21.15 MPG

We left SLO and much to our dismay, the planned route through the mountains/high desert above Santa Barbara were closed due to the fire that was raging there. Our only options were to go back north and across the Mojave desert, or continue south on Highway 1/101. We headed south on Hwy 1, which paralled the 101 for most of the way, but were able to stop off at Pismo Beach for a photo shoot of the car on the beach.

We continued traveling south through Lompoc enjoying the sights of California agriculture at its best…yum…strawberry season. Eventually, Hwy 1 joined up again with 101—yes, a freeway—but no way around it—at Gaviota State Beach until we made it through Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Leaving Ventura, we continued south on Hwy 1 through Oxnard, and back to beach front coastline around Point Magu. I’ve always heard of this, but have never seen this part of Southern California. We hit Malibu, and then Santa Monica, with its roller coaster on the pier. Our original plan was to find a place to camp/stay in or around Santa Monica, but once we hit this area and the traffic issues we opted to exceed our 200 mile day maximum to take advantage of long time friend Laura and her boys in Mission Viejo. The trip through LA, in stop and go traffic was uneventual, but we did make it through LA without touching a freeway! Just 2 ½ hours to do it!

We eventually hit Huntington Beach, and traveled along the coast on our way to MV. Then our first mechanical mishap…about 5 miles from Laura’s, we had our first flat since we bought the car. We did learn that it was maybe not a good idea to store the jack under the back seat…we had to unpack the entire car to access it and get the tire changed!

Next stop: Backtrack to Fullerton to Moss’s to pick up a new spare tube, then we’re heading to San Diego.