Day 37 (7/7/14): Temecula, CA

Justin’s dessert smorgasbord at the buffet satisfied his sweet tooth. 🙂

After being on the road over a month, we had put a LOT of miles on our truck and finally needed to get the oil changed. We took the truck to the GMC dealership and spent several hours there while the oil was being changed. By the time we were done, we were starving and decided to go to Pechanga to have lunch at the buffet. That’s one of the only things I miss about living in Las Vegas: buffets! Haha!

After we ate at the buffet though, we went into a food coma and took a much needed nap. When we woke up, we drove through wine country and visited Wilson Creek Winery where we enjoyed a glass of our favorite wine: Golden Jubilee, a sweet, crisp and smooth wine with no aftertaste. Love it! We also love Wilson Creek! It’s our favorite winery in Temecula with beautiful grounds to relax in.

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  Wilson Creek Winery

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  Tasting Room

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  Vineyards

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  Wilson Creek Grounds

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  Picnic Area

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  Golden Jubilee Wine

Day 38 (7/8/14): Temecula, CA | Torrance, CA | San Juan Bautista, CA

Remember when the jerks in Denver tried to steal the license plate off our trailer? So inconvenient! Luckily they didn’t get away with the plate, but when they ripped it off the trailer, they broke the bracket holding it in place, and the bracket happened to be attached to the taillight. We had to order a whole new taillight with the license plate bracket and have it shipped to my Dad. We were finally able to pick it up from him when we visited Vegas.

SoCal Traffic (surprise, surprise)

On our way out of Temecula this morning, we stopped by an RV dealership where we had our new taillight and license plate bracket (including the license plate for the trailer) installed. Back in business! After leaving the RV dealership, we hit traffic as we headed north, which reminded us one of the main reasons why we left SoCal.  We made our way up to Torrance and got the rest of our trip supplies out of our storage unit. I’m so happy to finally have cooking gear and more shoes to wear! Up until this point, I had only the flip-flops and tennis shoes I had originally packed for the drive to Michigan to pick up our trailer.

After stopping at our storage unit, we headed up Highway 1 (aka PCH or Pacific Coast Highway).  While we were still inland, the landscape was much drier than we expected due to the severe drought California is currently experiencing.  The golden hills were still scenic, but as we began driving along the coast, the view became increasingly prettier.

The drive was beautiful, but it was difficult to fully appreciate while towing a trailer along the treacherous road. Talk about nerve-wracking! The road is extremely hilly with steep inclines as well as descents and sharp, narrow turns.  Plus, most of the highway is only 2 lanes.  We do NOT recommend taking this route while towing a 34.5’ or longer travel trailer.

It can be done though, especially if you’re brave and a hardcore trailer-towing champ like my husband.  🙂 However, with that said, we were even more nervous during this drive than when we ended up on the dead-end street near Lake Michigan. Plus, it took forever! We left our storage unit in Torrance at 12:00pm and didn’t reach our campground in San Juan Bautista until nearly 10:00pm! This was a very long day.

Day 39 (7/9/14): Santa Cruz, CA | Monterey, CA | Pebble Beach, CA | Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA

Today we decided to explore the Monterey Bay area. We started in Santa Cruz where we walked to the end of the Wharf and had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl (yum!).  From Santa Cruz, we drove through Monterey and stopped at a bar on Cannery Row to watch World Cup.

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  Santa Cruz

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  The beach at Santa Cruz

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  The Wharf at Santa Cruz (no bird, no chowder for you)

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  Santa Cruz

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  Santa Cruz

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  Cannery Row in Monterey

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  Cannery Row in Monterey

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  Cannery Row in Monterey

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  The beach at Monterey

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We then started on the 17-Mile Drive through Pebble Beach. Such a gorgeous, scenic drive! Plus, we saw countless deer along the route, including a family of deer who jumped over a wall! It was an incredible sight!

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  17-Mile Drive

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While on the 17-Mile Drive, we took a detour through Carmel-by-the-Sea along Scenic Drive road. We stopped at the Carmel Beach City Park where we took the pups on the fine white sand of the stunning beach.

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  At Carmel Beach City Park

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  Meaty didn't really get the sand

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  But Saucy LOVED it! 🙂

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The view was lovely of both the coast and the homes lining the other side of the street.  We parked, walked along Ocean Avenue and had dinner at a restaurant in town. We thoroughly enjoyed Carmel-by-the-Sea, a charming little sea-side town with fairytale-like cottages. So far, Carmel has been my favorite place along this journey!