Route 1 - Saved by Boobs

Ok, so just when we thought all was going swimmingly well, a certain mini somebody decided that it was time to cut his second tooth. Our normally angelic baby in the car, turned into a car monster for the "drive" part of our trip. He slept from San Francisco to Monterey no problem at all and for the first hour of our drive south of Monterey... Then he was awake, teething, angry and making this known in the best way he knows how. Unfortunately for us, although we had left our accommodation flexible for the night, there are really limited options of where to stay between Monterey and San Luis Obispo and it was getting dark. We had no choice but to press on. So picture in your mind the crashing ocean waves, rugged twisting cliffs, breathtaking views and the open road. Possibly in your open top Cadillac. The idle of route 1 and these views...

Nope! I spent route 1 cramped in the back of Toyota Yaris with a pushchair under my feet, a grumpy child next to me, doing some kind of excruciating yoga pose to get my boob into his car seat to feed him, the only way he would be quiet, whilst simultaneously trying not to puke on Ian's head on the twisty roads when I suffer from car sickness. Yeah, I guess this won't go down as the highlight of our trip! I guess we have been pretty lucky so far and our luck had to run low at some point. No doubt it won't be the last and the main thing is that we all survived! Thank goodness I am still breastfeeding. Not really how I imagined spending my birthday though (yes you read correctly - this was my birthday) and not my finest hour!

After a night in the pretty San Luis Obispo, day two of the drive went a little better. We stopped for a lovely picnic on the beach for lunch in Santa Barbara. It would be a great place to stop for a few days if you had more time and wasn't far from San Luis Obispo.

We then continued along the coast through Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice beach, where we stayed for a stunning sunset.

Three days would have been much more comfortable but we did manage it in two. If you have even more time all the better. The drive is really beautiful, perhaps route 1 is better for the couples though!