As sad as we where leaving San Francisco we were pretty excited about hitting the famous highway 1 through the 'Big Sur.' The only problem was 24 hours before picking up our mustang convertible we found the booking had been cancelled and we had no car, but had conviently paid a non refundable deposit. So after searching numerous cheap car hire pages we managed to find a dodge charger for similar rates last minute, so felt a little relieved. However when we went to pick up our car at the unfriendliest car hire ever 'dollar' we found out that the dodge charger actually meant a big, white, old school Chevy Malibu, needless to say a Will was not a happy boy. To make matters worse, as a gesture the dollar man, said he would surprise us by giving us a free upgrade to a car we would love… I don't think he really got us, as the car we would love was a large petrol eating monster, a ford Taurus, so we switched back to the Chevy and a moody Will drove off. First stop was Santa Cruz, a little tackier then we thought, basically the famous boardwalk is like a mini Blackpool pier, and not much else! But the shops were good, and we stumbled across a cute café running a Thailand floods fundraiser and picked up some good Thai curry, with the local Birichino wines. The next day was set to be a truly special day for a wine geek as we headed up the Santa Cruz Mountains, to the iconic winery Ridge. And when we say up a mountain, Ridge was literally on the top, on one side of the San Andreas Fault line, amazingly beautifully! Anyho when we turned up we were pretty amazed to be told Paul will be waiting for us at the winery, Paul, being Mr Paul Draper, the mastermind & winemaker behind Ridge. To put this winery into perspective, in a very famous tasting called the Judgement of Paris back in 1976 these guys were pitched 'blind' alongside some of the biggest names in Bordeaux, and came 5thfor their Cabernet 'Montebello.' And in a re-enactment in 2006, they were rated no1, so better than not just there US colleagues, but the likes of Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux. Needless to say we had the best visit ever Paul Draper took us on a tour of the winery for nearly 3 hours, explaining everything from Ridge's philosophy and winemaking techniques to the US wine scene, throwing in his own amazing wine experiences; I didn't want it to end! He was so inspirational, and such a classic and talented wine maker. He even let us taste the new vintages of the geyserville 2010 (their zinfandel), and the 2010, and 2011 Montebello out of barrel, and then arranged a tasting of the 99 Geyserville... and the 08 Montebello v the 95! Even Will was impressed!!! Spending 4 hours there as oppose to the 2 we had planned, meant we were pretty late for our next winery tour, so on my instruction Will put his foot down and pushed the Chevy and my stomach to its limits, to arrive only 30 mins late at our next winery, Bonny Doon. Not quite the same, as these wines were being made in a parking lot, but for good reason. However, the man behind this winery was equally as passionate, Randall Graham! The difference here is he is way more quirky, and we encountered UFO's as we entered the tasting room, and 100's of different wines. We were taken on a tour by Alex ( who we discovered mid tour made the Birichino wines we had in Santa Cruz a few days ago!) and tasted a whole range of wines out of barrel, including a quirky cider, and the components of his famous blend La Cigare Volant. We even witnessed his weird approach of ageing this wine in large glass bottles as oppose to wood. We then tasted the complete range, featuring a Spanish albarino, and a dinosaur wine, are you starting to get the quirkiness here?! And then after a very successful wine geek day, we cruised down to Monterey, to have some more wine, and fresh fish at Passion fish restaurant. The next morning we wandered around, again slightly touristy but quaint Monterey, and saw seals, birds and sea otters, in Monterey's beautiful bay, and then drove on to Picturesque, and disneylandish Carmel, and spent way too long shopping in their gorgeous, yet expensive shops. A good hour was spent in their local cheese shop, tasting our way through the shop so to speak, and settling on about 7 cheeses to enjoy later, all from the US. And then it was time for the famous Big Sur drive, and wow, was it stunning, each corner revealed a new wow, sheer cliffs, rustic beaches, massive bridges, and sea life galore… amazing!! Exhausted with all the driving we checked in at the famous Nepthene restaurant, for their signature Ambrosia burger, and their renowned amazing view. Though, Will being Will, not satisfied with our seats he set off to get the best seats in the house overlooking the Ocean, needless to say we got them, but in the process we moved 3 times and annoyed all the very unhelpful staff, and the burger wasn't that great either! So us, being us, seeking a little more, we headed to the $600 a night post ranch inn for drinks at sunset. Now here the service was good, and so was the beer, and the sunset incredible. It's a shame Will didn't treat me to the $110 tasting menu, featuring lobster, foie gras and truffle, but I shall work on him for next time. Then, we quickly jumped in the car and drove around a lot more bends and sheer cliff edges, in the dark may I add, to our accommodation for the night, Treebones Resort. Now this was pretty special, we had originally checked in here to stay in a famous yurt, and have to say we were a little disappointed when we saw it, no fireplace like advertised, it was super large, and we could barely see the ocean, which was kinda the point! So when we asked to maybe switch to another yurt, they offered us the secret treehouse, Will was sold straight away, and although I needed a little more persuasion, when I saw it I was blown away! All by itself with direct unobstructured views over the ocean; we walked over our swinging bridge to our cosy little wooden treehouse, complete with a view to die for, a fireplace, and a glass roof to watch the stars, yey!!! To warm up we quickly hit the hot tub under the stars, with eagle eye cherry blaring in the background, and then ate our cheese, played cards and chilled in out beautiful treehouse, again staring up at the stars… and then at 6am off went the alarm as Will had signed us up for Yoga!! Don't think it was quite our thing, we are defiantly not flexible people, but felt pretty good for giving it a go! And then after a breakfast full of fresh eggs, and spinach from the garden, and homemade granola, we very sadly said goodbye to the treehouse as we headed further south down the highway 1. After a slow drive, taking in the rest of the scenery, Next stop was Piedras Blanca, a famous elephant seal gathering so to speak, but Will was disappointed as they weren't mating., but soon was forgotten as when we turned the corner there was a bunch of zebras just chilling by the road, very random!! A little shocked, onwards we drove to Cambria, a gorgeous little town, famous for moonstone beach drive, a road facing the beach full of cute and kinda expensive little b and b's. We discovered a gem, Cambria Shores Inn, and got free cookies, cheese, DVD's, another fireplace and a bath!! The next morning they even put a basket full of freshly squeezed orange juice and treats on our door… But alas, it was time again to move on, after stopping on route at Morro Bay for some fresh crab and seafood, next stop was Pismo Beach, somewhere we were pretty excited about. Pismo wasn't quite what we expected, mainly as the 2 things we came to do had proved challenging. Firstly the ATV tours on their dunes had all closed for the day, and were way more expensive then planned, and secondly wills dreams to drive along the beach seemed dashed when we were told our Chevy Malibu couldn't handle it. But to raise our spirits Will ignored these recommendations, and proved our Chevy could handle it as we cruised down the beach, through a creek, and even took in the sunset, no need to mention we nearly got stuck…twice! Then we quickly whizzed down to San Luis Obiso to go to a famous, quirky farmers market, full of live performers and food. Then last but not least, we headed to not only our final destination on the highway 1, but our last wine tasting town Santa Barbara. First stop was Qupe, a Rhone style producer, and here we met the very informative Rob, learnt about this 'cooler' wine region and tasted some delicious wines. We then got to beautiful, Mediterranean-esque Santa Barbara just in time for lunch, and ate some lobster bisque, and crab cakes on the pier, and headed to our last winery Au Bon Climat in town. It was a shame as the last wine tasting was at a very disorganised tasting room, with no one really knowing anything about the wines, but we tasted regardless some great chardonnay and pinot and Chloes wedding wine! Then Will could hardly contain his excitement as the time had come to watch the new Twilight 'Breaking Dawn' and not at any cinema, a proper US drive in cinema… very cool experience and Will loved it, especially as he finally got to see some mating, unfortunately it wasin the car next to us, and they were not seals. Anyway our last day, on the coast, and in California, for a while, consisted of lots of shopping (for Will may I add) the man who brought one pair of trousers, and one jumper, for a 2.5 month trek around America in winter! We hired some rollerblades, and a California cruiser bike, and had fun down their boardwalk, and then munched on some guacamole, and fajitas at the highly recommended Carlitos in town. The last treat of the trip, was having a finale breakfast at the super yummy tupelo junction, with Aimee, Kerensa & Rob, our fellow Hawaii mates to be! Was the perfect last meal in California, and great to talk about the upcoming wedding to be J! And after they very kindly found us a map store, where we bought our Route 66 guidebook and headed off on our next road, the historic route 66.