California Highway 1 is a phenomenal drive! Highway 1 is not to be confused with Highway 101. At times they are the same road, but for most of the drive they are separate highways, although they run parallel to each other. The difference is that Highway 1 is the coastal road, and therefore, the more rugged and scenic road. Highway 101 is more like a freeway, oftentimes multi-lane, running a straight line from point to point and rarely coming within sight of the coast. Highway 1 is anything but straight.

On our journey from San Francisco to Ft. Bragg we were simply awed with the beauty we encountered. There were more hairpin turns than could be imagined and most times no guard rails of any kind. Going up and down, from about a thousand feet to shore level with turn after turn over and over again made the head spin. The views were amazing. Rolling hills, sand dunes, sheer cliffs, bays with massive rock protrusions, sandy shores, bogs, estuaries, deep valleys and always brilliant blue water were within sight. At times, we found ourselves in deep forests and at other times in flower covered treeless hills, but all the time the coastline was to the immediate west. We thought this was the most impressive part of our coastal journey thus far in California, and that says a lot, since all of Highway 1 so far has been amazing. WEG