Close your eyes. Imagine yourself slowly cruising down a windy road that clings to the steep hillsides with breathtaking Pacific Ocean views. You cross charming bridges and go through curvy section between hills were small waterfalls are shooting out between them. You enter a pine grove with branches that hang over the road. Take a deep breath. Thick and fresh ocean air mixed with the scent of redwood. You cross creek after creek of rushing water. Hear the soft wind blowing through the pines. Flying all around you are gorgeous monarch butterflies. Sounds like a dream right? Well it’s not. There is a place like that called Big Sur, CA and I have been there.

It is funny that I lived in California most of my life but never took advantage of the truly unsurpassable beauty only a few hours drive away. Big Sur’s nothern end is roughly a 2 and a half hour drive from San Francisco and at it’s southern end, it is roughly 4 hours from Los Angeles. You may be saying to yourself, that is no small drive and I agree. However, within an hour of your drive down the 101, your going to be traveling some of the most beautiful country in the state. Trust me, Big Sur is worth the drive.

The most interesting thing about Big Sur is that there is such a variety of landscapes. I was driving down Hwy 1 which swerves in and out of hillsides and supplies you with dramatic ocean views. Then all of a sudden you duck into a crevice between two hills, and you are in the most amazingly lush redwood forest that you can imagine. Waterfalls and bright green ferns everywhere. Then you are hit rolling hills, rugged cliffs and finally back to forest again. I have spent  a lot of time in Big Sur and I never seem to get tired of it. The beauty of Big Sur runs long ways down the coast line and short trip inland leaves behind any sign of waterfalls, so there isn’t a lot of vast space to roam. But what is there is so dramatic and beautiful, it makes just sitting on a log joyfull.