Cross country road trip notes: part 4

Continued from parts 1, 2, and 3.

After Vegas and the Hoover Dam, we drove into California with Phantom Planet's "California" blaring on repeat because, really, when else would we have an opportunity to do that again? (For the curious, we also listened to an unhealthy amount of Ke$ha and "Call Me Maybe" during the trip because belting out and laughing to ridiculous pop music seemed to make the miles go by quicker and raise morale.) We stopped in wine country for the night and unfortunately didn't have time to delve into any tastings. Instead, we headed straight for the coast in the morning and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway.

Our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, beyond the (jawdropping) hills

Our first stop at a beach and Jess's first interaction with the Pacific Ocean

Shortly after getting on Route 1, we stopped in San Simeon to tour the Hearst Castle and have some lunch. You guys, this place is ridiculous. Jess and I visited the Biltmore in Asheville, NC a few years ago, so we've experienced grand houses before and we were still blown away by its opulence.

This is great and all, but we agreed that Elvis had a more baller billiard room at Graceland

No big deal, just a private movie theatre in the house

The grounds were what I thought really made the house amazing.

Oh and let's not forget about the indoor pool. 

Driving north, we got to see some elephant seals sunbathing and some more amazing views.

It was really, really hard to not stop every 5 minutes to see the next overlook, but we had some places to be, specifically my new apartment, so we said good bye to the Pacific Coast Highway outside of Monterey and got stuck in traffic painfully close to my new home instead. 

Jess stayed with me for the weekend and we did some touristy things in San Francisco while she was in town.

The Painted Ladies (Full House, what what!)

Finally saw and walked on the Golden Gate Bridge

Fisherman's Wharf

Driving down Lombard Street

Jess was super, duper excited

And that, folks, concludes Jess's and my epic cross country road trip! On one of the first days of the trip (before she got food poisoning), Jess exclaimed that we should do a cross country trip every year. Maybe not every year, and definitely not with two cats in tow, but I think I'd be up for it again. It was really an amazing experience.