The road trip starts out as a family reunion and turns into a mesmerizing photogenic trip I have ever taktaken. The cloudy weekend has not been in my favor, but with a little sunshine here and there and the blue sky has made my July 4th trip as relaxing as possible.

First stop is Alameda which is originally a peninsula connected to Oakland. The area has one of the largest coastal oak forests in the world, was therefore called Encinal, Spanish for “forest of evergreen oak”. In 1853,  the name is changed into Alameda which is Spanish for “grove of poplar trees” or “tree-lined avenue”. Waking along the shore on Independent day with cool breeze and a little of sunshine, San Francisco comes into view in a surreal perspective.
The drive along the California coastline give us a real connection with nature along State Route 1.

You do not need a expensive professional camera with fancy lens to capture these amazing fifty shades of blue.

Second stop is the historical concrete Bixby Bridge built in 1932.

This is one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world and one of the most photographed bridges along the Pacific Coast due to its  aesthetic design and location. It is located  13 miles (21 km) south of Carmel in Monterey County along State Route 1. The engineers selected the coast route instead of an alternative inland route included of an 890-foot (270 m) tunnel cutting though theSanta Lucia Mountains to a 250-foot (76 m) bridge upstream  because it was safer, more scenic, and least affected the environment. Using concrete other than steel helped to reduce material costs and allowed more of the total cost to be paid to workers, which  a plus during the Depression. The concrete has echo the color and composition of the natural rock cliff formations in the area.

Third stop is 80-foot tidefalls McWay Falls located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park with turquoise sea water.

The other tidefalls in the region is Alamere Falls. The source of the waterfall is McWay Creek and empty directly into the ocean. Originally the waterfall cascaded directly into the ocean but after a 1983 fire and 1985 landslides, the topography of McWay Cove was altered, forming an inaccessible beach. The waterfall now meets the ocean when the tide is in.
The Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is located 37 miles south ofCarmel. You can either park in the state park with a purchase of a day pass and begins the half-mile Waterfall Trail, a dirt path heading westward toward the ocean, to a short tunnel under Highway 1, a right turn to a trail in the cliffside overlooking a small cove, to the sign “Overlook trail”. You can also park along highway 1 and continue right down the dirt path for less than half mile to the McWay falls overlook spot. This is one of the must stop spot in Big Sur especially with deep shade of turquoise blue water reflection  during a sunny day.

There are lots of vista points along the State Route 1, but you defitely stop here at this San Simeon coastline. This vista stop was circled with  several big boulders , has a billboard perfection of the Big Sur

My last must-see spot is Piedras Blancas light station and elephant seals rockery.

The Friends of the Elephant Seal support the seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, on California highway 1 at the southern end of Big Sur on the California coast, twelve miles north of Cambria and four miles north of the entrance to the Hearst Castle

The first-order Fresnel lens at Piedras Blancas was first illuminated on February 15, 1875. The Piedras Blancas lighthouse was originally 100 feet (30 m) high to the top of the ventilator ball, but with damages from earthquakes over the years the truncated lighthouse now stands about 70 feet (21 m) tall. The lens was moved and is on display in the nearby community of Cambria.

The Elephant Seal rockery located 1mile South from the light station give visitors an up close view to all the elephant seal year round. This connection to wildlife has closed this road trip in the perfect essense.