California Dreamin'

Next year is certainly going to be a special one as the boyfriend and I are taking off from our usual hangout the UK and escaping to the U.S of A! We’ll touchdown in San Francisco circa July to do nothing but travel around the Pacific Coast and inland areas, probably in sweltering temperatures! Like Che and Granado in The Motorcycle Diaries, we’ll be relying on our own version of ‘The Mighty One’ aka a motorcar to get around.

Once we’ve spent some time in colourful San Francisco, the preliminary itinerary is to hit the road and drive down the coast to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego and then move more central onto Las Vegas! Hopefully we’ll leave with some dignity after the latter but probably not, meh.

After completing some initial homework there’s certainly some boxes that have to be ticked and to name a few, Muir Woods to view the Redwoods, Alcatraz which will be historically fascinating and I’m not going to California without sampling their grapes. The Golden State is well-known for its vineyards and boasts more than 100 different varieties of wine grapes thanks to its diverse topography, soils, climates and growers. And what makes it even more amazing is many of the vineyards seem to offer certian cheeses to compliment the wine too! Wine and cheese: the perfect food marriage. *Wipes dribble from chin*.

I’m uber excited about the scheduled stops but have a fine feeling about the improvised ones. Each spontaneous location I’m sure will have something so quirky and unique to the town that’ll be totally unexpected and therefore will add to the wonderfulness.

Cutting loose from the coast and stumbling upon quaint towns I’d be stoked to find some funky RnB bars and Back to the Future like diners, very retro and stereotypical, old-school American digs. Awesome. And yes I’m gradually adopting American slang, I actually can't help it.

I'm not going to lie, holiday 2012 is certainly going to achieve epic road trip status. Ah Joie De Vivre!

Any suggestions on attractions /useful travel websites /motels (preferably with free valet parking) please holla!!

To be continued...

With love