Towns along Highway 1
Monterey ~ Carmel ~ Santa Barbara ~ Irvine
P1-P6: From San Francisco to Stanford, our first stop was the small town of Monterey. We arrived just as the sun was setting. The town was quiet, but there were many homeless people, making it feel unsafe to stay near the pier. So we went back to the hotel early. The climate here is much drier than in San Francisco, and the hotel didn't have air conditioning, just a retro ceiling fan blowing, giving it a pleasant autumn feel.
P7-P11: After driving through the 17-Mile Drive, the exit leads to Carmel-by-the-Sea. The town was very crowded. It happened to be Thursday, and there was a farm market, making parking difficult. We circled around several times, and the maximum parking time on the street was two hours, even though it was free. After two hours, we had to move the car again. Finding it too troublesome, we just quickly explored the town. The town has many beautiful, retro wooden houses, perfect for taking photos. We ate at a recommended restaurant, which I found expensive, and the portions were surprisingly small compared to what I'd seen over the past few days. The century-old bakery was cloyingly sweet. Even though I can handle a lot of sweets, this made me drink tons of water.
P12-15, Santa Barbara town: refreshing, clean, and quiet. The attractions are concentrated in one area. Surprisingly, tourists were allowed to visit the courthouse, and some court hearings were even in progress. As the elevator doors opened, I bumped into police escorting a person wearing handcuffs and leg irons (see P14). It's hard to imagine that in the same building, some people begin their lives, while others end them. Some live in celebration, while others struggle.
Pages 17-18: Continuing south from Barbara for about two and a half hours, you'll reach Irvine. The mountains are dotted with ocean-view villas. Laguna Beach was incredibly crowded; it was the most crowded day I saw, but everyone still drove very lawfully. The popular GELATO ice cream had a long queue; the classic vanilla flavor was very rich and delicious. It was very safe there; there were no homeless people, and you could leave your luggage directly in your car.
We didn't plan to stay in Solvang (Danish Village) for this trip because we felt it was too European, and we were short on time, so we had to give it up.
Driving tips:
1. One point that I rarely see mentioned is that when you're approaching an intersection and the road ahead is congested, don't hug it too closely. Wait until the road is clear and there's space for your car to pass before proceeding. Otherwise, if you stop in the middle of the road and the light suddenly changes, a traffic cop might see you and issue a ticket for obstructing traffic.
2. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, you often hear ambulances or fire trucks. You must immediately pull over to the side of the road and stop. At first, I thought I just needed to pull over to let them pass, but I found everyone else was stopping. I think if you don't stop, you'll probably get a ticket.
In short, driving is simpler than I imagined because everyone follows the rules so closely that even drivers get sleepy! During my 10-day road trip, I only heard two beeps. One of them was probably when I instinctively braked at a green light because the car behind me was probably following too closely. It's a Chinese habit to slow down at intersections.