The Californian coast really embraces the Pacific Ocean it borders.

Highway One is the coastal, scenic route to take if you have the time. Running all the way up to Oregon and down to Santa Barbara where it merges into Route 101 before you start the crawl south into Los Angeles (LA), it’s the longest highway in the state.

The most famous stretch is that known as Big Sur, between San Francisco and LA: just picture that opening sequence from Big Little Lies. The iconic road opened in 1937, frequently the victim of landslides, sections are often closed for repair.

Winding round the dramatic cliffs with the waves crashing below is quite an experience, especially in a camper van! 

We skipped the first section south of San Francisco due to our inland diversion to Yosemite, therefore not visiting Santa Cruz which was a bit of a shame as we had met a fun hippie couple from there in Tulum who had told us about its laid-back vibe. 

The drive back to the coast just north of Monterey was quite eye-opening. We passed through Stockton and Merced, urban areas badly hit by the recession, which record some of the highest crime rates in the country.

Quite a contrast to the squeaky-clean tourist towns we were spending most of our time in during our weeks traveling through the sunshine state. What we thought on the map looked like a pleasant park for a picnic definitely wasn’t, so we chose to stop in a Denny’s carpark for a homemade camper-based lunch instead. 

We arrived in Monterey around 4, with a plot booked at the Veterans memorial park campground. It was located high up a hill in a residential part of town, with a playground. We headed down into town for a walk along the harbour to Fisherman’s Wharf, admiring the sunsetting behind the boat masts.

We chatted to a lady running one of the boat companies – she told us it was rough out there but that whale sightings were common. We decided we had had enough of boats on Egerton World Tour!

Every restaurant along the pier seemed to be offering taster samples of clam chowder which made do for a starter, some were tastier than others. We strolled over to Alvarado Street for dinner, choosing the lively Alvarado Street Brewery, with great burgers and beer. 

Waking up to a cloudy Valentine’s Day morning, I took a run down to Cannery Row, admiring lots of houses decorated with pink hearts. 

The sea is as near as we come to another world

We spent most of the day at Monterey Bay Aquarium (where the above quotation was found).

Despite feeling a bit smug that we had seen so many animals in their natural habitat during the Egerton World Tour, it was a great experience.

We arrived just in time for penguin feeding, then jumped straight across to the open sea feeding session and kelp forest discovery tour with divers in the tank, winding up at our favourites: the otters. Shoals of fish circled at feeding time whilst turtles took what they could.

There was a clear environmentally aware message throughout – we were especially surprised to learn to avoid crab, shrimp and bluefin tuna from a particularly captivating exhibit by the safe fish watch.

It had turned into a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to explore the Pacific Grove peninsula.

It seemed appropriate being 14 February to drive to Lovers Point for lunch in the camper with a perfect ocean view, looking out at ‘the kissing rock’ and ‘heart-shaped rock’.

Next was a quick look at Point Pinos lighthouse and the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, despite thinking that we were there at the right time in the season, we clearly missed it by a matter of days, only seeing one butterfly!

We drove on to the 17 Mile Drive from Spanish Bay around to Pebble Beach, especially stopping to watch the wildlife around Bird Rock and Seal Rock and the timeless beauty of Cypress Tree lookout.

After passing through classy Carmel we really were in Big Little Lies opening credits – stunned by the views of Bixby Creek Bridge and Rockery Creek before hitting the spectacular Big Sur drive. 

We hadn’t realised it was Presidents’ Day weekend so all the campsites along Highway 1 were fully booked, this time we foolishly hadn’t rung ahead. As it was getting dark, we went up a side road and had our one night of freedom camping – on a bit of a slope but with an ocean view. Pasta and a game of happy families, not a bad Valentine’s Day evening for us four! 

On Saturday morning we enjoyed our drive along Big Sur, stopping at a stunning viewpoint for breakfast then onto Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal refuge.

It was incredible to see hundreds of seals on three connected beaches – identifying the males, females and baby pups, witnessing skirmishes between the males, mating, birthing and pregnant seal cows resting, and new mums guarding their young.

We took a 4km walk around the cliffs. 

We then drove onto sleepy San Simeon to have lunch, walk along the pier and have a quick look around the coastal discovery centre. 

One thing we had thought to book ahead was the unmissable tour of Hearst Castle. Between 1919-1947 the media magnate William Randolph Hearst and his architect Julia Morgan conceived and created the so-called ‘Enchanted Hill’ or La Cuesta Encantada: unique and utterly fascinating.

Both an architectural feat and a showcase of a remarkable art collection.

We just made it to the visitors centre in time for our Grand Rooms Tour that was booked for 1.40pm. It began with a 15-minute bus ride up the hillside during which sightings of zebras are apparently common, before arriving at the tropical paradise gardens outside the main building called Casa Grande.

Molly was our guides assistant, helping to ring a bell and open the front door.

Inside we glimpsed another world – the Assembly Room with its walnut panelling and tapestries, a Dining Room where extravagant banquets had been served and other entertaining areas such as billiards and a cinema.

We marvelled at the two swimming pools – Neptune pool surrounded by statues and the interior Roman pools decorated by mosaics. 

We hadn’t learnt our lesson from the night before, so we again struggled to find a campsite with a free spot. The more appealing rural state campgrounds were all full because it was still a bank holiday, so we opted for an RV campsite close to the beach – Morro Dunes Travel Trailer Park and Resort. We hadn’t read much about Morro Bay so were quite taken aback when we walked onto the neighbouring beach by the sight of a beautiful sunset behind an enormous rock jutting into the sea. Dubbed ‘the Gibraltar of the Pacific’ Morro Rock stands at 175 meters and is the last in a chain of long-extinct volcanoes. 

We decided to walk down the Embarcadero to find some dinner, but all the restaurants were so busy we have to walk a long way and had to settle for an average meal, but we did all enjoy some fish (hopefully all local – I chose Halibut). Sunday morning started with an invigorating run for me along Morro Strand State beach, half of it dog free and half full of dogs and their owners. I also spotted sea otters and some brave swimmers and marvelled at the hundreds of sand stones along the shoreline.

We drove onto quaint San Luis Obisbo, bustling on a Sunday morning. First checking out the rather gross Bubblegum alley, we chose to have lunch at the infamous Firestone Grill, the queue already out the door – but it was a worthwhile wait for its delicious tri tip sandwiches and cobb salad.   

Strolling through the town we took in the mission, art museum and creek enjoying listening to some buskers. 

Spotting a Walmart set dramatically at the top of a hill with a stunning view of the sea from the carpark – we went to ask the manager if freedom camping was allowed but apparently not. So, we headed back to the coast to the very crowded Pismo Beach, settling for a campsite with a swimming pool and a hot tub. Our campervan had never felt so small nestled in amongst gigantic motorhomes. 

We walked to the beach and played some beach games – our beach Olympics by now a well-oiled machine. Tom manages a chilly swim in the sea (at the time we didn’t realise this would be the last on the Egerton World Tour) and we all enjoy chats with some fellow campers in the comforting heat of the hot tub. It was quite a chilly long walk to the shower block.

The next day we headed inland, to the Santa Ynez valley known for its wine tasting, made famous by the quirky film Sideways. Solvang was our main port of call, a bizarre but captivating Danish village.

You know you have arrived by the number of clogs and windmills you can see.

We hired a 4-wheel bike for an hour which was great fun and allowed us to stop off at sights such as the Hans Christian Andersen Museum (of Little Mermaid and Snow Queen fame) and Copenhagen House with contemporary design brands. 

We pick up an essential danish pastry and hit the road to Santa Barbara. A place I have happy memories from my first Highway One adventure in 1998, the vibes were good as we spied plenty of palm trees and beaches.

Taking a stroll along the iconic Stearns Wharf we took in an ice cream and made our obligatory magnet purchase and had a little dance on a compass, before watching skateboarders do some tricks. 

We had booked our campsite this time well in advance: the location convenient but not scenic, being right against the Highway One barrier. It did however have great showers and MoJo immediately made friends with a pair of Korean sisters in the neighbouring camper. I made it back to the beaches for a long run in the morning, before we hit the road for our first taste of LA traffic doom. We broke up the day by cleverly stopping off at The Getty. 

Having broken the back of LA heading south, we entered Orange County, dropping back to the coast at the aptly named Corona Del Mar and along to Crystal Cove. Campsites were pricey here, so we picked up some groceries in fancy Laguna Beach and called ahead to book a plot at a state campground inland: Ronald W Caspers Wilderness Park.

We lucked out, with a huge plot with a firepit, lots of space and even some bunnies for company. On reflection, we had the best of times at campsites in more remote areas in California where we could get a fire going and toast some marshmallows. Simple pleasures. 

A highlight of my 1998 Road-trip had been time spent down in La Jolla and San Diego. This time we would skip the trip to Tijuana for lunch that I made aged 17 – but it was wonderful to reconnect with a family friend Richard Green over breakfast at Broken Yolk in Pacific Beach.  

We cruised through picture-perfect La Jolla past the cove and saw that the contemporary museum was under refurbishment but did manage to spot the installation Pleasure Point by Nancy Rubins on its roof, an accumulation of kayaks, jet skis and surfboards seemingly stopped mid-flight towards the ocean.

We had, for a second night running, picked a fantastic campsite, Campland on the Bay – positioned overlooking Mission Bay which served as an excellent running challenge for me the next morning. With playgrounds and swimming pools galore, we were happy there. 

A trip down to San Diego proper had to be done – we decided to skip Balboa Park and its famous zoo in favour of the USS Midway Museum (for Tom and MoJo to get their pilot badges) and the Museum of Contemporary Art and a stroll through the Gaslamp quarter for me.

Both had their high points, a low was getting a parking ticket (for being too long for the parking space that Tom has perfectly parked us in!) We fuelled up at Kansas City Barbeque which rightly makes a big deal out of being the location for the scene when Goose plays the piano in Top Gun was filmed. They also make excellent beef short rib.

All that was left of our California Road-trip was to head back to LA with another stopover in Orange County. There was one campsite left on our itinerary: Anaheim Harbor Park RV, where we were booked in for two nights. Why? One word: Disneyland.