Day 3 of June 2022 Trip to California, Cambria to Los Angeles

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The third day of my June 2022 trip to California, we drove from Cambria to Los Angeles, spending most of the day on the road.

Waves Pounding Breakwater

After driving through the best part of California’s Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Cambria, the remaining part of CA Route 1 didn’t follow the coast as closely and wasn’t as scenic. As a result, we planned to drive all the way to the overnight lodge in Los Angeles today, with fewer stops along the way.

Drone Tour of Cambria Coast

On the morning of June 10, I woke up slightly earlier than my friends. Since we reached Cambria relatively late the previous day (and hence didn’t check out the town), I thought it would be a good idea to launch my drone for an aerial tour of Cambria’s coastline (while waiting for them to get out of bed).

California’s Pacific Coast Highway between Monterey and Cambria had some of the strictest regulations with regards to recreational drones in the nation. In particular, they were prohibited over Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary below 1000ft, where Cambria was its southern end.

Cambria Coast
Cambria Coast
Cambria Coast

Overlooking Cambria Coastline

Distant Cambria Shores

And here’s a video:

0:00 northbound
0:17 southbound, overflying the array of hotels along Cambria coast
0:48 inland, against the backdrop of mountains
1:11 back towards the ocean

Morro Bay

After leaving Cambria, we took a small detour to check out Morro Bay.

Here’s a video from a dash-mounted GoPro capturing our drive from Cambria to Morro Bay. It’s obvious that this segment of Pacific Coast Highway didn’t involve as many curves, instead it’s more like the typical dry southern California landscape.

3 minutes and 39 seconds, 2160p30fps, H265 only, 9Mbps/254MB.

As its name suggested, this was a natural bay, an ideal site for harboring recreational boats. At its mouth was Morro Rock (p6 below), a small hill / volcanic plug that overlooked the bay. We took a short hike to its foot where various cairns were scattered around (p3-4 below), like a collective form of art, created by its visitors over time.

Morro Bay
Smokestacks of Power Station
The station stopped producing electricity in 2014.
Cairns
Arch Cairn
Breakwater
Morro Rock
Gull
Otter

Pacific Ocean beyond Morro Bay Breakwater

Town of Solvang

This was a town on our way to Los Angeles, known for its Danish-style architecture. We decided to pay it a quick visit by having lunch here.

Streets of Solvang
Streets of Solvang
Buildings in Solvang
Buildings in Solvang
Streets of Solvang
Lunch

Unfortunately, unlike the mild weather that had spoiled us for the past two days, it’s the typical southern California heat from a scorching sun that greeted us in Solvang. The uncomfortable heat meant we didn’t have the mood to explore the town after our lunch.

Santa Barbara Wharf

After leaving Solvang, our next stop was Santa Barbara, in particular, the Stearns Wharf along its coast.
During our visit, the coast of Santa Barbara was occasionally covered in fog, which was sort of unusual given its reputation for sunshine and its Mediterranean climate.