by jacob denbrook
The highway itself functions as an allegory for the disparate faces of California; along its winding path you’ll find all the rugged, wild coastland available to soothe your indomitable free spirit, after which you’ll journey into the belly of one of the west coast’s fiercest symbols of extravagance and big business, Hearst Castle. Either way you like it, the Highway 1 road trip has something for every type of personality. We can all channel our inner-celebrity along one of America’s greatest extended drives.
If the idea of any road trip fantasy is farcical overstatement, then you’ll want to follow my chosen path and rent “America’s chosen car,” a Ford Mustang convertible. You can throw out that nagging feeling of frugality and just listen to the V6 engine drink up fuel like an August-dried lawn drinks up water. My particular road trip fantasy also involves another American cliché, the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl (my wife). However, this drive is immensely enjoyable whether you’re travelling with a partner, a pet or by yourself.
The highway stretches from the borders of Mexico to Canada while weaving in and out of beachfronts. One of the most remarkable stretches of road lays between Monterey and San Simeon in California. These two areas sandwich a precipitous wonderland known as Big Sur. The name that has stuck with this coastal area originated when mission residents of Carmel, California referred reverentially to the area as “El pais grande del sur,” or the “big country of the south.” Although this natural splendor has not been designated as a national park, it certainly has inspired generations of poets to expound upon it…
