What is the difference between highway 1 and highway 101

Back then there were few guard rails and the road was narrower in some spots. A really hairy road used to be along the Mendocino coast but it has been improved greatly since my last excursion up there. AndieP, that sounds harrowing! The saving grace for my husband was that we were driving our car and not one of the RVs we saw on the road. Your story of the station wagon, trailer, a three teenagers in the back seat just brought my father to mind when he drove us through the Andes years ago.

There were four of us children, and each of us wanted to hold our Cocker Spaniel, so I am sure there was lot of bickering going on in the back two seats of that station wagon.

For several years when actively showing my dogs, I had a 40 ft motorhome big one built on a bus chassis and found some really scary roads in various mountain areas. The saving grace of the big rig was that I could pull over anywhere and rest before proceeding. Those were the days of CB radios.

Wolf Creek pass in Colorado was my least favorite mountain road…. Man, AndieP, I hope your show dogs did exceptionally well! There is no way you would find me driving Wolf Creek Pass.

I love that road — it can be scary though. When you are a solo driver trying to see the scenery, well, it gets pretty challenging. But the views stay with me years later. I have not forgotten it …. I miss Bodega Bay, too, where the ocean crashed against the cliffs and I could watch cormorants. I hope I get to see it all again someday. The most beautiful place I have ever lived or visited in my life. You are not kidding, Marja! California is beautiful.

I am sure my husband is tired of hearing me say how wonderful it would be to live in California. There seems to be something for everyone, and it just continues to be one beautiful sight after the next. When the family were all still at home, we used to stay at Ripplewood Resort in Big Sur — very inexpensive cabins which were situated so that none were in sight of each other and all near the creek.

My kids loved to hunt for jade in the shingle where the creek emptied into the sea. We used to see Kim Novak out jogging with her great dane — we had two of our danes with us and on one occasion she came down to the beach to talk to us and was very nice to the kids, who had lots of questions — not so much about her as an actress but about her house that looked like a castle.

AndieP, it sounds like you gave your children the exact type of lives all children would have loved having. What fun! If this had happened to us, I am sure I would have been a wet-blanket about the extra week in a cabin and driving out on an emergency one lane dirt road. Been there, done that!!

It is a bit scary, especially when it got dark and misty and the rocks would slide down the mountain!! Charlene C M, what a wonderful assignment! We went out to Point Loma right by one of the naval bases and I could not imagine anyone being upset to get that assignment! There is NO way under the sun that rig could maneuver those hairpin turns.

I recommended they find a nice RV park near Big Sur or some other nice location, park the RV and take a nice, scenic drive along Highway 1 in the vehicle. There are times you can see straight down very high cliffs reminds me of the drive from Rome to Naples along the Mediterrean Sea , nor, would I recommend it to someone who very easily gets motion sickness.

I will also warn people about something. Depending on how far you drive on this highway you may have to purchase some gasoline. Be prepared. You see, the owner of this station along Highway 1 has you trapped. Just be forwarned.

Well worth the effort and few hassels. They make me very uncomfortable, which in turn makes me nervous. Just came across this. At the midway point, you pass through the great redwood forests of Northern California, where the tallest and most majestic living things on earth line the Avenue of the Giants, home also to some of the best meaning gloriously kitsch remnants of the golden age of car-borne tourism: drive-through trees, drive-on trees, houses carved out of trees, and much more.

The phenomenally beautiful coast-line of Northern California is rivaled only by the incredible coast of Big Sur farther south, beyond which stretches the beachfronts of Southern California. The land of palm trees, beach boys, and surfer girls of popular lore really does exist, though only in the southernmost quarter of the state.

While rarely as old as places on the East Coast, or as impressive as those in Europe, these diverse sites include the Spanish colonial missions of California, Russian and English fur-trading outposts, and the place where Lewis and Clark first sighted the Pacific after their long slog across the continent.

Last but certainly not least are the energizing cities— Seattle and Portland in the north, San Francisco in the middle, and Los Angeles and San Diego to the south—that serve as gateways to or civilized respites from the landscapes between them. You can tackle it in sections, pick just part of it to see or make the journey into a week-long road trip. No matter what you have in mind, this guide links to detailed directions for every single mile of it, starting from the south.

From there, to Santa Monica and through Malibu, it's a city street. North of the airport to Santa Monica, it's Lincoln Blvd. The route sometimes follows the coastline, but far more often it passes neighborhoods and mundane strip malls.

One of the most scenic sections of Hwy 1 goes through beautiful Malibu. For the first part of the trip, the road passes the garages and back doors of coastal homes, but north of Pepperdine University it sometimes runs so near to the continent's edge that it feels like you could reach out and dangle your fingers in the water.

The stretch of between Oxnard and Santa Barbara is especially scenic, with views of the Channel Islands offshore. Just north of the Gaviota Tunnel which is north of Santa Barbara , Hwy turns inland, and you won't see the ocean again until you get to Pismo Beach, and then only briefly. Hwy 1 splits off from Hwy north of Gaviota, passing through Lompoc and Guadalupe before rejoining Hwy just south of Pismo Beach. This mile section is sometimes called the Cabrillo Highway.

You could drive it if you want to cover every single inch of the famous highway, but there's little of interest if you're just sightseeing. In the city of San Francisco , Hwy 1 is a street: 19th Avenue. It leads to the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a busy street with little to see and traffic that's more than annoying. You can get through town more easily by merging with I north of Pacifica or by taking CA Hwy 35 north and following the coastline.

It passes along some dramatic coastline, through scenic Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.