California trip 9 - Big Sur

December 23rd 2011
The next step of our journey was a much awaited one : BIG SUR...
It's really hard to describe what this place really is and also hard to point our exactly on a map - basically it's a mountain range (Santa Lucia Mountain Range) along a part of the coast with protected spaces, a National Forest and State Beaches and State Parks, a great place to hike with views on the ocean. There is no city or town there, just some campgrounds and a couple expensive hotels so we had booked a hotel in San Luis Obispo which was another 100miles/170 km more south.
Also, an important thing that we didnt consider when planning our trip in December, we had the shortest days of the year! So it was already starting to get dark by 4.30 and the sun set at 5.
Big Sur probably starts when you see the Bixby Bridge. We didn't have time for a hike but we drove down to Pfeiffer State Beach to see the spectacular rocks and purple sand... then continues our way south along the sunset... Beautiful!