Airstream Adventure: Part 1 - Santa Barbara, Monterey, and Fort Bragg

Hello and thank you for reading my part 1 of my 6 week long Airstream Adventure with my mom! This week I started off in Santa Barbara and explored the nearby Danish town, drove up to Monterey and had a private sunset right on the beach, and finally enjoyed the peace and quiet of Fort Bragg.

I hope you enjoy this week's article and if you have any tips, questions, or suggestions; please feel free to comment below or send me an email or DM me!

How I Planned My Route

To give you a fair warning about how I structured this 6-week trip, I am moving very quickly through the coast of California (only 1 night at each stop) because I wanted to stay at specific campsites in Yellowstone and the season closes mid-October. Besides that, I live in California, so I can see it's beauty anytime I want. 

I decided to stay along the 101 because I have driven parts of it plenty of times, but one of my goals on my bucket list is to drive the entire Highway 101 from California to Washington! So stay tuned to that. 

But let's jump into my first week of travels!

Santa Barbara - Cachuma Lake Campground 

I love visiting Santa Barbara and exploring all of the great attractions in the area. I was actually in Santa Barbara about 3-weeks before this trip, with my best friend and we visited the Channel Islands! Anyways, my mom and I were only here for one night and really just spent the night relaxing and walking around the lake. 

Now, before we got to Cachuma Lake, right off the 101 in Thousand Oaks, you will find Brent's Delicatessen & Restaurant. You MUST stop if you have the chance. My dad's business partner took him here and he said, "It's the best Jewish deli besides New York," so I'd give it a try

This time with my mom, my plan was to stay at Cachuma Lake Campground for one night and visit Solvang the morning we'd leave for Monterey. Now, I LOVE Solvang (I've been 3 times at this point). Yes, it's expensive but it is just such a neat Danish town in the hills of Santa Barbara and I promise you will have a blast there.

My favorite feature about Cachuma Lake are the sunsets. There is an awesome little cove you can walk to and witness a beautifulk sunset with the lake surrounding you.

Highlights:

• Brent's Deli (off Highway 101)
• Brekkies (in Solvang)
• Ingeborg’s Danish Chocolates (in Solvang) 
• Skinderella (in Solvang) 

Things I'd do differently:

The whole point of this stop was really just to make it out of the LA traffic, so honestly there isn't anything I would do differently. I love this stop and I think it is a great staple surrounding about awesome attractions that could keep you busy for weeks. 

Monterey - Thousand Trails Marina Dunes RV Resort 

Whenever I am in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area, I usually stay at the KOA in between the two cities, this time I found the Thousand Trails Location, Marina Sand Dunes and loved the fact how clean the campground was and how the beach was less than a mile walk down the street. 

Now, the drive up to Monterey was difficult. I see why so many tourist don't like California drivers. I almost got into 2 car accidents between two drivers both thought they could cut me off last minute and of course they always flip the finger at me while refusing to realize a truck towing a 5,000lb+ trailer CANNOT break on a dime compared your electric vehicle or car for that matter. 

This is something I truly wish more drivers could understand, in particular drivers from California.

Anyways, we arrived to the campsite completely fine (just frustrated) and once again enjoyed a nice walk, talked to a few of the campers, and just relaxed before hitting the road again. 

Although, I did make this delicious poke bowl with fish from Seatopia. Comment below and I can provide the recipe!

Highlights:

• Beautiful walk to the Marina Dunes

Things I'd do differently:

• There is a lot of traffic noise at this locations, so I would likely choose a different stop if I were to stay for longer
• Visit the Monterey aquarium simply because I LOVE that place.

Fort Bragg - Promo RV Park 

As I continued up the 101, past all of the crazy traffic in the Bay Area, we made it to the Northern California area where drivers do get a lot more friendly and California gets a lot more green.

The drive in is long and tiring and I always make sure I have snacks that help fuel my brain and keep my awake. Breads, apples, protein smoothies, dried fruit bars, beef jerky, you name it.

Having your hands on 10 and 2 for 3+ hours is not ideal, but I love the challenge that comes with it. I first drove the 20 in and it takes 1 hour to travel 30 miles. I loved it. It taught me adversity, confidence, poise, and so many other valuable lessons I carry with me on all of my travels and before going down any difficult road. One of the added bonuses I love is how much of a better drive at 24-years-old it has made me. Curvy road and I go hand-in-hand and I am always up for the challenge.

Now sunsets in Fort Bragg are unbelievable and I promise it is worth the long drive up the 101 or the 20 to get there. We got to our campsite, Promo RV Park, and the spots have so much privacy it was amazing. 

That evening we drove over to Todd's Point to watch the sunset where we met a lovely couple from Sedona whom we enjoyed the view with. We talked a little bit about our trip and were shocked we were mother and daughter (my mom looks about 35 and I look like im 21). 

The next morning was probably the best though. My mom and walk into a coffee shop I love and ran into a woman not having the best day. While I was picking up our order, my mom sits down with the woman and cheers her up to help make her day. 

It's moments like this that make traveling worth it in my opinion. There are so many wonderful people to meet around the country and you never know which one will change your life or who's life you will change. It doesn't require much to make someone's day and I think too often people get wrapped up in their own world to empathize with other people because in the end everyone feels good when the pain goes away. 

Enough of my tangents (for this week at least), here are my wrap up points!

Highlights:

• Promo RV Park was such a private campground
• Todd's Point is a beautiful place to park and watch the sunset 
• Glass Beach offers an awesome path to walk along in the morning
• Mendecino Coffee Co. is the place to be and make people's days :)

Things I'd do differently:

I really did not have a bad experience at all in Fort Bragg and met such nice people who we were able to help and make smile! In my book, that's a great day!

Next Week

I hope this week's stories were too boring (I am a little rusty). Next week, we head into Crescent City, CA as our last California Coast stop, then head our way up along the Oregon Coast (my personal favorite). 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you read next week's!

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