We checked out of our hotel early for today's trip up the 1. We first stopped at a very overcast, but beautiful Morro Bay.
It is a really quaint little town!
Along the coast we stopped to see a herd of zebras near Hearst Castle and this huge group of Elephant Seals a little further north.
The road got a little treacherous as it hugged the shore line, but the views were worth it!
Big Sur was one of my favorite stops. We found a cute general store and ice cream shot along the road
and loved these chairs just sitting in the middle of the creek.
It was the perfect spot to enjoy our lunch!
Our first college stop of the day was CSU Monterey Bay.
The campus if fairly new and pretty small.
It used to be an old army base and we didn't like that the old barracks are mixed in with the campus life.
Although in a beautiful area, this campus was our least favorite.
Just an hour up the 1, we found one of our favorite campuses, UCSC.
Deer grazed right along side the basketball game!
The campus felt like an Alpine Village in the middle of the mountains
but was only a few miles from the beach.
We were a little shocked to see a bobcat walking across campus, but we heard this isn't too unusual.
The only downside of this school is that it is pretty secluded from a downtown area and it would be tough to bike in such a hilly area.
One of the highlights was that it is only a 5-10 minute drive to Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
We enjoyed the perfect weather, an ice cream at Loard's and did a little shopping too.
