Road Trip: Los Angeles > San Francisco > Las Vegas – Part I

I did a crazy thing last month and it was absolutely incredible!

My friend, S and I did a 5-day road trip from LA to San Francisco to Vegas and back to LA. I say this was crazy because it was a lot of driving in the last end of the trip! It was also crazy because I planned it last minute.

I was in the west coast for a week and S and I hit the road the day that I landed! I landed in Orange County, had lunch with a couple of friends and then started to heard up north.

I will break the trip down in two parts because I have so many photos I want to share.

Day 1

Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo (SLO)

After having lunch in the OC at Eat Chow, and gelato from Scoops, we headed for San Luis Obispo.

This was a 3ish hour drive so we didn’t need to stop at all. We headed straight to Pismo Beach to watch the sunset.

I will never get over how beautiful sunsets are over the Pacific.

Then, it was time for dinner. We got the Florentine Pizza from Pizza Solo which was a nice quick bite to eat before heading over to the Bubblegum Alley…

Yup, it’s an alley that has chewed up bubblegum on both walls. It’s gross but we had to stop by and leave our own mark.

Then we checked into our hotel, Vegabond Inn. The hotel wasn’t that great. It’s a budget hotel so I wasn’t expecting much but still! I wouldn’t recommend this particular location.

Day 2

SLO to Boulder Creek

Before I tell you about this part of the trip, I have to say that S and I decided we wanted one night of our stay to be in a really cool place where we could enjoy our accommodations and the area around it. For this, we got a Tiny House AirBnb in the mountains! It was an hour and a half south of SF.

Our original plan was to go to SF straight from SLO and then come back down south to our AirBnb but as we started to head out, it didn’t make sense. So instead, we decided to stop and enjoy another town called Capitola which was in Santa Cruz. This was literally the best decision we made!

Stop 1: Tacos in King City

I remember stopping here several years ago when I did a similar road trip from LA to SF. The tacos were so good that I knew I had to stop here again. We go steak tacos and pupusas!

Stop 2: Capitola Beach

Both S and I absolutely loved this little beach town! It was a hidden gem that we accidentally stumbled upon. And had we gone straight to SF, we would have missed it.

It is every instragammer’s dream.

These colorful homes are right on the beach!

Oh look, here is one for rent!

S and I decided that this would be a great place for us to retire some day! lol 

We didn’t even do much here except take a million photos, look out at the beach and enjoy a desert at Paradise Beach Grille. We ordered a mud pie which was just as good as the view of the colorful homes from their patio!

Stop 3: Redwoods in Boulder Creak

This was a last minute addition to the trip as well. We thought since we were in the area, we may as well see some redwoods. Big Basin Redwoods State Park was just 20 minutes from our AirBnb so it was obvious that we needed to check it out before we settled in. We parked for about 30 minutes and headed into a the park to see the giant trees.

Stop 4: Tiny House in Boulder Creek

Are you ready to see the images of the tiny house? So far, this has been one of the best places I’ve ever stayed at. It was high up in the mountains with a peaceful atmosphere and gorgeous views.

Many people asked us if we felt claustrophobic while being there and the truth is, we didn’t! It honestly didn’t feel cramped at all. The interior design gave it a very open feel with the glass on both sides (lots of natural light), a sliding door which was the main entrance and a glass garage door that opened up to the patio.

If you are interested in staying here (and I’d highly recommend it if you are in the area), here is the link to this wonderful place.

And here is a link to a $40 coupon for you to use on your very first stay. It can only be used if you don’t have an account with AirBnb already.

If you stay at this tiny house, I would recommend bringing food with you. The hosts provided all the basic things like oil and spices but if you really want to make the most of it, then I’d suggest bringing things to cook. We brought breakfast stuff but not anything for dinner for the day we got there so had to go back down the mountain to the town to get something. Going up and down the mountain is annoying if you are only there for one day and night. So if you are like us and only do a one night stay, I’d highly recommend grabbing something and coming up and then enjoying the rest of the time at the house.

Once we were all settled in, I walked around and found a little hiking trail.

They even had a horseshoe game set up, which we played (and sucked at).

Then in the evening, after dinner, we turned on all the lights and sat on the patio and watched a movie. It was the perfect end to an amazing day.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast outside and were joined by deer in the distance. They didn’t bother us and we didn’t bother them.

After breakfast, we tidied up and headed to San Francisco!

San Francisco to Vegas will be up next week.