Thelma and Louise Road Trip Day 1

Day 1 of our big USA West Coast adventure was more like 48 hours as we travelled back in time leaving Sydney early on Sunday morning at the start of the school holidays.  This time I decided to give Virgin Australia another try with the introduction of their Economy X class. I am so glad we did! One of the best, most comfortable international flights yet, (other than in business class).  I picked the exit row and we were lucky enough to have a spare seat between us. The extra leg room was well worth the slight inconvenience of having to place everything in your locker for take off and landing. Including your phone or book! The food was good, the flight was smooth and the cabin crew were friendly and helpful with a special gold star mention to Hayden who was an absolute delight.

We landed at LAX around 6am and had a quick passage through customs. Our rental company was waiting for us to arrive and we were transported a few streets away to pick up our car. With all day to get to our hotel in San Diego we took our time down PCH stopping to check out a few places along the way.

First stop was Huntington Beach where we went for a walk along the beach front to the pier and out to the end and back taking some photos along the way. It was nice to stretch the legs after the long flight and get some sun to trick our bodies into the new time zone. Being a Sunday we had the bonus of the markets being on. It was still quite early so only a few were beginning to set up but after a yummy breakfast we had a wander and a browse.

Next pitt stop was at the beautiful Laguna Beach. After parking the car in a metered spot with 2 hours left on the meter (winning!), we made our way to the beach front. The ocean was so clear and such an amazing colour. The beach here is more like we are used to in Sydney with the cliffs and rocks and less sand from the grass to the ocean’s edge. We took a long walk, stopping to take photos and check out the scenery. It was nice to feel fitter and not be concerned about climbing the stairs along the way.  Even though we had thought 2 and a bit hours on the meter would be plenty we only made it back the car with about 10 minutes to spare. That was our last stop before heading to San Diego, taking our time along PCH for as long as possible before we had to head back onto the 5 to finish our day 1 journey.