Next trip: Heading south

We're foregoing a big turkey dinner for Thanksgiving this year and packing up our motorcycle instead for a five-day trip down the coast. We already went north in September (though we definitely want to revisit those roads on our motorcycle, rather than in a sedan) and it's too close to winter to tackle any mountain roads, so we're headed to Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and Pinnacles National Monument.

We had to book our campsites in advance since it's a holiday weekend, so we tried to plan our route conservatively. The first day we'll drive three-fourths of the way to Monterey, figuring traffic will be heavy on Thanksgiving getting out of the city. The second day we're going to the aquarium in Monterey, visiting Carmel and splurging on a hotel room (there aren't many campsites around Monterey). Then we drive through Big Sur down to Limeklin State Park and start heading northeast the next day with some hiking at Pinnacles National Monument. Our longest day is 130 miles so we're hoping to have plenty of time to enjoy the scenery.

Ben did part of the drive on his '06 cross-country trip. Here are some of his photos:

- Steph