One of my favorite things to do is to grab my surfboard and head to the beach. This summer my boyfriend and I are taking a classic road trip up California’s Highway one along the coast. It will consist of lots of food, lots of surfing, and of course, lots of pictures. The majority of the pictures and videos will be attached a Penless QR code which I will send to all my friends back home.

First stop, San Diego! One of my favorite places to surf and one of the sunniest places I know of. Nothing but surf, sand, and lots of sun awaits at this destination. We are planning on staying the night at Hotel del Coronado.  Maybe we will even stay in the “haunted” room! The next morning we will be off to Huntington beach!

In Huntington Beach,  the first thing on the agenda is to walk to the end of the pier and take a picture to send on a Penless postcard. My family loves to take day trips to Huntington Beach so I want to make sure to send them a Penless postcard from this destination. Towards the end of the day we will surf into the sunset before the car ride to the city of angels, Los Angeles!

When we are in Los Angeles, our main priority is to try all the trendy food places and walk on the Hollywood stars. My cousin is a foodie and raves about the food in Los Angeles so I will make sure that I send her the Los Angeles Penless postcard to let her know that I am thinking of her. I hope we get the chance to stop at Third Street Promenade  so I can get my gifts for my nieces and nephews.

The Spanish style beach town of Santa Barbara  is our fourth stop! This gives me and my boyfriend a chance to visit our friends at UCSB who have decided to live there over the summer. They tell us how much they love the area, which makes me super excited for this stop. Since we have so many friends in that area, we are spending the night downtown. In the morning our friends want to take us surfing at their favorite spot.

After we leave Santa Barbara, it’s time to relax with a glass of wine at Santa Ynez Wine Country! We are only stopping here for a few hours but that’s enough time to go wine tasting, take in the everlasting scenery of rolling hills and grape vines, and just tour the area before we head off to Hearst Castle!

We heard so much about Hearst Castle and all of its 165 rooms as well of the vast amount of acres it sits on. It is supposed to be beautiful inside and out! My friend is an aspiring interior designer so I am excited to send her a Penless sticker of some of my favorite rooms in the house as well as the extraordinary views. The inspiration of the Greek era is stunning from the pictures I have seen but I heard is one hundred times better in person.

After hassling crowds at Hearst Castle, we are slowing it down and going on another wine tasting excursion at Paso Robles. But this time we will take advantage of all the amenities this place has to offer! Not only will we be wine tasting, we will tour the area and see all the breathtaking views, mineral hot springs, and shopping. We will stop by Tin city to taste some of the wine and beer they have. Finally, we will see the art galleries and maybe even buy a piece of art to take home!

Monterey and Carmel is the next stop which is in the Monterey peninsula. Here, we will finally be able to surf again at the beautiful beaches! We will also visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium  . I haven’t been to an aquarium since I was a lot younger so I am ready to see all the marine life I have been missing out on. My friend at CSUF is majoring in marine biology, so I am going to send her a Penless sticker from here and attach it to a souvenir I will buy her.

In the heart of Santa Cruz is where we are going to plant our surfboards next. At night, we will walk through the Santa Cruz boardwalk and play a game or two.

Finally we get to our last stop, San Francisco! This city is full of daytime activities, trolley rides, and nightlife. My favorite place to visit in San Francisco is Ghirardelli Square because it never fails to satisfy my sweet tooth! I always go to San Francisco on an empty stomach because I know this city has plenty of delicious food to fill me up! This stop will mainly be for touring this precious city as well as walking through Pier 39.

This trip cannot come any sooner and I will capture it on my plentiful supply of Penless stickers and postcards!