Driving A Dream {California Coast in a C-MAX Hybrid}

Sometimes when I’m feeling stuck or overwhelmed the only cure is to get outside and clear my head and soak up inspiration.  And oh boy, did I ever get a chance to do that last weekend!  I had an incredible opportunity to fly out to California and drive the coast from San Francisco to Big Sur (and back) with my friend Karah from The Space Between in the Ford C-Max hybrid— my very first time driving a hybrid car, actually!  And my first solo trip west too.  😉

Needless to say, when I got the email inviting me I may have cried.  I was holding it together until I got to the part about a behind the scenes tour of the Monterey Aquarium and that’s when the verklemp started creeping in.  Leaving my kids for the weekend and taking such a quick trip across the country (including the red-eye back, arriving at 6AM in Philly on a Monday) isn’t easy.  But knowing I’d get to do something I have quite literally dreamed about since I first visited California in second grade was PRICELESS, and I’d be a better person, mom, and blogger for going.

We began our drive in south San Francisco and got a tour of the car.  Thank goodness I packed really lightly, but my friend Karah had a massive suitcase and two other bags because she wanted to perfectly coordinate.  {okay.  that was me.  shhhhhh.}  Thankfully the car has seating for 5 passengers so Karah had room for her luggage. {snicker}

CONFESSSION: please don’t tell Ford this or I may get fired.  We loved the hands-free trunk opening in the back, but I thought there was a latch you had to kick under the bumper to open it.  For 3/4 of the trip I WAS KICKING THE CAR.  Turns out it detects motion, so you need to have your key fob on your body somewhere and kick UNDER the bumper for it to open.  Demonstration, after I figured it out (hey, I’m blonde, I’m allowed?):

We decided to take the road less traveled (love Karah, we think alike!) and drove to Half-Moon Bay.  Not 5 minutes into the trip was when the ‘WOW’s started.

Oh, you know.  Just a PIANO by the SEA. (with a note asking people to cover it up with a provided plastic tarp at night. gosh I love California.)

I’m an eco-friendly gal, and know the ins and outs of leaving a smaller carbon footprint and recycling and reusing, yada yada yada.  However, I’d never driven a hybrid car nor thought they were a good fit for me– I grew up in Boston so I drive fast and brake a lot (turns out, braking is good!), and I tend to need lots of space (ahem, Karah, I needed all 5 pairs of shoes thankyouverymuch).  Truthfully, I thought all hybrids needed to be plugged in.  Then I actually drove the C-MAX and realized that yes, indeed, I’m a hybrid kinda person!  And it doesn’t need to be plugged in, that’s the Ford’s C-MAX Energi if you’re interested.  It sounds like an amazing car as well.

Ready to have your mind blown?  The C-MAX (Ford’s first hybrid-only line in North America) harnesses your breaking power and uses it to create energy.  So the more braking you do, the more energy you store up.  BOO-YAH!  It even has a driving coach if you wish, which tells you how to drive more efficiently and gives you scores on your breaking.  I may or may not have started at 73% efficiency and moved up to 100% by the end of the drive.  These pretty leaves appear on your ‘tree’ when you are being efficient, and float away when you aren’t.  Not that I know ANYTHING about not driving efficiently.  😉  HINT: slow, easy braking is way more efficient than braking fast and hard. Hm.

 When you take the road less traveled, you tend to find ways to do a lot of braking.  Our C-MAX took us along the coast where we made the most fun discoveries.

We continued south, stopping in various spots along the way including a behind the scenes tour of the Monterey aquarium. Did you know I love aquariums?  And kelp.  Possibly also sardines or whatever those massive schools of silver fish might be…

Perhaps it’s because Ford is an American company so it was on our mind, or maybe it was the brilliant blue sky– but we saw American flags dotting the scenery everywhere.

Since we indulged in lots of quick stops to view the scenery, we were lucky the C-MAX was super easy to park (even has a back-up camera) so we had no trouble finding spots (even when parking spots were few and far between).  The very first thing I noticed about this car was how quiet it is because it’s usually in electric mode.  We talked non-stop the entire trip and the car ran so quietly we never had to speak up.  In fact, we *may* have almost forgotten to turn it off at one point since it’s hard to tell when it’s running!

It also has cool side mirrors to help avoid blind spots.

You would not believe where we stayed.  Casa Palmero in Pebble Beach has only 24 room and looks like this:

Perfect place to pose with our car, right? #dork

Yes, I indulged in both gluten and dairy on this trip and have the bloat to prove it.  But who could resist this BREAD BALLOON?

Karah and I continued our adventure through Monterey, Pebble Beach, 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, and down to Big Sur.

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW.

I touched the Pacific ocean.  I had to.  It was COLD.  There were whales spouting in front of us.  I felt like a three year old trying to find her words– there simply weren’t any.  This entire experience was surreal.  I think I said something like: “I IS HAPPY.”

I stupidly ran right into the ocean and got soaked to my knees.  I didn’t even care.  Soon after, we had a leisurely lunch at Rocky Point overlooking the pacific.  I’ve been a lot of places, and I have to say– this was my favorite lunch ever, soaking in the sunshine and chatting with friends.

We stopped just short of Bixby Bridge.  There was a dirt road there that goes along the coast that I’m already scheming to drive, hopefully in this car.  😉  The C-MAX gets an incredible 43 MPG, and can go up to 85 MPH in all-electric mode.  We didn’t test that.  YET.

I’ll admit that before I drove the car, I wondered why it was named the C-MAX.  It only took me a few minutes to find out.

There was too much inspiration to pack into one post, so in the coming days I’ll share some 15 minute decorating ideas I discovered, our exact route (in case you’re planning to visit the California coast), and some really fun details.  There was so much inspiration, I came home ready to change my entire way of living.  And also, I came home tired because of that red-eye flight and jet lag.

WORTH IT.

PS- Dear Ford, I’m so sorry about the sand I left on the passenger side floor.  If you want me to come back out there and vacuum it up, I’ll totally do that ASAP.  Signed, Me.

Have you visited the California coast, or totally fallen in love with a vacation area?  How about driving a hybrid, have you tried it?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on hybrids, and suggestions for the next time I visit California.  Because there MUST be a next time!

A big huge thank you to Ford and the C-MAX team for being an incredible sponsor of this experience and first-rate company to work with.  This is a sponsored post and all opinions are 100% my own.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.