Expert: Ernest Tufft - 7/6/2008

Question
Hi Ernest,

My husband and I are scheduled to stop overnight in Santa Barbara on July
21st and continue to Cambria on July 22nd.  On the 23rd we are set to tour
Hearst Castle in the morning before heading up to Monterey for the next two
nights.  We have been monitoring the Gap and Basin Complex fires and know
that the Pacific Coast Highway may still be closed in Big Sur preventing us
from driving directly up the coast from the Castle.  My question is how far
out of our way will a detour take us and what is the best detour?  And the BIG
question that I hate to even ask you is:  Should we just stay home in Florida
and worry about hurricanes instead of fires?

Answer
By July 21st, the fires will have been long squelched.  Don't worry.  However, as you arrive in Santa Barbara, listen to the news.  The alternate route from San Simeon to Monterey is not all bad either--take Hwy 46 across to Paso Robles and then Hwy 101 north to Salinas, then take the exit to Monterey.  There won't be any detours if Hwy 1 is closed because there are no alternate routes, but watch the news and you'll be OK.  A category 5 Hurricane beats a forest fire in terms of damage to homes and lives lost, so don't worry :-)  Both may be related to Global Warming though...