About

Big Sur

Driving up the California coast to see Big Sur has to be one of our favorite road trips. The views are incredible and the drive is pretty spectacular as the landscape is constantly changing. These photos were taken at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park at sunset in January. There is a parking lot once you turn into the state park or you can park along the road if you want a quick picture. There were a few photographers taking pictures here during the golden hour to get a shot of the waterfall flowing into the ocean. It was pretty cool seeing this in person and great to take in some fresh ocean air after driving the winding roads along the coast. After visiting the State Park for a short while, we continued north to get to our camp site that Pops had been to before. It was somewhat of a hidden spot so we were pretty excited to get there. We finally found the road to turn on but found that it was gated shut and we couldn't go any further. With Covid running rampant and wit...

How It All Began

Don't Grind Your Gears all started when Pops began fixing up the family 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser and taking it out on scenic road trips with the family. The first big trip was with Pops and Remy (Pop's son) when they road tripped all the way to Canada from Southern California and back down through Montana. After a week on the road, the boys came back with some amazing stories and killer photos from their trip. After seeing what Pop's rig could do, the rest of the family got hungry for some adventures. It was during the rise of Covid 19 that Pops took Ricey (Pop's daughter) and Joey (Ricey's husband) on a weekend trip up the coast to Big Sur to get some fresh air and check out some of what he and Remy saw on their week-long excursion. The trip was pretty amazing and so spontaneous it was inevitably filled with some rookie mistakes. But that didn't seem to stop us. It only got us excited for more! Max (Pop's wife) didn't seem all too interested to be a part of our crazy adventures in the beginning, but she has since changed her tune after hearing of all our fun. Now all set up with our overloading crew, we can't wait for our next adventure and excited to share what we've been able to experience with you!