Our vacation to California was fantastic! We were there a full week (Aug. 29-Oct. 5) and what a week! We flew into Orange County and visited with Matt's Grandma and Grandpa Cody for a few days. They treated us to some wonderful meals (including "The Big Sal" --the most humongous burrito I've ever seen!) and we had lots of fun playing Mexican Train, a domino game. I got to play in the Pacific Ocean for the first time (we took a picture of that momentous occation), and we had fun exploring the Natural History museum with Grandpa.
On Friday, we headed up Hwy. 101, which follows the California coastline. We were in constant awe at the beauty surrounding us as we meandered among strawberry fields, white beaches, beautiful mountains, and rocky shores. Nearly every minute we were presented with scenes worthy of photos, and it was hard to not stop constantly to take them.--As it is, we got plenty!
One of our favorite stops involved feeding a family of hungery squirrels. A fellow traveller was actually able to pick them up while they were busy nibbling.
We arrived at beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea where Matt's Aunt Sandie and Uncle Earl kindly let us stay in their guest house. (Thank you both!!!) From here, we were able to visit some of the local sites.
Pictures don't do it justice. It is beautiful!
On Saturday, we stopped at a section of state park just south of Carmel and spent the whole day exploring the rocks and cliffs.
Matt even got me to climb down into a narrow crevice where we enjoyed a private, miniature beach. But, yikes! the water's cold!
Monday was spent enjoying a Redwood forest just north of Santa Cruz. Both Matt and I were excited to see these giants we'd only seen pictures of, and we were not disappointed. They're huge!
After such wonderful adventures, we weren't ready for it to end, but Tuesday found us traveling back down to L.A.
We stopped several more places we had wanted to stop at on the way up, and especially loved Pfiffer Beach. It's a seculded beach with an unusual double-arch rock formation where huge waves crash through into a little bay. We were able to climb up near the openings and it was awesome!
We had such a wonderful time exploring the natural wonders of the coast and visiting family that we left Wednesday afternoon vowing to come back again soon!
