California Coast

Last Friday AJ and I headed out on our first ever childless adventure. For the past 11 months we have not been alone for more than a few hours.. so we were pumped and anxious all at the same time. We had been planning a trip with Beverly and Ben to Napa to celebrate those ever important October birthdays for a solid year. We went back and forth with driving vs. flying and highway vs. coast. Our decision was confirmed with this first glimpse a hour or two past LA...

I was so surprised at how much our view continuously changed throughout the entire drive.. We went from sunny coast with palm trees, to huge farms with different fruits, veggies, and cows, to vineyards, to flat desert land, to woodsy rugged terrain that looked like the north Georgia mountains, but adjacent to a huge ocean!! 

I finally caved and bought a selfie stick for this momentous trip.. I was PUMPED, AJ not so much.. 

First stop was about three hours north of LA -- Pismo Beach. 

It was the cutest old school beach town. Everything looked like it was from the 50s.. So quaint and friendly! It was pretty quiet when we arrived around 9am.

And we made great time!! That's what happens when you leave at 6am.. We arrived just in time for breakfast number two of the day -- ham and cheese crepes! 

About an hour from Pismo we got THIS view. Holy cow. It was overcast, which I thought was going to be a bummer, but it just added to the gorgeous views.

I really felt like we were not in California - maybe northern Europe? I just kept repeating over and over, "this is not what I expected!"

We literally stopped every 15 miles or so. We just couldn't help ourselves. We would pull over on the side of the road and just soak up all this beauty. These pictures do not do it justice at all. Drive the California coast y'all. You won't regret it!! 

If you get car sick easily, this drive might not be for you.. The roads are VERY curvy.

Bathroom break in Big Sur.. I didn't get to capture the beauty of this place, because it was starting to rain.. But trust me. Go to Big Sur.

The total drive time took 9 ish hours (subtracting out breakfast/lunch stops) whereas the drive back on the highway took 5.5 hours. I read so many online forums deciding if we should do it in a day, where we should stop, etc. And let me tell ya, there are some serious negative Nancys surrounding the subject. Sure we could have spent more time in every place, but you should absolutely do it if you have a day or three!! 

We stopped for the night just south of San Francisco is San Carlos. We headed out to a much needed happy hour after a huge fiasco with our accommodations (last minute airbnb cancellation, denied airbnb request, then booked a hotel on the wrong weekend!!! AH) After some delicious happy hour wine, we made our way over to an amazing pizza joint. We just kept saying over and over, this feels so weird being Maddie-less. But we soaked up every minute of each other's company. (And HUGE SHOUT OUT to my Mom for flying across the country to keep Maddie Jane while we took this grand adventure!!)