Dramatic California!

Andy and I have officially been living in California for 3 whole months now! Whoo, yeah! It was 3 months and about 6 days ago that we were packing our moving truck in the back of our Virginia house. It had just snowed lightly and some of our friends had come over to help us pack the truck. I ran out to grab some doughnuts and hot coffee to help us through the loading process. It was a chilly morning spent with good friends. Us girls huddled around our coffees nibbling on doughnuts, while the guys steadily worked on loading our life belongings into the moving truck. Now that I think about it, it seems so far away. Alas, it was only 3 months ago... Since then, we have been loving California! We miss our friends and family dearly, but the gorgeous scenery and abundant adventures have been keeping us busy. Here are some of the more dramatic photos that I have taken of our adventures over the last 3 months.

Prints of these photos are available in my Society6 store.

Big Sur post two, Highway One Beaches

A few days ago I posted about our backpacking trip to Big Sur. We took one day to backpack and camp, and one day to explore the area and Highway One. We have heard from countless people that Big Sur is the outdoorsy place to be around here. Well, other than Napa, Lake Tahoe, Muir Woods...oh wait, this whole area is scenic and beautiful!

Big Sur is about 2.5-3 hours south of the Bay Area, but totally worth the drive. A lot of the drive was boring highway, but once we hit Highway One the scenery started. We drove up and down Highway One stopping every few miles to get out and enjoy the coastal beauty. Some places the water was transparent blue, and other places we saw huge seals. There were cresting waves, miles of rocky shoreline, pristine white beaches, fog, sun, waterfalls, pine trees. Oh beauty!

It was an incredible day exploring Highway One in the Big Sur area. We did a few hikes right off the highway, and enjoyed the abandoned rugged beaches. We also stopped for lunch at a beautiful rooftop gallery restaurant that had some of the best bacon mac and cheese we've ever tasted. There are no words for that kind of delicious! We enjoyed lunch and beer in the blazing February sun with a view of Highway One and the Pacific Ocean. Does it get much better than that? I know I say that every time we get out and explore the area, but really, California has so much to offer.

 Check out the waterfall on the left side of this picture. Andy wanted to go bathe in it, but the trail didn't have beach access.