california: part III

*warning: worlds longest blog post*

MONTEREY: 

So, we finally made it to Monterey. After the sunset stop, we thought we were only a couple hours away. Which we were- except we didn't put into consideration that it would be driving on crazy narrow, mountain roads in the dark. This was another tearful test for me. All I could think about was going off the side and into the sea (major issues, as mentioned before). I do know that we drove around Big Sir which I've heard is beautiful, but that night I hated it. But this test did come with a reward at the end- for passing, Randy surprised me with this resort stay (an upgrade from our hotel that he tricked me into thinking we were staying). It was so cute, secluded, quiet, and felt like we had our own little beach cottage. He did good. 

                    

These are the activities I did most when we were just hangin. It was pretty freezing there, and going from 100 to 50 in a day my body was officially in shock. However, this was our view and I was willing to suffer to bask in every second of it:

   Our first day there, we set out right away- no rest for these jet-setters.Sadly, this was my first time actually feeling the Pacific waters- every time we were near it in SoCal, it wasn't conducive to our schedule or it was night time. So I waited until it was really 0 degrees. (I also thought this was the best picture we took together so far, if you look to the bottom right of it). So, it still stands true- the water is much colder than the Atlantic, just to keep everyone updated. After splashing around for .1 second, we hit the town of Monterey.

    

  We started off at this great little breakfast place called first awakenings (which took us a lot longer to find on our map because Randy kept telling me to type in Great Awakenings- super spiritual, but incorrect). I tried out one of their dill crepe-eggs because this seemed like a popular California menu item. It was probably the best breakfast choice I've ever made. Afterwards, we walked around Cannery Row like tourists. 

                           
 
                           

  Just creeping around the corner. After we finished our touristing around downtown, we decided to make our way to Carmel. We ended up taking the 17 Mile Drive- best decision. It is miles (duh) of even more beautiful coast. So here is a picture tour: 

There were sea lions covering the top of the rock above. The smell was horrible, but their sounds made up for it.

                             

                             

           comforting- fortunately didn't need to use that advice

                          

                         

   Rands was lusting over this golf course the whole time, I guess it's a really cool one, so this is for him. 

   We finally entered into beautiful Carmel. We walked around a little, grabbed some coffee and sat on the beach for awhile- everyone was in winter clothes but laying on the sand, and it looked so appealing so I joined (below). 

CARMEL:

                                            

                                                 
                                             

 

  

 

We drove back to have our final night in Monterey. We cozied up with this gourmet dinner of Trader Joe's wine and cheese, watching the sunset (notice we are inside by the fire place) and then started our SanFrancisco trek the next day.

REDWOODS:

No words. Just majestic-  I loved driving through the forest, it made me feel like I was in another world. Once we were through it, it was amazing to see the forest go on forever (also-rands doing some calculations).

 

 

Finally, our last destination!
SANFRANCISCO:
Randy's brother and wife have a great place in SanFrancisco right by the Giant's baseball stadium, so they graciously let us stay there for the remainder of our trip. It was a perfect location for us to walk or bike to most places, and we even braved the mountianhills- almost puked a few times, but did it. 

Rands was on a mission, and led me through all of San Francisco (literally) trying to keep up with the hiptser kids. We covered pretty much the whole city in one day, stopping at a couple places we heard about- his stop of choice was dynamo donut (worth it). 

And mine was snacking on a chocolate hazelnut Tartine treat & delish fourbarrel coffee (major coffee nerdery there-loved it, this guy was my favorite). After bike-walking one of the steepest hills, this was our prize (Alcatraz is the little island on the right): 

                                     
                                   
                                   
                               
     Randy's fam also took us on a paddle-boarding excursion on Sausalito in the marina that weekend. It was the first time either of us had done it, and it was quite intimidating at first when I saw the seals swimming around us and heard his brother mention something about a jelly fish swimming under him. So my main goal was to not fall in (along with falling in the 1 degree water- which I had to go in this time in order to participate). Fortunately, we made it back dry, and Rands was more adventurous and actually went out to the Bay. Such a pro.

 

The last night, we were treated to the best ice cream in the whole world. Really. It was salted caramel from bi-rite creamery, and it was heaven. I need some now. 

  We also went back to tartine bakery to get our last pastry fill, to me it was almost the Orlando equivalent of croissant gourmet, but with a line wrapping around the bakery any time of day. Below is a couple of really cute shops we went into, they had unique antique & vintage furniture and other random goods that were fun to look through. 

      harrington's                   therapy 

 

Our last night there, we were driving home and saw the fog rolling in over the city. It was such a crazy, incredible thing to see- it came in so fast and looked like a wave of smoke was about to cover the whole city. So neat. 
   That officially ends the tour de California- there are so many more pictures and obviously amazing things to do. I'd love to hear from you/others what other places are must-see's for when we go back, which is hopefully tomorrow. This was our second time going out there together, but first time doing the coastal road trip- it is a must, worth the money & time and has made it very hard to be content in our reality of Orlando at the moment!