Trip Down the Coast

Sorry I didn't post again several days ago. I didn't because life got a little stressful. To sum it up, our car broke down on Thursday, and I feel on the spikes of my bike (where it changes gears) and have been limping around since. Ouch. Good news: we picked the car up last night!

Remember that hike I talked about on Wednesday? Well, that was also another reason I didn't write back. Heath choose one of the more difficult hikes from our book, and we had no idea how advanced it would actually be. In the first mile of the hike, we climbed over 1700 feet, and we kept climbing. Once we reached the second trailhead, we choose the wrong one... this lead us down the other side of the mountain. By the time we realized it was the wrong trail, it was 5:30 and we didn't want to risk getting stuck in the dark trying to reach the top. So, we completely exhausted ourselves and didn't even reach the viewpoint. Whew. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

We almost have the house put together, but still have some final touches to do. So instead of posting pictures from our unfinished home, I thought I would post some pictures from our trip to Santa Cruz! We had such a wonderful time driving down the 101. We saw the Red Woods for the first time, saw the Oregon coast for the first time, visited San Francisco for the first time, spent much needed time with family, and finally got a little bit of a tan. :)





For the first two nights of our trip, we stayed with Heath's friend, Steven. We walked around the Stanford campus then went on a tour of San Francisco!



Pier 39... the sea lions were so cute. Can I mention how bitterly cold and windy this city was?!? If you ever go (and you should), you will need a jacket.



Lombard Street! We actually drove down it... I didn't get a very good picture, so I bought a postcard. :)



Thanks for hosting us Steven! We had a great time



Red Woods! We went on a walk through these giants with mom and dad and Aunt Tracy outside of Santa Cruz.



Before the reception, we drove south to Pebble Beach. This picture was taken on the 17 mile drive.



Had to take a picture by the Pebble Beach sign. Dad likes golf. They also treated us to a nice lunch at the golf course! I had a pulled pork bbq sandwich.... it wasn't brisket, but it was still wonderful! (I've been craving real Texas bbq since the day we left.)



Em looked beautiful! I'm a little jealous that she was able to wear her pretty dress twice! :) We all had a wonderful time. I even danced and enjoyed it, which is pretty rare for me. Thanks Em, for giving us a reason to travel down the coast. It was so great to see you and Nick!



Here's Janet with her new friend. This guy was a feisty one :) I love this picture.



Our second visit to San Francisco; this time with my parents.





We drove across the Golden Gate bridge and visited Salsalito. We ate lunch overlooking the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz before my parents had to catch their flight back to Nashville.



And finally, we drove by Mt. Shasta on our way back to Oregon. Beautiful. I love living in this part of the country!


I promise to post more within the next few days! Have a wonderful Tuesday