California Trip! Part 4

So the last part of the trip was busy and fun and beautiful!

Might I say again, I love California. I love the ocean. I love the beauty of nature.

I'm still not a huge camper/nature walker/tree hugger type, but I love to just look at the wonder of nature. And I like old stuff...hence why I love places like Monterey Bay and San Francisco!

When we were planning the trip, the coast wasn't even on the agenda at first. Then as we got thinking, why not? We may not get the chance to drive here again, and we tend to like to do different things for trips, never the same trip twice, so we decided that instead of just taking the normal I-15 home, why not make a slight side trip and enjoy the Californian coast along the way!

I loved Monterey Bay when we went a couple of years ago. Its so quaint and cute and bursting with history. It also has the cutest pier with great shops and restaurants, where we enjoyed the best clam chowder in the world!! Even Gracie agreed. She didn't want to order from the kids menu, she wanted the Chowder!

It also gave us a chance to really enjoy the power of the ocean. 

I honestly could just sit and watch and listen for hours...

We planned on going to San Francisco the next morning, but decided to enjoy a little more or the coast and beach. We walked along the beach cliffs and out to this rocky point where we did just sit and watched the waves come rolling in. 

It was fun to try and guess which ones would be the biggest ones crashing off the rocks.

Here's me in my happy place...

Dustin even tried recording the waves for me so I could take the sound with me...

Sigh...it didn't quite work out...

 

We drove down to a couple of beaches, explored the tide pools and found lots of shells...

Even a couple of starfish!! 

Then we headed of to San Fran. Just a quick stop to Pier 39, to see the Sea Lions and enjoy the Tulip Celebration. Tulips and Daffodils every where. Made me hungry for Spingtime!!

On the way to the hotel and one last shot of the bridge. it was dark, and I had to leave the shutter open for quite a while, hence the airplane lights across the picture, but still so pretty and amazing!!

We had to try something different, so we headed for Muir Woods just north of the bay. Giant Redwood Forest. So beautiful and peaceful, though I have to say I really enjoyed the Sequoias more. I think some of the Redwood forests farther north are a little more Majestic and larger. it was still pretty and more of a 'Rain Forest' feel with ferns and moss on the trees. Very, Very Green...

Still beautiful and some were still HUGE!!

We went on a hike and my little troupers did really well.

The hike was a nice change from sitting in the car for hours and hours!!

It was such a fun trip, and so sad to see it end! 

I missed my bed, but I realized how much I missed California: my friends, the activities, the ocean.

 I never realized how much a part of me it had become!

I am very much Canadian, but I think there will always be a part of me that is a California Girl!!