Week 3: Central and Southern Cali

Oh man is time flying! We have a lot to catch up on, be patient, there are many adventures to capture here and oh so little time with Wi-Fi. So...lets see, here's Week 3 in review, and we'll update Week 4 soon as well. Can't believe it's been nearly a month we've been homeless and jobless and wandering. We're getting used to this... 

 

 marshlands    Pescadero, CA 

Ahhhhh Pescadero beach.

Feeding frenzy perhaps? So many sea birds!

 

 

 

Beautiful Butano State Park. A hidden gem south of SF. We enjoyed many nights under redwoods here, and our trailer enjoyed a few more. There was no way we were going into a dense city like San Francisco with that thing so we unhitched and left it at our campsite for a couple of nights while we hit the town. Then we came back for a few more nights. Worked brilliantly.

 

 

Brightest banana slug we have ever seen.

 

 

Set up awesome camp and off to the city we went!

 

Here's Peggy, our gracious SF host and old Pathfinder friend. Thanks Peggy! You made our SF dream happen. We had an awesome time bike riding up and down the hills of SF. Sometimes the uphill wasn't so awesome, but the downhills were pretty sweet. We went to a cool beat poets' bookstore and bar, and had authentic tiramisu and fudge in North Beach, the Italian neighborhood.

 

Lovely view from Peggy's. Near the top of Lombard Street.

 

 

Bay Bridge night beauty.

 

 

Amy was in succulent heaven at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens. 

 

 

.

 

 

Good 'ole buddy Brandon at his delicious Pizzeria Delfina.  Happy to find camaraderie here in the farm to table movement.

 

After saying good bye to the city we headed back once more to the central coast.

 

Our curious seal friend kept popping its head up to check us out on the beach.

 

"There it is again!"

Finally, it was time to leave the central Cali. coast. What a beautiful place, it deserved a week.
Next up we travelled south to LA to visit lovely friends Katie and Troy! We enjoyed lovely hospitality, great hikes, good eats, and awesome company.

 

We climbed up Eagle Rock for a gorgeous view.

 

Visited the Santa Monica Farmers Market and saw all kinds of new and interesting produce, southern California style.

 

Troy, graciously showing us the FRESH (!) ginger. Made for some delicious tea.

 

"What?!? You can eat this little avocado, skin and all!"

And it was delicious.

 

Cool stairs up the Hollywood hills. Giant jade plants like these adorn many walkways. They put my poor houseplant to shame.

 

Holy Agave plants!

 

Troy made us do it.

 

 

Good advice from the notebook hidden in the cave under Eagle Rock. Thanks Katie and Troy! We had an awesome time and never knew Hollywood could be so cool.

Week 2: Southern Oregon and North & Central California

Wow. Well there's much to catch up on. It's been a whirlwind of days and adventures and ups and downs within and around us.  Here's a snapshot.

Crater Lake

Beautiful obsidian, glass lava rock.

We visited Crater Lake and had a well deserved 'vacation.' We unhooked the trailer (whoa!), did laundry and rested for 2 nights in the same spot.

We explored Crater Lake and other volcanic wonders including the massive obsidian flats where miles of pumice and obsidian cover the area south of Bend, OR

 

            Camp mornings are awesome!

 Finally finishing our wedding thank you cards at a much needed hotel break from camping. Oh to have a bed! It has never felt so luxurious to have a little box room to be in.

                          Santa Cruz art. 

Tide pool wonders

The California Redwoods

...where the trees are bigger than our tent.

Redwood Ninjaaaah!

Monterey Aquarium

 I am always and will forever be dumbfounded at the diversity of beings on this planet. The ocean world is crazy.

 Enjoying seeing the old haunts of John Steinbeck, Mac and the boys.

Had a fancy dinner on the water where we watched pelicans, sea lions, and otters in the waves.

Patrick's happy place.

Ano Nuevo Marine Reserve

We got to see (and hear) the massive elephant seals up on the beach. So cool!

Umm...that little skull is a grizzly bear.

Beautiful central Cali coast.

Week One - Seattle, Olympia, Central Oregon

Proud Patrick pillages the rest of our garden veggies before we leave.

Well, we started out slow.  The trailer's lights didn't work, so instead of leaving Sunday, we waited for the trailer until Wednesday.

 But we got to enjoy some rest and a few more visits to our favorite places in Seattle.

Then we were off!

First stop was a night with dear friends in Olympia.

A wonderful feast with friends and band mates then off to their show at the local café.

It was awesome.

We slept in a attic under dreamy herbs and drying garlic.

We visited Roseroot herb farm run by Ingrid.

Then, it was really time to go. Goodbye Washington!

Camped our first night in Oregon.

Patrick helps local travelers along the road.

You could see the entire pacific northwest mountain chain from this spot - Rainier, Hellens, Adams, Hood, and Jefferson. AMAZING!

NEXT STOP: Fossil, OR

We drove out behind the little high school to a cliff full of fossils. We chipped and dug and came up with some great fossil treasure.

Central Oregon is incredible.

Blue mountains!

Painted Hills National Monument

Tourist.

Next night we spent in a field of tents with mountain climbers all around at Smith Rock. Stunning place, epic climbers, and slack line tightrope walking from the tips of cliffs. Never seen anything like it.

   

Monkey face rock.

Can you see the high wire walker?

Phew. We are tired of sitting at Barnes and Noble, mooching off their wifi. Off to Crater Lake National Park!