California . Part IV . San Fran Bike Ride

I had giggled with delight when I told him. I think I even bounced on the couch. "We're going on a bike ride in San Francisco! And we're going to ride over the Golden Gate bridge!" I said. Ryan stared at me and replied, "Isn't it really hilly there?" I assured him the ride I was planning was for Beginners/Intermediates and that we could totally handle it. So he agreed and I reserved our bikes.

The first mile was totally fine and then we got to what is now known as "the hill." And I made sure to not make eye contact with Ryan. Because it was steep and I knew he wouldn't be happy. We got to the top and I exclaimed, "That wasn't too bad!" He laughed, "No hills!? What do you call that?" The conversation ended there because (thankfully) we had a beautiful distraction as the hill led us directly to the bridge.

There were definitely more hills than I expected, and the ride was longer than I had planned, but I'm glad we did it (and I think Ryan would agree). It was a wonderful day.

On our way to the Golden Gate Bridge we stopped by the Palace of Fine Arts for some pictures. This one might make an appearance in our new apartment as a canvas print. Views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

After our trip across the Golden Gate we rode under the bridge and found a side street that took us to a fishing pier. The wind was fierce and the fog was rolling in, but I managed to grab a few shots before the bridge completely disappeared.

From San Francisco we continued our ride to sunny Sausalito where we had lunch (yummy burgers and Lappert's ice cream) and took off our jackets for the first time. We made the decision to continue to Tiburon, riding the path that stretches through the Bothin Marsh in Mill Valley. In Tiburon we took a ferry back to the Port in San Francisco to return our bikes. The fog was rolling into the ocean from the hills and it was really a beautiful site.

And a shot of San Francisco as we came into port.

Next stop: Muir Woods and Napa Valley

California . Part III . Big Sur 2 San Fran

As I mentioned in my last California post, Big Sur was one of the most beautiful places I've seen while traveling (especially in the United States). And the drive north from Big Sur to San Francisco was no exception. We stayed on Route 1 the whole way and twisted and turned our way through Pebble Beach, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and ended the evening with a delicious fish dinner on Hyde Street in San Francisco.
Whenever I travel, I always look for what I like to call "my house someday." And I found it during this leg of the drive...overlooking the wild ocean, waves crashing below, clinging to the edge of the rocks along the cliffs of Big Sur. My house someday.
I was looking forward to this next photo ever since I started researching our trip. I admire beautiful design and the Bixby Bridge is a wonderful site to see. I am thankful there are architects out there (like my brother *smile*) who know what they are doing and they do it well so that structures like this can stand the test of time and very rough winds. I love how the curves of the bridge flow gently into the jagged rocks along the coast. It feels like it belongs there.
We tried to wake up early to make it to Pebble beach earlier in the morning so that we could drive the 17-mile drive in peace without a ton of cars. And we were really lucky to hardly see anyone along the way...
The lone cypress tree is around 250 years old. If it could speak I wonder what stories it would tell...
10 minutes down the road from 17-mile drive is Monterey, the site of one of my Dad's favorite Steinbeck novels, Cannery Row. I'm a fan of East of Eden myself, but have a few favorite scenes from that novel. A photo for my Dad as promised...
Steinbeck is a storyteller and while Monterey has become a bit touristy, I think I can imagine what kind of place it was when he lived here from his description...

"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

And my all time favorite scene from the book happens with Mack is desperately trying to help Doc by going frogging...

"There were frogs there all right, thousands of them. Their voices beat the night, they boomed and barked and croaked and rattled. They sang to the stars, to the waning moon, to the waving grasses. They bellowed love songs and challenges." - John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

We had lunch along Fisherman's Warf and Ryan was so happy to get his bread bowl clam chowder. I tried it. It was warm and yummy.
Our next stop was completely unplanned and unexpected. And it might be my favorite memory (I think I might say that a lot while I describe the trip--but that's because we had so much fun!). We pulled our car off to the side of the road because we noticed a path leading out to the cliffs along the ocean. I'm so glad we did this, because at the end of the journey was a beautiful beach.
And no one else was there! I don't think I've ever been on a beach all by myself before. It was breathtaking.
The scenery changed as we got closer to San Francisco and the cliffs weren't as jagged and the mountains weren't as high. But it was still beautiful in it's own way.
It was long and by the end of the day I think we both had enough of driving. But looking back, it was worth it. I think I might even do it again someday.

Next stop: Bike Ride in San Francisco.

Apartment Adventures

Life has been full of excitement these past few days as we've started our apartment adventures. We closed on Thursday and immediately headed over to our new home with a bottle of sparkling wine from our trip to Napa. It was a surreal experience for me as we stood together in what will become our living room. We took a few moments to let the moment soak in and then we opened the bottle to celebrate with a toast.
The celebration didn't last long before we decided to get to work right away. We've decided to paint the whole apartment ourselves--a fun (sometimes daunting *smile*) project to really make our place feel like home. Thursday night we tested our paints and they were exactly what I was hoping for. I will share photos once the rooms are done...but as a hold-over, some photos of us working:

We were really lucky to have Ryan's parents up from PA to help us out our first weekend--thanks Chris and Troy!
We'll be back on the ladders (I feel so tall up there!) painting this upcoming weekend (and probably the weekend after) but we're having a lot of fun along the way. It's really cool to see it slowly come together and to know that we're doing it together.

California . Part II . Big Sur

After the wedding we started our drive North through what can only be described as some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. I love to travel and to see new places and this trip was a great reminder that there are plenty of amazing things to see across America. And I intend to make it a point to see as much of it as I can. If you have any recommendations of "must sees" please send them my way. I have a running list and would always love to add more!

The drive was long (a total of 806 miles over the course of the week) but with this scenery it went by really quickly. Green Day and a "best of 80s" mix might have helped as well *smile*

Before I show pictures of Big Sur, I also have to show two things from before we even left Solvang. First, as we drove to our hotel before the wedding I gasped and quickly asked Ryan to "stop the car!" There was a lake (the water was sooo blue!) framed by beautiful purple mountains and I had to get a picture.
The second is a picture of the best breakfast I have ever had. Seriously. The morning after the wedding we used Yelp and found a highly rated Belgian Cafe and had the best Belgian waffles I have ever had. Yummy!
And now...back to our scheduled program... ...towering cliffs, fog-banked canyons, roaring surf...that was my Big Sur on our trip. But, how do I describe such a beautiful place? Thankfully I don't have to since I plan on letting the photos speak for themselves. I was speechless and would just sigh as I witnessed the majestic beauty of this West Cost gem.
During one of our hikes we stumbled upon some fun friends in the water. Our first sighting of what I think were sea lions...Our second hike was to a beautiful waterfall that fell into a sandy beach within a cove. It was one of my favorite memories from the trip...
After our drive and our hikes we ended the night with a dinner at Sierra Mar, a glass restaurant on top of a cliff overlooking the Big Sur coast and Pacific Ocean. The view was amazing, the food was delicious & the sunset was colorful. What a great end to an unforgettable day...
...and that was just the beginning...

Next post: Route 1 from Big Sur to San Francisco.

California . Part I . Wedding

The unpacking is complete. I'm 'sort of' back to an East Coast schedule. And I've just started the fun process of re-living our memories by viewing all of the pictures from our vacation. During the next few posts on this blog I will take you through our trip up Route 1 from LA to Big Sur to San Francisco to Napa Valley. And to start us off...some photos from Matt and Alexandra's wedding--the reason we were out in California to begin with.
Matt and I met the very first week of Freshman Orientation at the University of Pennsylvania. He's an all around great guy-- one of my favorites :) --so I was thrilled when he met a wonderful girl that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. They've built an amazing life together and their wedding was beautiful. Alexandra grew up in California and they had the wedding at her parent's home in Solvang, California.
They were married under an Oak tree in her front yard.
Three of the guys I went to school with were groomsmen...Tom, James, and Andy
Two of my favorite images happened right as Matt and Alexandra left the ceremony as husband and wife:
Alexandra has an amazing artistic talent and the details for the event were beautifully elegant:
Tom and Andy are getting married next year and I took some quick shots of them with the beautiful women in their lives:
The reception was on the driveway:
I'm a huge fan of the first dance. The pictures and the moments are always wonderful...
Congratulations Matt and Alexandra. I'm so excited for both of you and the amazing life I know you will have together.

It was a beautiful night and a great start to what was a wonderful vacation. Next stop, Big Sur...