Our PCH Road Trip: Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea

Ever since I was a little girl my dad would talk about how beautiful Monterey and Carmel are, and ever since then I have wanted to go there. We stayed in the cutest little cottage right by the sea. I was so amazed by how clear the water was! The beaches were rocky and studded with patches of wildflowers. It was absolutely stunning.

A HUGE bucket list item of mine was to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which I had heard was one of the best in the world (also I had heard it was the aquarium the one in Finding Dory is based off of so naturally I had to go there)! The $50 per person entrance fee was a little steep but it was worth it.

I think my favoritest part were all the jellyfish tanks which conveniently I didn't take a single picture of, ha. I am one of those people who are totally fascinated with sea creatures and fish but am also kind of terrified of them at the same time. I have absolutely NO desire to go near them or touch them or be in a place where they could touch me/eat me. This is why I am an ideal aquarium goer, and not an ideal scuba diver.

After our morning at the aquarium we decided to take a jaunt down Cannery Row. Before Monterey was a tourist destination it was a huge cannery town. Cannery Row is where all these historic canneries used to be, but of course now they have been turned into restaurants, shops and hotels. It was pretty cool though to walk down the street and see all the big, historical buildings. I wish I could transport myself back in time and see it for what it once was though.

Our next stop was Carmel Beach. One thing that really impressed me was how dog friendly Carmel and Monterey are. I mean EVERYONE has a dog. At the beach, in the stores, at the hotel!! They are everywhere and all the businesses seem to be dog friendly, which is pretty cool. 

Carmel was so charming! All the houses there seriously looked like fairy tale cottages and I wanted to live in all of them! It is crazy how drastically the landscape changes from Monterey to Carmel. Monterey is filled with these rocky beaches and then Carmel has a very forest like feel and vibe. I like it.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Big Sur portion of Highway 1 was closed (agh!!) but we decided to drive south of Carmel as far as we could until the road closed to get a glimpse of as much as possible.

  

In the distance you'll see Rocky Creek Bridge, which is where the road was closed off so sadly we did not get to cross it or drive any further south than that. But the highway we were able to cover between Carmel and here were the stuff dreams are made out of!

So many rocky cliffs and green, green pastures with probably the happiest cows in the world grazing! We stopped at this little turn off and sat on the edge of a cliff and watched the sunset. I have that memory stamped in my brain forever, the way the ice cold sea breeze whipped my hair about my face, and the way the orange glow of the sun faded on the cliff edge studded with purple and yellow wildflowers.

If I was a rich woman I would immediately buy a ranch along the Big Sur coast.

But alas, I am short a few million dollars.

Soon to come, the last installment of our trip - San Francisco!

Our PCH Road Trip: Driving the Coast

The fifth day of our trip we woke up, ready to cruise the Pacific Coast Highway!

Our first stop was only about an hour down the road to the Santa Monica Pier where we rented a couple of bikes and road from the pier all the way down to Venice Beach and back.

 After about an hour of hanging out in Santa Monica we hit the road again and onto.....

....Santa Barbara! This is the moment I wish I was an actual photographer. I spent more time making videos than actually taking any quality pictures, so I apologize for the lack thereof.

Let it suffice it to say that Santa Barbara is a very lovely place, and I quite enjoyed all of the Spanish-colonial style architecture of downtown. The white stucco contrasted with red-tile and dark wood is very pleasing. We stopped and ate at a convenience store deli, and with no time to waste we hit the road again.

Our next stop was Pismo Beach. Whose name sounded vaguely familiar to me as we rolled into town, but I couldn't quite place it. Apparently it is world famous though, so maybe that's why it rang a bell? We drove down to the beach where we found an abundance of sand dunes and rednecks with their trucks and trailers. American flags flapping in the wind from the bed of their trucks. It all felt very patriotic (and strangely not at all like we were in California), and my small town husband felt right at home.

After hitting up the beach we dropped into a tiny little 'ma and pa' Ice Cream shop and got ourselves milkshakes and headed back onto Highway One.

I was majorly disappointed to find that the Big Sur section of Highway 1 was closed due to mudslides and so sadly once we got to San Luis Obispo we had to turn onto Highway 101 for the rest of our journey towards Monterey :( 

Big Sur was pretty much #1 on my list of things to see, and as we drove we realized we simply did not plan enough time to stop at all the amazing places there are along Highway 1. Needless to say we will be planning another Highway 1 road trip for the future, so we can see all the wonderful things we missed, like Hearst Castle, Big Sur, the Madonna Inn, etc. etc. There was just so much to do and we had too little time!

Anyway, here is the video I made of our trip, I took way too few photos, but more videos, so here you'll be able to see more of the PCH.

Stay tuned for the next installment of our trip... Monterey and Carmel!

Our PCH Road Trip: Disneyland

A lifelong dream of mine was fulfilled earlier this month when we decided to take an 8 day long road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway in California! We decided to start in Southern California because we had Disneyland tickets and I wanted to use them. I couldn't bear the thought of being in Southern Cali and not visiting Disneyland!

The night we arrived in Anaheim was an eventful one. Long story short I am a very naive traveller and booked us the sketchiest hotel EVER. I won't go into too many details but suffice it to say the black mold on the ceilings, the grey stains on the towels and the word "TROUBLE" etched into the television were enough for us to ditch the hotel at 1030 at night with nowhere else to stay.

Luckily a very nice hotel opened up right across the street from Disneyland on Travelocity! So I immediately booked it and we rolled into the lobby at 1100pm.

Lesson learned, pay the extra $50-$75 a night to stay in a place that you don't have to fear being murdered.

  

I am a hardcore Disneyland goer and so we arrived at the park before it even opened! We decided to use our Magic Morning the first day which allowed us to enter the park an hour before it opens for everyone else.

Feeling very elite with our magic morning and being one of only a few people in the park we decided to stroll over to Fantasyland and ride a few of our favorite rides before stopping to get ourselves some Mickey Mouse pancakes!!

Yum. I am not typically a pancake or even really a large breakfast person, but I make an exception for Mickey Mouse pancakes. With their delicious blueberry eyeballs and maraschino cherry noses, sprinkled with powdered sugar and magic.

It was fun being there the first day just Nathan and I because we got to saunter along, doing whatever we pleased. We saw the new Frozen musical, wandered through all the shops, ate a month's worth of rent in treats and took in all the atmosphere and magic Disneyland has to offer.

Day 2 Nathan's sister Brittany and her husband Buck flew in to go to the parks with us!

We love to hang out with these two so obviously we had a blast! Buck's favorite place is Car's Land so we started our day wandering the roads of Radiator Springs.

Ok this ride is the CUTEST ever. You hop in these cars and they line dance with each other! It's one of my personal favorites.

The one and only!

Poor Nate always gets booted to the front of the log on Splash Mountain and so he always ends up getting soaked, but at least he is having a good time.

The Pooh ride that didn't stink.

Day 3 we took it easy and meandered around! We go to Disneyland so often that I don't really feel pressure to ride every single ride or even to ride all the big rides a bunch of times. I just like being at Disneyland for the magical atmosphere. And I love just sitting on a bench sometimes to people watch. Luckily this crew is very chill and so we took time to watch shows, play the penny arcade games, walk through every shop, and eat all the treats our hearts desired.

So cool fun fact - this was Mrs. Disney's favorite horse! If you've ever seen Saving Mr. Banks you may recognize it as the horse Walt Disney makes P.L. Travers ride. I love that movie.

Licensed to drive.

 I haven't ridden the Dumbo ride since I was like 5 and I forgot how freakin' fun that ride is!

We ended our Disneyland adventures by staking out a spot to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade! Which is cool because that parade last played in Disneyland like 15 years ago and it's only back for a limited time this year! So that made me feel pretty lucky that we got to see it. I think my fellow Disney goers were pretty much exhausted at this point after clocking 10+ miles a day on foot! I could've gone another 3 days though, haha! I love Disneyland.

Goodbye for another 6 months or so, Disneyland! You treated us well.

Stay tuned for the next 5 days of our PCH Road Trip!

Valentine's Day

My forever Valentine :)

Yesterday Nathan didn't end up having to go into work, and by some miracle I also didn't have to work and so we got to spend the entire day together!

We woke up, went to the gym, went out to eat, picked up some dessert at Harmon's and came home and watched Seinfeld all night.

It was so sunny yesterday that I came under some sort of delusion that it was summer and so I wore sandals and no coat when we went out. Uhhh yeah that was a mistake! My feet got so frozen! 

Now that Christmas has come and gone Winter has lost all its majesty. Spring please come, I beg you.

When we came home from the gym, I found these beauties delivered at our doorstep :)

I swore once I got a dog that  I wouldn't be that person who shared thousands of pictures of them, but I just can't help it! Never say never I suppose.

This little pup was way overdue for a bath. It's hilarious because he is SO fluffy, so when you give him a bath he looks like a totally different dog. Like...where did all the fur go? Haha.

Anyway people I am SOOO excited because Nathan and I are road-tripping it to California soon and I cannot wait. Disneyland here we come!

Work has got me so burned out lately, I have been in desperate need of a vacation. So I decided to heck with it and booked a hotel, called Nathan and told him we were going on vacation, haha.

I feel like this post is all over the place, but speaking of work I thought it necessary to mention that I hit my ONE YEAR mark of being a licensed nurse last week!!!! 

I cannot express how monumental that is. When they first handed me the keys to the med cart a year ago I was struck with paralyzing fear and overcome with the worst sort of anxieties.

But looky there, it's been a whole year since that day and while I still have so much learning and growing to do I can honestly say I have survived my first year of nursing, and I am only slightly scathed and minorly scarred.

I have met so many wonderful people, and have had so many funny/awesome/heartbreaking/eye-opening experiences and I would not trade it for all the world. When someone tells you that you're their 'favorite nurse' it makes all of the constant stress and lack of eating and bathroom breaks worth it, haha.

Live and Let Live

As Melon has been growing in size, his energy levels have about tripled. Instead of being the sweet, napping little baby he once was, now he is a tyrannical beast - tearing up socks and pant legs, and rarely ever resting. To accommodate this new found energy I have been taking him on lots and lots of walks. Our apartment complex has a dog park which is probably pretty awesome in the summertime but in the winter it's kind of just blah.... but it's fenced so I figured I'd take him off the leash and let him go run around there.

But I take off the leash and what does he do? Jumps up on the bench and sits next to me. I even tried throwing a ball and he wouldn't chase it, haha. He just wanted to sit on the bench. Which is ok I guess, I just wish he'd do that at home, haha. 

Aren't these books lovely? I ordered them off Amazon and had to discipline myself as to not order all of them! Someday I dream of having my own library and I would love to fill it with hundreds of beautifully bound books such as these. I told you in the last post how much I have been loving Jane Eyre and period dramas and what not. I just can't get enough of them these days.

Last weekend I drove down to good old Utah County to hang out with my best friend, Shelby. We went out to eat and hung out in the hot tub at the Provo Rec Center. Nathan had gone up to Idaho to snowmobile. It was nice having some girl time.

That same weekend my friend from work, Jess invited me to go out to dinner with her after our shift had ended! I had such a good time. The nurses I work with are all so nice. I feel like I've been very fortunate to become friends with all of them. They all look out for me in a way that never happened at my previous job. So I suppose you could say there are some upsides to living in Ogden.

Where one door closes, others are always opened, yes?

My Bucket List

When you battle with periods of depression in your life, as I have lately, there are days and weeks and even months that feel empty. You try to fill life with meaningful things. However the nasty snare of depression takes things once meaningful and turns then into something... meaningless. Even the most wonderful things can feel hollow. The worst part is in your brain you tell yourself you 'know' this is supposed to be fun! It's something you enjoy! But depression robs you of those fond emotions you once enjoyed.

I don't intend for this to be a moody post however. In fact I would say, despite some bad days, I have been on the mend. Depression is beginning to relinquish the nasty grip it has had hold of me this past year, and I really just wanted to write down a list of things I'd like to do in my life, to say "carpe diem" and move forward to happier times.

So here, is a bucket list. To be edited and added upon to my liking. 

1. Go to Disney World

2. Own my own horse

3. Have a flower garden

4. Own a small farm

5. Have children

6. Be an audience member on a game show

7. Road trip the Pacific Coast Highway

8. Visit Europe

9. Visit the South

10. Be really good at breadmaking

11. See the Northern Lights

12. Take Nathan to Alaska

13. Have visible, good looking abs

14. Make quilts for all my favorite people

15. Make a family history book

16. Read at least 10 classic books

17. Take Nathan to a live musical/play

18. Go to the Tuacahn in St. George

19. Take Nathan to Goblin Valley and camp there with friends/family

20. Go to the Grand Canyon

21. Read all the Series of Unfortunate Events

22. Own a jeep

23. Graduate with a BSN

24. See Jim Gaffigan or Brian Regan live

25. Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum

26. Eat at Ruth's Chris

27. Go to Harry Potter World and drink a butterbeer

28. Visit a real live castle

Snowshoeing

Little Melon loves the snow. Maybe it's because he has never actually been alive during a summer, I don't know. 

It's hilarious to watch though, he loves to jump around and bury his head in it. He's so tiny and so occasionally he will jump into a particularly big drift and his whole body will disappear, and two seconds later he will reemerge, looking like a hairy snowman.

Nathan and I decided to go snowshoeing this past weekend and we took the puppy with us. He survived for about half the journey before he got so cold we had to wrap him up in a coat and carry him! Poor little guy.

Wish I had more photos to share but my phone died literally two seconds after this was taken.

I have to admit this was my first time going snowshoeing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It snowed like mad and so as we were hiking big huge, fluffy snowflakes were falling slowly about us, landing on all the evergreen trees and frosting our noses. It was magical.

On a side note I have recently become obsessed with Jane Eyre! I watched the 2011 movie on netflix and fell absolutely in love and knew I had to read the book. Usually I find the old classics to be a bit wordy and difficult to read but I have been absolutely immersed in this book. 

I used to scoff at people who loved all the period dramas but I have to admit I am becoming quite a fan. I love how something so subtle, meant so much back in those times. Just a touch of the hand spoke volumes. I mean women and men weren't even hardly allowed to touch each other back in those days.

Now in this era people have to parade around naked to get themselves noticed. Hand holding has all but lost its meaning. Simple, innocent romance has been spat upon and degraded.

Shame, shame.

Now forgive me while I get back to reading Jane Eyre.