After years of being jealous of people's February vacation travel plans, we finally had a trip of our own this year! We left early Wednesday morning from Boston and flew to San Francisco airport. We had such an easy time through security in Boston that we had plenty of time for a sit-down breakfast. The kids were totally embarrassed by their plastic kid cups ;)
After arriving in SFO and getting our rental car, we made the two hour drive (on sometimes extremely winding roads) to Big Basin National Forest. The curvy roads made a few of us a little car-sick, but we were rewarding with incredible redwood trees. We took a beautiful walk through the forest and then made our way to Monterey where we'd be staying for 2 nights.
The Father of the Forest
The Mother of the Forest....the tallest tree in the park, standing at 293 feet!
We rose very early on Thursday morning, had a nice gym workout and breakfast and then began our day looking for birds outside of our hotel.
We then went to Monterey harbor for some more birds and jellyfish!
We then headed to Carmel for Caleb's piano practice and very much enjoyed our time there.
Our first really good look at the Pacific Ocean!
We left Carmel and headed south towards Big Sur. I can't think of many places more beautiful than this coast line.
Levi was a little afraid of the cliffs, so he hid behind Lina for this photo.
We had a wonderful time hiking around Big Sur and even got to see one of our favorite birds, the American Dipper, along this stream.
We all loved this hike, which took us to the top to the redwood tree line. It was incredible how long and far up we hiked until we reached the tree-tops.
When we got back close to our car, we were treated with a little blitz of birds that Caleb particularly enjoyed.
We refueled at the Big Sur bakery and soaked in the sun and beautiful flora.
Heading back North, we took a walk at another park and Levi loved these giant leaves.
A flock of Adelina's favorite bird, the American Coot.
Before heading back to our hotel for the night, we stopped again in Monterey to see the sea lions and Brandt's cormorants along the jetty.
The next morning, we were up early again and birded around the Salinas area before heading to San Francisco.
Elkhorn Slough was amazing and we could have easily spent all day here...
...but a piano was awaiting us in San Francisco at 1pm.
After piano, we drove to Fisherman's Wharf and had a fantastic lunch of Cioppino, seafood pasta, and sourdough bread.
We then set out to check-off as many tourist destinations as possible. We where right at Pier 39, and the sea lion show did not disappoint.
A few silly pictures with Alcatraz in the background.
Of course, we had to walk to Lombard street. I took a horrible picture of the kids in the street as traffic was approaching.
We then headed to See's candies and Ghirardellii square for some much-needed chocolate.
After getting back to our car, we drove north across the Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun was setting....a perfect end to a wonderful day. Naturally, we got stuck in traffic after turning around and heading south to our hotel by the airport. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but it was just about perfect. We enjoyed every moment we had and created some very special memories!
