Northern Cali

The further North we go the more I fall in love. The clouds lie low on the trees, the air still above the oceans roll. Highway 101 keeps you so near the Pacific you feel you can reach your hand out the window for a cool swim. The air is floral and salt, spice of wild-growing fennel and sweet grass.

I could live here....except its still in California and I'm ready for Oregon.

What are these? They look like orchids, but grow wild in N Cali!

Redwoods!

We camped a night at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park outside Crescent City, CA. We arrived at dark but awoke to the most glorious sight. They weren't the biggest Redwoods we have seen, but they were still amazing.

Scampi in the Redwoods

These little guys...everywhere

licorice ferns growing and uncurling, so cute

Rumi hardly ever looks at the camera, this was a feat.

Fungi always reminds me of my lovely friend Leigh {Bromeleighad}

I'm a real fairy!

Sadly, I can't even remember what beach this was. I'm guessing its Harris Beach, which is actually on the very Southern edge of Oregon. Next time I'm taking road sign photographs.

I don't love this photo, but I love us.

On we go!

San Fransisco

At last post we had just arrived in California - finally the Pacific!!! We camped in Big Sur for a week - this was the most legit vacation I have ever had. We had no place to go, no obligations or time restraints. A week of peace on a Pacific cliff-side.

We woke to this every morning

And went to sleep after this faded to deep blue.

It was lovely and remote and relaxing. I miss it already.

Next - North from Big Sur to San Fransisco! We camped outside the adorable little town of Fairfax, about 30 mins from SanFran across the Golden Gate bridge. We were lucky enough to reserve the campsite for a few days that was typically full for the whole season. We parked Scampi beneath the Redwoods and made our day ventures into the city. Though we had to drive a bit it was totally worth it (as there is absolutely NO place in San Fransisco to park a camper.)

Day 1: Chinatown, walking, walking, walking and figuring out where/how to park. Luckily I remembered the curbing-tires-on-hill rule from high school drivers ed.
We dined at Delfina, a foodie's paradise of Italian food and wine. It was delicious.

Chinatown

fishy

*shivers*

dehydrated ocean treats. i didn't try one.

Day 2: We did laundry. It was more fun than it sounds. The laundromat was attached to Philz coffee, so here we sipped espresso while the clothes were spinning. We walked the Castro, I aided some tourists with my keen sense of direction, and a shop owner told us Seattle was a little to "crunchy granola" for him. I fell upon a lucky streak of finding free hourly parking close to our chosen locales and by the end of the day I was feeling nearly at home.

Philz Coffee

Castro district

The most curvy street ever. We went down it just for fun.

Day 3: Crissy Field and Fisherman's Wharf for some good ol' tourist trap stuff. But we did have some lovely seafood. Checked out a farmer's market at Golden Gate Park and took the scenic drive through (it's so huge!!)

my sweets

That oh-so-famous row of houses

Windmill in Golden Gate Park

need I caption this?!

Day 4: Tired, and realizing we had no plans/reservations for our upcoming NCali/Oregon leg, we stayed in Fairfax to plan. We fueled ourselves on sweets and dreams of redwoods.

Fairfax Coffee Roastery

whole wheat moon pie and chocolate covered macaroon! yum!

woo-hoo!

And now we move North!