experiencing the iconic and the downright lovely

In preparation for seeing the west coast for the first time, and for flying in and out of San Francisco, we did what anyone who grew up in the late 80s and early 90s would do- purchased the first season of Full House. Born the same year as the Olsen twins, I grew up as they did on screen and I’ve known the Full House theme song longer than I can remember. The opening shots of the family driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and then zooming in on their house with the red door- practically iconic images of my childhood! 

Anyways- that was our travel prep. We flew into San Francisco, drove up to Twin Peaks and down to Fisherman’s Wharf, visited our first few breweries of the trip (21st Amendment and Thirsty Bear), and stayed a night with a good friend. The next day we did the long anticipated:

The Golden Gate was bigger and more overwhelming than I expected. Apparently I’m not the only one who feels something dark about it. Have you heard about this documentary? My San Francisco friend says not to watch it- it’s that disturbing. It was still fun and exciting to see and experience the bridge, but we were glad to be on our way up the coast from there. The first half of our trip went like this- 

1. drive up the coast
2. stop as many times as you feel inclined- take innumerable photos of the gorgeous views
3. keep driving until you hit the next campground
4. set up the tent, build a fire and cook some hotdogs
5. sleep
6. wake up, make eggs and bacon over the fire, then break down the tent
7. repeat from step 1

It was a pretty nice life, and we definitely found our camping groove by day 3. We’ve figured out the quirks of building campfires in lots of scenarios and can’t emphasize enough the value of s’mores. We also took to total heart the importance of stopping and taking in the sheer beauty of the landscape. This feels ironic to me because we live in a rather beautiful area. I drive through harbors and along ocean roads to get to work every day. Yet, there is something about vacation that allows me to settle into appreciating and enjoying in a way that is all together different from the day to day. Maybe this is something wrong with how I’m living my day to day, or maybe it is just the reality of a busy life. Either way, Jake and I were both grateful for the chance to stop and smell flowers.