We successfully avoided blizzards and road closures, which meant we couldn't drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, but we made it to beautiful Monterey to head south along Route 1. The iconic drive to Big Sur down to Essalen definitely did not disappoint, even on a cloudy day.
We had our first taste of redwoods, found a quirky book store, and breathed in the huge, salty vistas. This may have been Margaret's favorite spot so far.
After some otter spotting - in the wild only, no aquariums for these animal-rescue-educated kids - we headed north to Santa Cruz. Johannes spent a formative year here after high school working, living, and working some more. We walked the high street and the boardwalk and visited the movie theater he worked at. We enjoyed perusing the vintage clothing spots, music stores, and eating slices from the wonderfully named Pizza My Heart.
We headed up the 1 to San Francisco, where Liz took over the roots tour. We found her old apartments in the Haight, and the Castro, saw all the hospitals (fortunately just from the outside), and got treats from her favorite bakery, Tartine.
We practiced our travel skills - getting around by MUNI, trolley, bus, and even electric scooter to enjoy San Francisco highlights on a string of beautiful and cloudless days.
We headed north with a brief stop in wine country at our new favorite vineyard (La Crema) to soak in the beauty of the redwoods. If you have never been, there is something indescribable and so powerful about these ancient giants. We were inspired to write poetry as we wandered through the groves.
We also stayed in an amazing house tucked up in the trees and loved waking up to beautiful views.
Johannes was scheduled to give a talk at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata (or we may never have left the trees). We had a few more woods walks with our friends the trees (though sadly some groves were closed due to storm damage on the roads) before we drove through a snowy pass into Oregon.
Thanks to Karen and her family we are now big fans of Corvallis and the rough-skinned newts. Music was played and Nova Scotia memories were shared.
Our trip through Portland hit the highlights - Powell's books, where 2 hours of browsing was barely enough; a ride up the tram to see the city views; and best of all, dinner with Liz's cousin Lee and her family.
We ended up on one of our favorite spots when we lived in the Northwest - the Oregon Coast. We spent so many vacations wandering the sands between Pacific City and Cannon Beach. Liz had also spent a rotation in medical school, working in Tillamook. The cheese factory tour was as good as we remembered (hooray for free samples). We had some lovely relaxing days of playing music, walking on the beach, and soaking in the hot tub before getting back on the road.
After a stop at the Goonies house (of course) in Oregon we wound around the Olympic Peninsula through more old growth trees to a wild stay at the Olympic Railway Inn in a converted caboose. It was a fun and funky stay (but also reminded us why we are not tiny house or RV people).
The next day we boarded the ferry to cross back into Canada. Victoria is a special place for our family. Johannes spent a summer working in the famed Empress Hotel during college and Trevor was born here.
We visited the house we lived in during that time, the beautiful beaches along Oak Bay, the peacocks in Beacon hill park and the harbor.
A highlight was the Malahat Skywalk with beautiful views over the fjords and Salt Spring Island where Johannes' father Trevor lived. Best of all, you can slide back down!
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