Home again

We have finally returned from our trip and like always, its bittersweet.  I love California!  Its beautiful, its laid back and the light there is unlike anywhere else I've been, not to mention, I will thoroughly miss my family.  However, its so nice to be back in my own home and easing back into our routine.

I didn't have a good internet connection while there, so I decided to forgo adding looking for a wifi spot to my daily activities and skipped blogging while there.
This trip was quite a different one for me, which I will go into further detail in another post.  I don't like to be on a schedule per say, but I do make a list of things I'd like to do when I vacation.  That way I can usually get to most of them, as I please but also have chill days.  What I noticed to be a recurring theme on my list was choosing outings which allowed us to take advantage of California's greatest resource....the outdoors.

One of the places we visited was Muir Woods National Monument.

Oh my, it was majestic!.  The forest is located in Mill Valley (right outside of San Francisco) and is full of beautiful, huge redwoods.  They have several hikes you can take, which vary in intensity and length and can show you such locales as the coast.  We decided to take a short one hour hike through the forest.

I took photos, which as hard as I try, can't grasp the true beauty there.  Maybe its because while hiking you are inhaling the fresh, crisp air, and enjoying the forest sounds, which without sounding too crazy are intoxicating.  While walking we came across a sign that had this written on it:

In every walk with nature,

   one receives far more

      than one seeks.

                    -John Muir

This said it all for me!  If you are in the area, definitely check it out....

I'm going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali

After a 3 hour delay, a wonderful flight on Virgin America,  and some scary turbulence, I am so thrilled to be back out in California!  I have been coming out here annually since I was 6 years old and even lived out here for most of high school.  Last year, since I was pregnant I didn't want to travel quite so far, so we skipped the trip and I missed it.  I usually go straight to the Bay Area, but this year I decided to hang out in the LA area.
First off, let me say, there is nothing like the beautiful light from the sun in California.  The weather is gorgeous, its been about 80 degrees and sunny, most of the time.  I have been here countless times so I don't have any major plans I just kind of wanted to go with the flow and experience SoCal as a grown up.
Our first outing was to Venice Beach.  I remember going as a child and enjoyed swimming and buying little trinkets along the walking path.  It was nice to take my son to see the local artisans,  the skate park and allow him to pick out some trinkets..he's loves tchotchkes!
It was nice experiencing Venice as an adult.  I love the aesthetic there.  The colorful homes, the murals and all of the succulents, they literally are everywhere.  I know that LA is truly in a valley and that there are deserts surrounding the area, but it wasn't until this trip and seeing all of the native cacti and succulents  that it became official in my mind.  We checked out the canal, which I had never seen in person and accidentally interrupted a scene they were filming for Californication.
We ended the day with my favorite fast food burger joint in Cali...In and Out burger!