San Francisco & The Pacific Coast Highway

Since I was interviewing in Santa Cruz, I decided to make a road trip of it and hit up San Francisco and drive back via the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).  My good friend, Sariah, joined me and we had the best time.  She'd never been to San Francisco before so it was fun to experience her excitement.  Our friend, John Cho (pictured below), joined us on some of our adventure and also found us a place to stay with some girls in the Palo Alto mid-singles ward.

Day 1 - Drive to Palo Alto via I-5
Road trips are my favorite!  Especially with Sariah.  We can laugh non-stop for dayssssss.  Met some friendly new people at FHE as it was conveniently located at our temporary place of residence.

Day 2 - Santa Cruz
Had my interview first thing in the morning and went out exploring in the afternoon.  Ok.  So EVERYONE talks up Santa Cruz like it's this ritzy glamorous little beach town, but do you wanna know the truth?  It's actually pretty run down and ghetto.  I don't know if I'd want to live here anyway.  The beach has it's perks, but a large homeless population doesn't.  Got a phone call while out exploring with a job offer!

Day 3 - San Francisco
Spent a few hours getting poured upon and drenched in the Muir Woods.  Those Redwood trees will never cease to amaze me.  They are ginormous.  I felt like I was back in Oregon with all the rain, ferns, and greenery everywhere.  Absolutely beautiful!

Took a few scenic shots of the Golden Gate Bridge on our way back into San Francisco, with our first stop being lunch... the most delicious fresh fish ever!

Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around and exploring the city from Fisherman's Wharf to Ghirardelli Square to Chinatown to Painted Ladies (Full House anyone??) to Lombard Street (we may have gone down those curvy streets 2 or 3 times in a row...hey, there wasn't even a line!).  We tried to make it to Alcatraz Island, but all boat tours were sold out.  One of these days I'll make it there.

Day 4 - Drive to LA via the PCH
So the drive up took about 5 or so hours, but driving back via the Pacific Coast Highway extended our drive to almost 12 hours!!!  Granted we stopped a million times (breathtaking views) to check out Carmel-by-the-Sea, McWay Falls, the Bixby Bridge, some beached seals, and even spent a few hours at the Hearst Castle (highly recommended!).  I absolutely loved driving the PCH.  Windy roads are my favorite!

Side note: I was EXTREMELY bummed this amazing pool was under construction and was drained of water.  That drained the life right out of me.  Check it out here.

Oklahoma City

My sister's husband, Tyler, graduated from dental school back in May and I was lucky enough to get 3 days off to fly out for the weekend.  I was lucky enough to be with my whole family too!  It was one of those rare times when all 6 of us can get together, which doesn't happen very often.  Sonya and Tyler have been in Oklahoma for FOUR years and it was my FIRST time there visiting.  Gulp, I feel bad I hadn't been before so it was fun to finally see where they are living.  And what can I say but, I really like Oklahoma!  It's a slower pace of life, green, wide open, and good BBQ!  Sonya was THE best host and party planner around!

Like I said, I wasn't there very long but still managed to see the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.

Mom was also lucky enough to have all of her kids present for Mother's Day that Sunday.  And.... even luckier that I was on her flight back to Phoenix (on my way back to California).

Trip back East

Guys, remember the GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN in DC in a few weeks ago??  Yeah, I'm with you... who wants to remember that?  Well, my Pops was kind enough to fly me back East for a quick 3 day trip.  The ticket was purchased before all of this was an issue and I was SO EXCITED to finally go to some of the Smithsonian museums.  I've already been to DC twice-- the first time passing through as a family after my brother got home from his mission in NYC and the second, when applying to PA school.  When I realized I'd be there during the shutdown, I thought that was the end.  No Smithsonian.  Yet again.

After flying in, we went straight back to Frostburg, Maryland to spend a day or two there before planning to spend some time in DC.  It is such a cute little town!  While my Pops was teaching some classes, I explored a small bookstore and bakery on main street (my favorites!).  

We also took a drive over into Pennsylvania to check out Amish country.  I don't know why I was so fascinated by what I saw!  A young girl in a dress and bonnet riding in this carriage.  Men with beards and straw hats.  How on earth could you live like that (and without electricity?!) in this day and age??

The following day we went to Gettysburg on the way back to DC.  I had no idea there was an actual town there!  And a university.  Who knew?  I loved Gettysburg right from the start.  I also had no idea how big it was.  We spent a few hours driving around to all the monuments, but there are so many of them!  You could easily spend a full day there.  Lincoln is one of my favorite people in history and I got to actually stand where he delivered the Gettysburg Address!  That was a good day.  Who knew it was so short?  Just a few paragraphs?

Ok, this is where things get interesting.... THE DAY WE DROVE BACK TO DC WAS THE DAY THE SHUTDOWN ENDED!!!  So I finally got to go to the Smithsonian museums!  We checked out the Air & Space Museum, the Natural History Museum (my favorite-- gems, mummies, and forensics exhibits), and the National Gallery of Art.  My Pops made us walk through all the early European art before getting to our favorite-- the Impressionist works.  And as soon as we got there, the dude standing in the door said, "We close in 30 seconds."  Um gee.  Thanks for the warning.  Never have I sped through Monet's paintings so quickly.  Never again.

The next day we rode bikes (Bike Share) all over the National Mall to check out all the major monuments.  And we didn't even have to trespass.  Although, I would have had it come down to that.  This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip.  If you have not done this, it's a MUST.  Just make sure to get it to the next station within 30 minutes!

I think my Pop's favorite part was eating fresh seafood at Captain Whites....