We had such an incredible California Coast trip! I loved it!! I had researched different places to visit/see/stay for a few months before we traveled. I love planning out trips and loved planning out this trip. We were able to stay in some incredible places and driving the coast is beautiful! We were also able to eat at some yummy restaurants along the way AND see good friends. It was a win-win. The whole reason for this trip was my marathon. I ran the Revel Canyon City Marathon in Azusa on November 12th. I have a whole separate post for my marathon but, in short, it went really well. I am really happy with my time and loved the course. It was fun to run a marathon after a few years off and I am already planning my next one :) SO here is our trip day by day. Since I am writing this a few months later I hope I can remember all the details!
We arrived in Los Angeles and grabbed our rental car (a nice spacious SUV!) and then drove to San Clemente where our friends live. It was so good to see the Kirklands since we haven't seen them in a few years! Spencer and Casey work together at Work Front but since they both work remote we don't get to see them near as much as we like. They have two cute little boys who Charley and Bergen played with while we were there. We first went to watch the sunrise at a nearby beach and then had take-out from a yummy Italian place called Guichos. I carbo loaded on pasta and meatballs for dinner!
Friday, 11th
The next morning I went on a short run near their place and then we went to get some yummy pancakes. There was this amazing coconut syrup that I spread all over mine! :) After breakfast we went to the beach where the girls played in the water and sand most of the morning and Spencer went paddle boarding. I tried to avoid the sun as much as possible and just sat around and tried to stay off my legs. Before leaving San Clemente we stopped and got the yummiest Banzai bowl (acai smoothie with banana/granola/honey/coconut toppings)! It was HUGE and so good. I think I could definitely live off those things. The rest of the trip I was looking for them wherever we went. That afternoon we drove up to Azusa to pick up my race packet and then we actually drove the race course. Driving it got my REALLY really nervous! It was so hilly and curvy! There were a lot more hills than I thought (for the most part it was downhill though) and it was very curvy. Bergen actually threw up all over her carseat and the car on the way down the mountain because she was getting so car sick. I felt so bad! After that, we checked into our Airbnb for the night and my sister and her family came to join the fun also! Bailey and Justin live in San Fransisco and drove all the way down to cheer me on and Justin actually ran with me! We had a yummy chicken/rice dinner that night and then we tried to go to bed a little early. I set my alarm for 3:45am and tried to sleep as much as possible.
Saturday, 12th
Marathon Day!! More on this later! :)
After the marathon we sat around for a bit while I stretched and tried to walk normal (walking normal actually didn't come till TWO WEEKS later!! ) All those hills did my quads and calves in! Afterward we went back to our Airbnb and packed up, showered and then drove to Newport Beach where we took the ferry to Balboa Island and walked around the island. It was a lot of fun! The Stewarts went with us and we stopped to get a frozen banana dipped in chocolate and swirled in coconut. Then we went window shopping, stopping at a Starbucks to go to the bathroom and a bookstore to buy the girls a book. After walking around the island we made our long drive to San Louis Obispo for the night.
Sunday, 13th
We decided to stop in SLO on our way up to Big Sur since it was the closest place near Big Sur that had an LDS church. We went to church in SLO and then drove all the way up to Big Sur. It was breathtaking!!! I loved the views and driving along the coast. Such a beautiful drive.. I can't say enough about it! We stopped at McWay Falls and did a short hike to a place where you can see a waterfall drop onto the sandy beach below. Then we tried to drive to the Big Sur Bakery but it was closed! I was so bummed since I LOVE stopping at bakeries wherever we go! We ate next door at a spot and got some nachos. We were going to go to Pfeiffer Beach next to see the purple sand but when we got to the parking lot they only took cash and neither of us had cash! There was no parking along the road for a few miles so we decided to skip it. The Stewarts had to make their trek back to San Fran so we said goodbye and off we both went our different directions. I am so grateful that Bailey and Justin came down to vacation the coast with us! It was fun to spend time with their family. It was way fun to run with Justin too! He is a rockstar. We actually drove back to SLO and stayed with our good friends in Grover Beach. The Silvas have 3 darling little girls that Charley and Bergen loved playing with! We got to spend the next day with them which was such a treat!
Bergen hiding! :) haha I love it!
Monday, 14th
Spencer and Michael went on a Mission together in Portugal and have been friends since. When we both lived in Utah we hung out a few times and wish we still lived closer to them. Hannah is one of those people who you just love the second you talk to her! So in the morning we drove up to Hearst Castle and took a tour. It was beautiful! There is so much history in that place and it was really cool to tour around. The girls were not very good through the tour so I feel like Spencer and I both missed about half of what was going on, but we got the jist of it. The design of the grounds and castle is amazing! After Hearst Castle we went a little ways down the road to the Sea Lion mating/birthing grounds called Piedras Blancas. There were hundreds of Elephant Seals laying out in the sun. It was incredible! That night for dinner we went into San Luis Obispo and ate at the Firestone Grill and got the tri-tip steak sandwiches and salads. SO good!!
Tuesday, 15th
Tuesday morning we left bright and early for Solvang. Solvang is this cute little Danish town. We walked around, stopping at Olsen's bakery for some yummy treats and then walked around the town a bit more looking at all the shops. After spending the morning in Solvang we got in the car and drove a little ways to Santa Barbara. We stopped on our way at a yummy place to get a Banzai bowl (yes we found another place!) SO good. Our first stop in Santa Barbara was the Mission. This Mission was really cool to walk through. It is actually still used today. We could see rooms where friars stayed which was really cool. You could walk around the grounds and we stopped in the church to look at the chapel. After the mission we took the trolley to the main shopping area on State Street. Charley was so excited to ride the trolley! It worked out perfect because I needed to go to the Apple store to fix the screen on my phone and dinner and ice cream were right here too. So we dropped my phone off, went and got some yummy food at Los Agaves (such good molé!) and then we stopped by McConnels Ice cream for some of the best ice cream ever! I got the sea salt cookies n' cream which is amazing! After ice cream we went back and picked up my phone and then drove to Los Angeles late that night .
Where they used to do laundry!
Wednesday, 16th
Our last full day in California we tried to pack in our LA day. We started at the temple grounds which was a great place to start! We have been trying to go to the temple grounds when we travel with our girls and it has been so nice. I found this quote somewhere and have tried to keep it in the back of my mind when we travel new places, "If you allow your children to touch the temple, the temple will touch them."
After seeing the temple and going into the Visitors Center and letting the girls play around at the kids section we went to the Getty. It was actually really cool to go to and see all the works of art. We didn't stay too long because the girls were getting restless and Spencer isn't really into artsy stuff like that, but I did get my fix in while we were there.
After that we stopped at Titos Tacos for lunch (not good!) and then we went to Venice Beach and walked around Abbot Kinney Boulvard strolling past all the hipster restaurants and shops. It was actually really fun to walk along and see. I snagged some Toms shoes while shopping and we got some Salt and Straw ice cream (always a good idea). We walked toward muscle beach/manhattan beach but it was super ghetto and dirty so we didn't get very far before turning around.
After that we stopped at Titos Tacos for lunch (not good!) and then we went to Venice Beach and walked around Abbot Kinney Boulvard strolling past all the hipster restaurants and shops. It was actually really fun to walk along and see. I snagged some Toms shoes while shopping and we got some Salt and Straw ice cream (always a good idea). We walked toward muscle beach/manhattan beach but it was super ghetto and dirty so we didn't get very far before turning around.
Thursday, 17th
Our last day we tried out Gjelina for Breakfast and it did not disappoint. Their crunchy french toast and eggs benedict was amazing! After breakfast Spencer got a haircut at a really cool place actually while I went across the street to get another smoothie bowl (I couldn't resist!). After that we went back to our Airbnb to pack up and head to the airport. We actually ended up missing our flight (I thought I had wrote down the right time but that was when we were in New York and everything was 3 hours later!) so we got to the airport 3 hours later than we should have.. whopps! After a long line and multiple phone calls they were able to re-book our flights and we got in at about the same time we would have if we had got on our actual flight that morning (since our first flight had a layover and our new flight was direct!). This was such a fun trip! I loved driving the coast and stopping at all the beautiful and fun places along the way!
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