there and back again

we are back from our whirl-wind-spur-of-the-moment road trip! thursday morning, we were planning for a quiet weekend around the house, and by 5:30 that evening, we were on the road, headed for the california coast.
it was our first time to the northern california coast, and we all loved it.
along the way, we drove through napa valley, stopped in san francisco and got a taste of the city, dropped down to the monterey bay area, and strolled through monterey and carmel, and then visited lake tahoe on the way home.
my husband drove over 1800 miles in 5 days!
i have a new appreciation for california. it is such a diverse and beautiful state! oh, and it is also
rather h-u-g-e! and did i mention beautiful?

here are a few instagram pics of our trek:

highlights of the trip:
1. driving though napa valley + lunch at the oakvillle grocery
2. a visit to muir woods to see the redwood trees
3. driving across the golden gate bridge
4. eating at some wonderful places in san francisco, (thanks to the great recommendations of one of my fabulous clients. thank you merredith!)
5. the view of san francisco from our hotel room and the top of lombard street (aka the crookedest street in the world, which my kids LOVED driving down.)
6. riding the trolley and strolling around the the touristy sections of san francisco (fisherman wharf, union square + ghirardelli square). we wouldn't have done these things if the kiddos weren't with us, but they really enjoyed  it.
7. shopping at the container store. yeah...that was a highlight. at least for me. my family was pretty bored. but i was in heaven! i can't wait until they open a store in salt lake.
8. dining with a 180 degree view of the bay in monterey.
9. carmel. *sigh. i definitely want to come back here alone with my husband. what a charming and beautiful place! the beach here is the one you see in the picture above, and it is breathtaking. the carmel mission was also a gorgeous place.
10. renting a boat and cruising lake tahoe.

as you can see, we really like to vacation at a fast pace! if you are headed towards the coast from the rocky mountains, and have some questions or need some recommendations, feel free to email me! i am certainly no expert, but we made some decisions that i think made for a fun and unique trip.
have a great day everyone! hope you enjoyed this little snippet of our trip.