Musical pairing – Meet Me in California by Plain White T’s
I’m baaaccckkkkk from a week in Santa Cruz with lots of crazy adventures like our forced march, hike through the Redwood forest (that’s us – the tiny group at the bottom left of that very big tree). The climb took 4 + hours to complete – 4 miles hiking up 500 feet and back down again. Believe me, there were times . . . oh who am I kidding . . . there were MANY, MANY times I wanted to quit but I persevered and made it . . . last into camp, but I was upright and no paramedics were called; a feat in-and-of-itself considering just how out of shape I am!
We also had plenty of time to enjoy some of the finer things California has to offer like:
Or this:
And especially this:
I’ll return to regular programming (posting) once I’m unpacked and back into my normal routine but in the meantime, head over to ‘Dishin’ In The Kitchen‘ and take a listen to an interview I did with Michelle aka ‘Mac’. Mac and I have become fast friends in this funny blogging world and her podcasts are so well done, inspiring and fun, plus I’ve found some ‘new-to-me’ bloggers to follow! Be sure to leave a note in the comment section and let Mac know you stopped by!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to clean the sand out of my underwear, hair and get these posts put together with some great new recipes to share with all of you – like an Agua Fresca and Thai Noodle Salad for starters!
SMITH BITES NOTE: Thanks to the adventure in the Redwoods AND the hundreds of miles we walked, I’m happy to report a 10 pound weight loss while on vacation – now if only I could figure out how to turn that into some kind of diet plan, I’d make millions!!!
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As always you have me laughing! Hope you got all that sand out of your “hair”. 😉
Adore that coastline photo! It deserves to be framed….then you will long for CA and come back to us!
Glad you’re home, and catching up with the garden.
Let’s talk soon! ~M
Rachel ~ It’s hard for me as well for exactly the same reasons you mentioned – just can’t get enough!
Kristen ~ It was a great trip and we can’t wait to return!
Rowdy ~ The Professor thought that’s what you were referring to – he’s a HUGE SW fan so knew exactly what you were talking about . . . me? I’m with you on the Ewoks!
Re the Ewok Village: When we drove through the Redwoods way back in the mid-90’s, we visited the “Ewok Village”, which is where scenes from Star Wars were filmed. It was very exciting for the Star Wars fan amongst us, not quite as much for me. There weren’t actually any Ewoks, nor was there a village…mostly just more big trees!
Wonderful photos! Sounds like an incredible trip!
I’m not sure which picture I love more…the first tree picture, as those huge redwoods are just simply beautiful or the first water picture. I don’t think I’d be able to pull myself away from that scenery.
Kim ~ I have heard about that book for quite some time; in fact, my sister-in-law, Elaine, read some of it out loud to us a couple yrs ago – HYSTERICAL!!! I don’t know if I’m up for the Appalachian trail but then again, wasn’t sure I was up for the Redwood hike either! Who knows where life will take me, but I’m open to the experience!
And yes, you must see the Redwoods – just so very awesome!
Going to the redwoods is one of the things I want to do before I die. The pictures made me think I was right about putting that on my list. This weekend we listen to the book “A Walk In the Woods” by Bill Bryson on the way to St. Louis and back. Bryson writes about his travels in a humorous way. This book was about him preparing and walking the Appalachian trail. After your hike you might want to take on the Appalacian trail 🙂 …read the book first.
I have absolutely no clue as to the ‘Ewok Village’ Rowdy so you got me there!
Welcome back! Did you visit the Ewok Village?
I thought about you a lot during this trip Sasa – and took as many pics as I could of the sea just for you. Wasn’t really ‘trying’ to lose the weight on the trip but hey, it was a nice surprise!
The sea, the sea!!! Beautiful and glad you got to have a holiday *and* lost weight if that’s what you were after.
Those Redwoods were life-changing Barbara – I felt very, very small in a big, big world; it’s one of those few times I was speechless!
Fabulous photos! I’ve seen those redwoods and will forever be in awe. They make you feel so tiny.
Such a fun way to lose weight, too! Good for you.
T is one lucky guy Cindy – that part of the country just takes my breath away – it was AWESOME!
Debra-I loved these photos…I was there in 92…love the redwoods and 17 mile.
I want to take T to Monterey-to stay before he graduates.
Brian ~ we walked miles and miles and it was so totally worth it! We had a blast!
10 lbs! That must have been a lot of walking you did!
The pictures are wonderful and it sounds like you had a very fun, adventure-filled, and relaxing trip.