Day 70-76: Southern California

our life as of late via iPhone photos

wine tasting in Santa Barbara

Zuma Beach in Malibu

Babycakes in Los Angeles

movie shoot right outside our hotel in LA

some really good vegan food at M. Cafe

my favorite on the Walk of Fame :)

so good to be back in SoCal

Day 69-70: Big Sur and Monterey, CA

We heard about the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz from a friend we visited in San Francisco so we tried to go but who knew you needed a reservation?! It was packed. It's hard to explain - learn more here.

Sand Dollar Beach

livin' on the Pacific Coast Highway

(self-explanatory)

full moon in Monterey

Day 67-68: San Francisco, CA

Day 1 in SF

what would SF be without a little fog...

Golden Gate Bridge

we rented bikes and road to Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39

*Ry is going to kill me for posting this picture :)

Alcatraz

of course we had to have sourdough mmmm

sourdough buddies

we found a sea lion trying to rival Bud's posing

Day 2 - somewhere around Little Italy

we didn't visit the Painted Ladies ["Full House" house included] so this is as good as it's gonna get

Transamerica Pyramid [tallest building in SF]

Oakland Bay Bridge

cable car

I can't keep a straight face when Ry's photo skills are at work..

[more photo credit to Ry - getting up close and personal with nature]

Day 66: California Coast

Redwood Forest

our self-timer photo attempt

How many Gina's can fit across this truck?

so we can upon the Klamath River and there were a number of people crowded on a bridge.. we thought it might be a grizzly bear considering the statue you see above.. so we pulled over to check it out...

turns out it was not a bear...

it was a gray whale!!!

here's a better idea of where we were at on the 101 and why a whale was in a river

***update as of 8/17: Pacific gray whale perishes after 53 days in the Klamath River

we had no idea it had been there since June 23rd.. sad :(

Day 64-65: the Oregon coast & Portland

finally made it to Oregon!

Voodoo Donuts

sooo good :)

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Gold Beach, OR

Gold Beach sunset = best yet