We’ve had a great week of traveling down the west coast and soaking in the views. We left Oregon on Tuesday and spent the night in Trinidad, CA. Then it was on to Santa Cruz and we’ve been enjoying some relaxing time with Uncle Ron and Aunt Martha, even with the wetter than normal weather.

We wanted to drive the coastal route between Oregon and California this time. As we’re still learning how to road trip with our electric vehicle, we left ourselves plenty of time to charge and to meander. We drove from Yachats to Trinidad with plenty of stops for bbq (really good, peppery pulled pork) and hiking (Redwood National Park). By the time we got to our lodging in Trinidad, it was dark and foggy, so we didn’t get to enjoy the view. We did enjoy our little cabin and our private hot tub, though! Especially since I was still feeling ill and Nathan is maybe also recovering from a bug. The fog had cleared out by early the next morning, so we drove into town and hiked to Trinidad Head before moving down the coast to see more redwoods and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We drove the Avenue of the Giants and stopped for a couple of walks. Those massive trees will never be boring! We just love our peaceful walks under the towering canopy and feeling the weight of being a tiny creature in a vast world. From there, we drove on to Willits for more charging and tasty tacos, then through icky Bay Area Traffic to meet up with Ron and Martha for tasty Thai food. The whole drive was so scenic and enjoyable.

We’ve had a few days to settle in here in Santa Cruz and we are really enjoying it. There have been two good days of rain, which is uncharacteristic. But we’ve still been taking plenty of walks around town and along West Cliff. We drove up the coast to San Fransisco with R&M on Friday to visit an exhibit featuring the paintings of Manet and Morisot. It was an interesting show comparing and contrasting their styles and examining how they influenced one another. I have to say that after looking at their art side by side like that, I’m Team Morisot, but then again, Manet was never a favorite of mine. We ate at the museum cafe and it was delicious and we had a sunny, clear day for our drive in and out of the city. We also hunted down some phenominal tacos right here in Santa Cruz yesterday and had a nice walk through downtown SC.

We’re on the road for about another week, most of it chilling here in Santa Cruz. Nathan’s been playing a lot of music (solo piano practice and violin duets with Ron) and I’ve been scheming Christmas plans and gifts. It’s been a nice visit and a welcome break before the frenzied fun of the holidays coming up. Enjoy your week!