Stand in the Pacific Ocean. Bucket List Check. After a day of driving through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California last week, Darci and I made our way down to the beach in the dark to stand in the chilly sand so I could dip my toes in the same water that touches Hawaii. Spending the night in Santa Barbara gave us the opportunity to stroll the wharf and enjoy fish and chips oceanside, with other tourists mulling around, seagulls begging for food, and a lovely sea lion swimming by.
We drove from Santa Barbara to an old high school friend (Hi Mesa!) in Lake Forest, south of LA. We took PCH- Pacific Coastal Highway, to take advantage of the ocean views for as long as possible. The trip involved some beautiful overlooks, a major freak out when I thought we were going to get hit by a landing plane, and then lots of LA traffic as we got into the city.
Most surprising to my East Coast eyes, is how close the mountains are to the ocean. I dearly love views like this:
Also, due to the high number of palm trees, I may have thought we were in Florida on one or two occasions.