West Coast 2023

The summer is almost over and it's time to document another trip to the West Coast, which has somehow become an annual thing.

This time to Northern California!

On our way to the coast, we decided to stop for a few days at Butt Lake. I wasn't sure about camping with a two month old, but with two canoes and a trip to Mt. Lassen, it lived up to my fond memories and ended up being much better than I expected.

Not only that, but John's parents and a few of his siblings came along with us and got to experience this magical place as well!

After some nice fireside relaxation, we headed for an Airbnb in McKinleyville, CA. We spent the week visiting the ocean, the Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants! Not to mention having some amazing fish and chips from LoCo Fish Co. Seriously wishing I had some of their fish and chips right now!

Some of the highlights include shell and rock hunting, sandcastle building, clam digging (but not catching, they were too fast. Haha!), and of course, birthday cake since John and I both had birthdays during that trip!

One more thing to mention was the hilarious, "I got a cool picture of you" moment between John and I... You can decide whose picture turned out better... Haha!

(Pictures of that coming soon!)

During the last day of our trip, John decided he wanted to watch the sunset at the ocean so we all jumped in the car and raced the sun which was going down in 10 minutes. We made it to a vista point and got to see the sun go down which was a great last hurrah.

On our way home from the ocean, we stopped by my parents' apartment and got to spend a few days with them swimming and going to John's Incredible Pizza for one last time before they move. 

It was a great break and although it was nice to get back home again, I'm already looking forward to our next trip to the beach! It's not planned yet, but based on the last few years, it won't be too long before we head back to the ocean!