Whirlwind on the West Coast

Jeepers it's been a busy week. We left off in Gold Beach, Oregon I believe. Well on Thursday, June 3rd, we drove south along Route 101 so that we could travel through Redwood National Forest. It was stunning to see such gigantic trees lining the roadways. When stopping at a visitors center, we happened to come across a herd of elk, which was pretty awesome. We decided to then travel along the Avenue of the Giants and paid a few dollars to literally drive through a tree because not everybody can say that they took the time to drive through a redwood. After the park, we located a Starbucks to do some reading, but I was too intrigued by the women's Bible study to actually do any. Once we relaxed for a bit, we continued on down the coast and detoured at Point Arenas Lighthouse just because it was there. The facility was closed, but it was beautiful seeing a lighthouse at night. Finally reached our campsite in Gualala State Park around 10pm. I was greatly amused by the security guard who spoke to me in German and actually knew how to pronounce my last name as "moot" which hardly ever happens.

Friday morning Chrissy and I got up bright and early at 6am (well not so much bright as it was still pouring rain). After showering and disassembling a wet tent, we ventured towards Calistoga, CA to go wine tasting at Chateau Montelena. The venue was gorgeous and the wine was decent. I drove afterwards since I only had tiny sips, whereas Chrissy finished off the wine and it was pre-breakfast at 9am. I continued south through Napa Valley to get us onto 120 east towards Yosemite National Park. Yosemite was absolutely breathtaking! We saw Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Brideveil Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome. What made everything even better was the fact that the sun finally came out after almost a week straight of rain that was really wearing on my psyche. After Yosemite, it was off to our campsite on Half Moon Bay. We were truly blessed with the location of site 16 because it just so happened to be literally 50 feet from the beach so we got the luxury of falling asleep and waking up to waves crashing along the shore.

Saturday was a fun-filled day. We started the day by visiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. This mansion was designed by the late Mrs. Winchester, who was married to the son of the man who invented the Winchester rifle. The mansion is quite intriguing with its low-rise staircases, the door to nowhere, and windows with views of elevator shafts. Some say that the reason the house is so unique is because Mrs. Winchester was trying to confuse the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle. Chrissy and I opted for the Grand Estate tour, which included both the mansion tour and the behind-the-scenes tour. It was very entertaining to learn all of the inside stories about the house and Mrs. Winchester's bizarre behavior. Following the tour, we trekked up to San Francisco so that we could take the ferry out to Alcatraz. If you remember, I happen to have a great fascination with 1920s gangsters, and Al Capone happened to do time on the Rock. Also, I really enjoyed Clint Eastwood in Escape From Alcatraz, so to be able to see the actual cells that those men chiseled their way out of was pretty epic. The audio tour was quite intriguing and made you feel like you were really experiencing certain events such as the riot that occurred and stabbings in the dining area. Once back on shore, Chrissy and I wandered Fisherman's Wharf and found some nice bargain shops before stopping for a loaf of sourdough bread at Boudin's Sourdough Bakery. We then took pictures of Ghiradelli Square and the trolley turnaround on Hyde Street before hiking up Hyde Street to get a view of the bay area. Next was walking down Lombard Street, which happens to be the crookedest street ever. As a surprise, I found Aladdin Street for Chrissy because that is her favorite movie. After our own personal walking tour, we decided to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge before finding our campsite at Sunset Beach State Park along Monterey Bay.

Sunday we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway along Monterey Bay and through the Big Sur area. The blues of the water were absolutely stunning, and the cliff views were nerve-racking and spectacular all at the same time. Around 4 in the afternoon we reached our destination in Santa Monica. Former members of our church (Nathan and Jess Kollar, Josh and Allison Kollar, Ryan and Katrina Connell, and Dan Crismon to name a few) planted a church called Clarity about 6 months ago, so we decided to crash their place for two nights. There was an event Sunday night with a nice pasta dinner and some worship music led by Nathan and Jessica Kollar, along with a short message by Nathan on the Power of One, which focused on the story of Stephen being the first Christian martyr and how his sacrifice fulfilled God's Word of spreading the gospels across the globe. After the event, we all went back to the condo to socialize and eat leftovers.

Chrissy and I got the luxury of sleeping in until about 10am Monday morning, which was awesome! Josh Kollar was the first person to wander into the kitchen, so we celebrated by all eating chocolate cake for breakfast (we needed some sort of excuse to make that okay). After lounging for a bit, Chrissy and I ventured to the 3rd Street Promenade. I got sucked in by the World Cup hype and bought a soccer magazine that came with a World Cup Guide. I then came across the Adidas store and now have a new Germany soccer jersey and zip-up track jacket. It was totally worth it though. After the shopping spree, Chrissy and I decided to be brave and each dunked ourselves in the Pacific Ocean. It was definitely not as cold as I expected. Jumping in the Delaware River in January was definitely much worse (nor very smart haha). We went back to the condo and then went out to dinner at In N Out with Nathan, Jess, Novi, Josh, and Allison. Novi was quite entertained by my phone, so I let her play with it while we were stuck in traffic. Following dinner, we had a quick Mario Kart tournament before Allison, Chrissy, Jess, and I all went to Pink Berry for dessert. I got a mini chocolate topped with brownie bites, chocolate chips, and crushed oreos. It was delicious! Once back at home, we all watched some bloopers on Youtube before settling on watching G.I. Jane on Netflix. Chrissy and I then hashed out what we are planning on doing for the next couple of days. I am currently losing at finding any sort of campsite near Kannaraville, UT, for later in the week, so I should probably sleep considering how late it is. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Hopefully the next won't be too far down the road.