the joy of exploring california...

i love having visitors, especially these ones: 

"We're passing the landfills", says my mom as she and my dad enter Irvine, CA for the first time. She's obviously not used to seeing hills...because in Florida, anything resembling a "hill" would be a landfill....and so begins an east coaster's journey to the west coast...

although moving from one coast to another has had its challenges,

{like being new to everything}

it has also opened the door to so many new opportunities and chances to grow

one of the things that i've learned about myself in the last couple years is that

 i love to explore

 new scenery, new foods,  new people

gives me energy

stretches my comfort zone

and opens my eyes to a bigger world

and since my parents had never been to southern california before, 

we got to do some more exploring!

 Here are some of my favorite spots around + some new ones!

Walking around the story-book island of Balboa with a frozen banana as the sun sets 

You cannot get the full California experience without an In-n-Out burger

...animal style, of course.

*This place is ranunculusly beautiful*

right off the HWY-5 in carlsbad, ca is "The Flower Fields"

50 acres of extraordinary color in bloom on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean

it's open March-May-- it's a MUST see!

after a few days in Orange County, we decided to take a trip up the coast a bit...

although driving along the coast is beautiful, I prefer taking "the pass" (just north of Santa Barbara) through Los Padres National Forest with views the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Ynez mountains and Lake Cachuma--it's absolutely breathtaking 

(especially when you run for your life across the street
before a car comes zipping around the corner)

Montana de Oro (Point Buchon Trail)  was my parent's favorite part of their trip

 (and mine, even the second time) 

 california poppies, wildflowers, wide open space, oceanside cliffs,
and a WHALE SIGHTING! 

Keep driving north on US-1 for about an hour until you hear the seals...

seven miles north of San Simeon, is the Piedras Blancas rookery-- home to hundreds of elephant seals for their molt season for about 1 month

and of course, you can't come to california and not taste the wine

seriously...route 154...take it

And to finish off the trip, we stopped in Santa Barbara to see the old Mission

and there's so much more to explore...