Big Sur, California

 

While Benny was growing in my belly, Zac and I sneaked

 away for a few days to a place I could honestly call heaven on earth... 

Big Sur, California.  

First things first, finding a great place to stay.

Zac found this place, and when we were looking at 

it online, I realized that I had snipped an article 

about it in Sunset magazine a year back.  I never

realized how organized I was, until I ran to the drawer

I had placed the article.  Our stay at Glen Oaks was

definitely meant to be!  Recently updated, the roadside

motel felt completely throwback, with a DWR twist.

It was so cozy, and central to all the hiking and exploring

we did in Big Sur.  I highly recommend grabbing a snooze here.

 I was obsessed with the headboard, and hope

to one day construct one out of scrap wood blocks.

Have I ever mentioned that Zac is a Geologist?

He was very excited to explore Pfeiffer Beach,

where the sand runs hues of red to bright purple, 

much thanks to the garnet in the hills surrounding 

the beach.  Don't I sound like a Geologist?

 Here you can see the garnet washing down the hill onto the beach.  

Pfeiffer Beach was really hard to find, as it is a residential road 

you drive down to access the beach, and the locals do not like

the visiting traffic.  We were told that the minute a sign goes up on the 

highway to direct traffic down to the beach, a local removes it.  

So...be patient, you might pass the turn twice (as we did), 

but the walk along the beach is worth the scavenger hunt to find it!

We watched waves crash through the portal rocks at Pfeiffer Beach

for a long while.  It was so peaceful and very Goonie-esque...just saying.

Dare I say that we ate nearly all of our meals
at the general store?  There was a burrito bar inside
the general store that whipped up the best foil 

wrapped burritos this side of Bravo Burritos in
St. Cloud, MN (where we are from). We would go to the
general store first thing in the morning for made-to-order breakfast

 burritos and would return after hiking for a late lunch/early dinner burrito.  

 The best part  is that the general store sits right on the river and there
were loads of Adirondack chairs along the waters edge, or actually in the
shallow rocks of the water. We would grab our burritos and cozy up in
the chairs, dangling our feet in the water, while we ate.

 

One of the things I looooved about Big Sur is that

one minute we were deep in the Redwood trees and 

an hour later we would hike out to this.  So diverse

and lovely!  I would challenge a grump to stay grumpy

here...well, if the scenery didn't clear up said grumpiness,

the foil wrapped burritos would certainly do the trick

(can you tell I was pregnant while we were there, I was

obsessed with those damn burritos!).

Tower of Jewels flowers, that we spotted on a hike. 

We found a great hike, along the river.  We accessed the trail, under 

this bridge and just went a wandering.  

 Redwood trees along the river.  So heavenly!

Looking up the Redwoods.

A view from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

This was a wonderful day of exploring in the

park.  The trail along the ocean bluffs was ridiculous.

One more from the bluffs of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

From the hike along the bluffs of the ocean, upstream

through the trees of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

Minutes apart yet worlds apart.  Amazing.  

 I took this picture because of the J+K in a heart, in the foreground.

I knew I would think of someone to send it to, and I did...our friends

Karen and Jim.  If you need this picture, because you know some love

birds with those initials...send me a message and I will send it to you 

in a larger format.  This was as high upstream this pregnant lady
could explore, in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.  Truly breathtaking!

A trail down to the water at Partington Cove.

Water flowing down to the ocean, into Partington Cove.  Lovely.

There was some good exploring in the rocks along the cove.
My coordination is the first thing out the window,
when I am pregnant, so I sat a spell while Zac went exploring.
I was so tempted to cliff jump in, but pregnancy and no
David Hasselhoff in sight made me rethink that.  


Well, better late than never on this post...I blame pregnancy
and the fact that we moved  less then a month after
returning from this amazing little getaway!
It took my friend calling and asking about Big Sur
to remind me to write this.

I do hope everyone will be inspired to add a long weekend in
Big Sur, California to their must-do list!!!
xo.