Memorial Weekend Road Trip Up the Coast

Posted by Chandra May 28, 2019

Memorial Weekend Road Trip Up the Coast

I've been itching to take this road trip up the coast so Tanner and I agreed that Memorial Day Weekend would be the perfect time! We didn't leave until Sunday because Bob and Lisa invited us out to dinner on Saturday and we didn't want to miss that. They took us to the Balboa Bay Club (members only dining room- total VIP) Dinner was delicious and it was so nice chatting with Bob and Lisa and gleaning some wisdom from them. They are the salt of the Earth.

Leaving Sunday morning meant we had no traffic, though, which was awesome! Our first stop was in Santa Barbara. We ate tacos at East Beach Tacos and hit balls in the batting cages. It was so fun and a great stop! It was raining off and on and it was a total bummer when we got to San Luis Obispo and it was POURING. Our treat for this stop was to chew some gum and stick it in Bubble Gum Ally. Well, to make this happen we had to RUN from the car to the ally and back and by the time we were done we were cold and soaked! Moving on, we stopped in sunny San Simeon to see the elephant seals and Ella LOVED it! She ran around and giggled at the magnificent beasts and thought the whole beach was amazing. We took the Hwy 1 up through Big Sur and stopped at McWay Falls which is my favorite hidden gem. We stopped at Big Sur Taphouse for sandwiches and the best chocolate chip cookies ever, ate outside, and then jumped back into the car for our final stretch up to San Carlos where we were staying. We used Marriott points and the room was great for us! Everyone slept great!

The next morning, though, it was clear that Parker wasn't feeling well at all so I took him to the Urgent Care. Sure enough, he was diagnosed with strep throat. It took a good chunk of our morning getting him situated with his antibiotic and stuff but I'm glad we got him seen. He was miserable. He couldn't eat or drink or talk and even threw up! He was a total trooper, for sure.

We grabbed some In-N-Out and took the most beautiful scenic route to Big Basin along Skyline Blvd. I'm so glad Sean told us the way to go because it did NOT disappoint. The road was definitely twisty but the views could not be beat. The trees were unbelievable. We drove through several State Parks before landing in Big basin and are anxious to go back someday and explore more! We lucked out on a PERFECT parking spot and took the easy yet magnificent Redwood Trail and explored the giant, ancient trees. Rayleigh was in heaven with all the climbing and exploring! It was definitely the highlight of the trip.

From there, we cruised down to Santa Cruz and met up with my Aunt Kaylynne, Uncle Dick, cousin Brady and Sean and his wife Shara! We checked out Sean's boat and spent a few minutes chatting before heading to Upper Crust for some amazing pizza. Sean had never met Tanner and neither of us had met Shara so it was neat that Tanner could sit and talk with them over dinner. The kids were super duper tired by the end of dinner so I tried to keep them happy outside until it was time to go. Sean is the best and I love him so much!!!!!!!! Shara is a rad chick too! We stopped in Los Gatos for some dessert gelato and it was fun to show Tanner where I used to spend every Thanksgiving. Los Gatos is next level- their main street had an Apple Store, a William Sonoma, a Lulu Lemon... just to name a few. I guess I maybe wouldn't mind living there. ha ha

We all slept so good that night- I kinda love sleeping next to my little Ella Bella. Parker took a bed and Tanner and Jack shared, I shared with Ella and Rayleigh slept on the bed next to ours. The first morning, we all went down and got breakfast together and it was kind of a joke so the next morning I sent Tanner down to get food while I cleaned up and took a shower. After we checked out, we headed to Half Moon Bay for the most expensive bathroom break of all time. We accidentally double paid for the $20 valet. Doh! But the bathrooms WERE luxurious and we walked all the way down to the beautiful beach and found a cool little waterfall. And Rayleigh found a golf ball! (It's the little things...) We drove down to Carmel-by-the-Sea and picked out way too many sweet treats from the bakery. And guess what? Right next to the bakery was an Aaron Chang studio so we took the kids inside to admire his work and tell them how Auntie Cami used to model for him! I'd love to go back to Carmel with just Tanner and take it a bit slower- eat some yummy food and maybe renew our vows like the Bucketlist Family. ha ha jk

From Carmel we took the 101 to Pismo Beach and let the kids play at Dinosaur Caves Park. This park was awesome and Tanner took the kids on boosted board rides. It was a beautiful evening and the views were unparalleled! We wanted to stop by Chris Burkhard's studio but we didn't have time. We had to book it to Solvang for dinner because apparently the town shuts completely down at 8pm and there was only 1 restaurant open at 7:40pm when we got there. The food was so-so and the kids were not on their best behaviors so we sat in the way back but the staff was the friendliest I've ever encountered. Sooooo nice to us. Kindness matters and is very very under used!

It was a dark ride home that night and we were all exhausted when we got home but it was a good trip. We tried our best to not be on our phones and just BE together. I love my family!