We took a week and drove Highway 1 which started out as both scary and incredibly beautiful then turned hazy from fires. This road is windy and speeds are slow but it was an incredible adventure.
We first stopped in Santa Barbara and enjoyed the beautiful view with a long walk by the ocean. We spent the night in San Luis Obispo and took a moderate hike in the morning. It had great views of the town below. It was good to get out and stretch our legs and the dogs love to hike, too!
On our drive we stopped to view the elephant seals. We even got to feel a seal skin that a naturalist volunteer was sharing. They are surprisingly scratchy.
In Monterey Bay, we observed monarch butterflies at a sanctuary. Apparently they winter here because of the warm climate. A naturalist was there to help us identify the bunches of butterflies clustered on the trees through a scope. Thank goodness he was there or else we probably would have missed the butterflies all together. There are fewer and fewer monarchs who migrate here every year. We did see some floating around the trees.
We continued up Highway 1 where the smog and smoke from the fires made the drive a little less scenic but still beautiful. Half Moon Bay was our stopping point for the night. We got to take a swim in the local pool before heading in to San Francisco.
San Francisco was covered in an eerie haze and everyone was wearing a breathing mask. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge was creepy as you could barely make out any scenery around us. We decided to continue our trip North in the hope that the air would clear further up the road. It looks foggy but makes it really hard to breathe.
Our trip North was slow going because the roads continued to be windy and steep. The beautiful views are a distraction for drivers but totally worth it. We stopped in Point Arena and Fort Bragg and noticed the air wasn’t any less hazy.
In MacKerricher State Park, we finally saw starfish in the tide pools, along with many other amazing creatures. We have been diligently searching for starfish and paying attention to tide schedules all the way up the coast.
Our last day before heading back south was spent in Redwoods National & State Parks walking among the trees. They are incredibly tall – much taller than the trees we saw in Sequoia earlier this summer. They were so much more impressive mainly due to their height but also the sheer number of them. The groves went on and on. Walking among them made us feel like we were in Jurassic Park because most of the undergrowth was thick ferns. We spent the day hiking and admiring these beauties and then drove back down through the Avenue of the Giants. Being in these woods brings a deep sense of calm. We are so glad we made this a part of our trip.
We journeyed back through the smoke and haze down the 101 this time. This road is much more manageable than the 1 but not as beautiful. We stopped at many ocean scenic areas and played a couple of games of Kubb -Brad won every time! We made our way back to San Diego to celebrate Thanksgiving with our cousins.
We spent the weekend in and around San Diego enjoying lots of delicious food and many miles beside the ocean at low tide. 
Libby’s cousin lives in Phoenix so we spent Halloween night with her and Joy and their 3 dogs. We ordered Chinese food and hid from the Trick-or-treaters. It would have been a mad house to try and hand out candy with 5 barking dogs.
These are Libby’s aunts and uncles (and dad) who were able to attend Aunt Katie’s service. 
We also got a tour of Warner Bros’ Studio with Libby’s cousins.We were even sorted by the hat from Harry Potter! 
We got to go to the beach and find sand dollars – both alive and dead. Don’t worry – we threw the alive ones back. We saw the Hollywood sign through smoke. We went to the La Brea tar pits and discovered that there is still asphalt oozing up from the ground. There is a beautiful park there that the dogs loved exploring.
We had dinner with Aunt Mary Jo, Amanda, Will and Keegan. We also got to go for a bike ride along the ocean from Hermosa Beach to Playa Del Rey. As busy and crowded as LA is, we really loved our visit to this quirky place. 
We even got to have lunch at Home Girl Cafe on our way out of town. This is a social enterprise project of Home Boy Industries. They take former gang members and those recently released from prison and help them become productive members of society through a cafe and baking program.
FootLoose Founders 