July 17~23: Road trip, 1 of 2

So, I got back from Africa on July 8th and spent a week recovering. Spent time with family in Irvine and San Diego. Had that overnight to L.A. like I mentioned before. Hung out with Drew on the UCI ropes course and "caught up with life." Sewed some patches on my backpack (DONE finally!) and generally cleaned up my summer excursion. So, it was time to go back to Washington where the rest of my stuff was. And that required another road trip. However, this one was slightly different.

Instead of crashing on friends' couches along the way, I enlisted the help of lovely Michelle. She being as crazy as I am, chose to fly to California to help me with the arduous drive north. Turns out we had a pretty good time on the way and made it back to Washington over the course of the week- we took the 101 which is a route that I had never taken. So, adventure continued, even in America... the summer break just keeps going!

 Grapes and vineyards near Solvang

 Typical lunch on the road. Mmmm... fresh avocado and tomatoes... not to mention the various berries and other fruits along the way too!

 Eleanor (my eight year old car) getting her first action ON the beach... Oceano Dunes State Park just south of Pismo Beach on which you can actually drive. Mixed feelings about this place despite its being really pretty

 We stopped by the Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga angustirostris) just before hitting the Big Sur coast.

 HUGE animals

 Sunset over Big Sur from a secret camping location

 The next morning we stopped by Julia Pfeiffer State Park. In the distance we saw California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) and Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) eating something on the shore... probably a washed up seal. That was super cool and there were easily eight condors... that's a great sign!

Same as the place I stopped with Nick on the way down!