Life is a highway

For the second phase of our northern California vacation, we drove from wine country to the coast and spent two days cruising up and down Highway One.  The drive was beautiful but we were glad that we didn't drop the extra moola for the convertible because it was quite chilly and intermittently rainy. 

Our first stop was for a picnic and some hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore and Lighthouse

And yes the hike back up from the lighthouse was a little painful

The fresh air (and lack of a baby monitor) added up to a great nights sleep with the ocean crashing in the background from our room at the Bodega Bay inn. The next morning after probably the best breakfast I've ever eaten (Salmon eggs benedict in the old logging town now turned hippe hot spot Occidental) we set out to marvel at the redwoods in the Armstrong Grove.  It was raining so we pretty much had the place to ourselves but unfortunately it meant the pictures also didn't come out great.  Given their size though I think it would be hard to capture in a photo how amazing these trees are in person. 

We spent the rest of that day and all of the next driving up and down Highway One chatting, singing to the radio and stopping wherever looked interesting. 

For the way back to the inn, we opted to drive back in over the mountains and despite another slow and curvy drive, we were treated to some amazing views. 

We topped off the this part of our vacation with the best meal of the entire trip at Barn Diva, a farm to table restaurant in Healdsburg.  Scott and I still talk about this place and how amazing his steak and my lobster risotto were and the cucumber martini is definitely worth a return trip.  

By this point we were definitely missing the munchkin but thankfully Nana kept us updated with daily pictures so it was on to San Francisco.