Last summer my family and I went on a 7 week trip to California to visit family and go on a little road trip along the West coast up to Oregon. We flew into San Francisco and took the hour drive to Modesto where we have family. I spent the first few weeks of my time there lying by there pool catching up with family, drinking mango margaritas and indulging in some well needed chill time.
Oh, how I miss this
After two weeks of indulging in books, family and BBQ it was finally time to hit the road and embark upon a week long trip up the coast. We took two cars as there were so many of us, plugged in our iPod (The piano guys seemed to be a favourite among us) and hit the road.
My amazing cousin and I having a quick selfie moment in the car
First stop, San Francisco. This city has to be one of my favourites with its fresh air, food and of course shopping! We didn't have much time to browse the city due to our tight schedule but we were able to participate in a little shopping in Union Square and walk down to the pier for a bite to eat at Bubba Gumps (Highly recommend as is delicious). After stuffing our selves to the brim we rolled back to our cars and headed out the city. Last stop the Golden Gate Bridge. Theres something about driving over the golden gate bridge that is very exciting and almost magical.
San Fran never disappoints me with its individuality, perfect temperature and beautiful scenery. My only regret is not having the opportunity to visit Alcatraz. I just wish we had the time to stay a little longer.
After stopping off to take several snaps of the bridge we returned to the cars to continue up the coast. The next few days consisted of a lot of driving and I mean A LOT. This part all seemed a bit of a blur to me after having to take many travel sickness pills which made me feel very drowsy. I forced my eyes open as I didn't want to miss an inch of scenery but there came a point where I could no longer fight it and had to allow myself an involuntary nap.
But what I was awake for was truly beautiful. California you didn't disappoint with your rolling hills and tall trees. Here are a few of my favourite snaps from the road.
Just as I thought it couldn't get any more beautiful we arrived at Crater Lake National Park. And WOW what a lake this is! I have never seen a sight so beautiful in my life. The colour and sheer size of the lake mesmerised me. I just found myself staring and continuously taking photos. We had booked to stay 3 nights in a cabin at the National Park much to my relief of not having to return to the car for a few days. The first night we ate in a beautiful hotel restaurant called Lake Lodge Dining Room over looking the lake. Not only was the food delicious but the views from the balcony at sunset were incredible.
The next day we had booked to take a boat to Wizard Island (more like a very small mountain/Volcanic Cinder Cone to be percise) which was located within the lake itself.
I was definitely not prepared for what was about to happen. I probably should of researched into how long the boat trip was and how long we were left on the island for. It took about 15 minutes to walk down to where the boat was docked. We all put our life jackets on and scrambled onto our little boat and off we went.
It took about 20 minutes till we arrived on the island. When we arrived, the boat left and we all found a place to sit and had a lovely pic-nic consisting of sandwiches and snacks which was lovely. We were even joined by a few very brave chipmunks.
After our lunch had gone down, my dad and I decided to climb up Wizard Island. I love walking and will jump at any opportunity to go on a hike but today was hot, and I mean VERY hot. I was equipped with denim shorts, (probably the worst thing to wear when climbing in 35+ degrees) and my bottle of water (which I later dropped down the side of the mini mountain and was never to be seen again). I was relieved when we made it to the top and definitely glad I did it. After our hike we returned to the base and waited for our boat.
We all got back in the boat for the quick leisurely ride back dreaming of the shower and well needed nap I was going to have at the cabin. However, this was most defiantly not quick or that leisurely (all my own fault). We seemed to take the longest route back to the dock (around 90 minutes to be percise) in continuous beaming sun light, the temperature was creeping up, as was my thirst (really needing that bottle of water right about now). I was tired, sleepy and probably very smelly. Finally we arrived back after drifting in and out of sleep while sprawling myself over my dad.
We all got out the boat and then it occurred to me, how do we get back up to the ridge of the lake? We hike. I'm going to be honest, this was tough. The long steep winding path definitely didn't seem this long, steep or windy on the way down. When I finally made it to the top I was more than relieved. Now I look back on it, it was well worth it and I more than enjoyed the experience. I just wish had come a little more prepared, sun hat, walking shorts etc and hadn't dropped my water down the side of the mountain.
Our time at Crater Lake National Park very quickly drew to an end and it was time to return to the car and make our way home back to modesto. On the way home we tried to drive our car through the trunk of a tree (no it didn't fit).
This is the tree we almost got stuck in.
Two days of driving, more drowsy travel sickness pills and disorientation and we arrived home and my gosh was it good to be home! The next few days we had no plans (well I had no plans) until this happened. There I was lying by the pool reading my book when I hear an awful lot of commotion coming from the inside. I turn to see the back door open and I see way too many people walking into the garden. I was very confused and turned to my cousin and gave her the look of 'Er what the heck is going on' and then it clicked. I quickly turned my head back and there standing by the door was my boyfriend. He had secretly traveled over from the UK to suprise me and join my family on the rest of our holiday. This was most definitely the biggest and best suprise ever! I was totally shocked (A few tears may have been shed) and couldn't really believe what was going on. It took me at least 3 hours to understand what was going on.
After four weeks of being boyfriend-less this definitely happened at the right time and I was so excited to share my holiday with him. In a few days we had planned to travel up to Mammoth mountain to stay in a cabin for a few night and just hang out as a family.
On the way back home we took a slight detour through Yosemite National Park where we stopped on numerous occasions to take in the scenery.
A very Scenic Pyramid
We then arrived home where we would spend the next few days lying by the pool before it was time to board that plane home. This trip really opened my eyes up to the beauty of california and Oregon. By far my favourite stop was Crater Lake and I would go back in a heart beat.
I had the best few weeks with the best people!
♥
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