Getting Away from it All

Life gets pretty busy sometimes (or most of the time, depending on what you have going on.) I don’t know about you, but I like to get away from it all, every now and then. A little respite from being busy and, unfortunately in today’s world, a break from all the bad news and tragic events.

For me these days, that place of escape is being on the water in a canoe.

No cares, no worries…and lots of beautiful scenery to look at. That “scenery” normally includes my wife 🙂 But, last night I took a solo journey out on the water. The photo above doesn’t do justice to the magnificent sunset, but gives you a glimpse at what I got to see out there.

It was very relaxing. There’s something about the feeling of just floating on top of the water, drifting along. Ah. Wonderful. Sunsets are a bonus out there, and they often have been quite spectacular for us in our various outings.

We try to get out to different places, and we go as often as it’s practical to do so. When it comes to these evening excursions, it seems that instantly whatever cares you have from the day just drift away as you set off on the adventure into nature. Great stress relief, and always time well spent.

What about you? What do you do to relax or get away from it all? Would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment, below!

Have a great day.

Cruisin’ California – Part 2

(A blog series on the adventures my wife and I enjoyed during our honeymoon.)

We woke up for the second day of our journey through California, feeling energized and ready to explore the coastline. First things first – breakfast. Enjoyed a good (free) meal at the hotel; we particularly enjoyed the variety of fruits and nuts available to make the morning yogurt quite a treat!

Off we went. As we made our way toward the ocean, we passed through a charming little town called Half Moon Bay. Half Wild West, half boutique is the best way I can describe the town. We loved it. My wife said she could live there, for sure. (This was just the beginning of our proclamations of potential future residency at the many towns and places we visited, during our trip.)

From there, we “officially” started the journey south, down Highway 1. It didn’t take long for us to find an amazing view – and for us to pull over to stop and stare at it.
This place was cool, and because random adventures are always a good thing, we (well, I) decided that climbing down the (very) steep and tall ravine to get down to the beach was a good idea.

Other than the fact that you needed a rope to keep you from sliding down the ravine at some points, it was a totally relaxing walk down to the sand. That dripping sound you hear is the sarcasm, rolling off of that last sentence. It was quite a descent.

After we made it down there, we saw another couple going through the same “discussion” halfway down, as to whether or not it was worth it to keep going. They opted against it. I told my wife I was proud of her for rocking it out and making it all the way. 🙂

One thing to point out about the first half of this trip is that the winds were rather strong. By that I mean, 25 mph sustained winds at times. It was crazy windy out there! The upside of that – huge waves, and some cool photos we wouldn’t have been able to get if it had been calm out there those days.

One of the best examples of that was our stop at Bean Hollow State Beach, a little turnoff just off of Highway 1. I really liked all of the jagged rocks out there and we found some other interesting looking ones while walking along the shore. As for the waves…oh, man they were amazing. What a great show. Free entertainment…so cool. Check out the slideshow, below!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We made our way to Santa Cruz that afternoon…

…and hit the wharf for some lunch with a view at Riva Fish House. It…was…delicious. Check out these fish tacos, and also the fried zucchini.

Never had the latter before, but am going to try to make it at home sometime. Meanwhile the fish was super tasty and the aioli was a nice touch, on the side. California was definitely living up to its reputation as the place to be for good fish tacos.

Said hello to a few sea otters, or seals, or whatever these guys were, hanging out by the pier. From there, it was off to Capitola, just down the road, where we stayed that night.

Our lodging for the evening was the Monarch Cove Inn. Cozy little bed and breakfast, with individual little buildings and rental units and some nice views of the Pacific. The town itself was a memorable sight, as seen (below) during our walk down from the B&B that evening. Only 84 steps down the hill to get there – and we didn’t even need ropes to climb down this time, haha.

It was a great day.

Don’t miss part three of this special series, featuring spectacular sights and scenes from 17-Mile Drive, a stop at one of the world’s most famous golf courses and an evening in Carmel. Much more to come!