16. Take a trip along CA-1.

On Friday, Sean asked me what I wanted to do this weekend. "Just hang out with you," I said. Well, he had far bigger and better plans. "How about we take a trip along highway 1?" "Yes!" It was spur of the moment and oh-so-fun. Here's a map of where we went...

From Davis to Monterey, to Morro Bay, to San Luis Obispo, to Morro Bay, to Sunnyvale, to Davis.
An estimated twelve hours of driving.

We got on highway 1 just south of Gilroy (the garlic town, you know)!
Hours of beautiful ocean to come.

We walked around Cannery Row in Monterey...

Just gorgeous.

Had lunch at Bubba Gump's -- Sean is a huge Forrest Gump fan and he totally dominated the trivia game!

We liked the quotes as you walked into and out of the restaurant.

In Monterey.

After winding our way back to the 1, we found this spectacular view.

We spent a lot of time taking in the views at Bixby Canyon Bridge -- Sean's favorite.
It is magical. 

A civil engineer and his favorite bridge.

Having a blast in the sun.

We stopped to see the elephant seals -- on the beach for birthing and mating season!
I loved watching them. They're very funny, interesting creatures.

Dude elephant seal shouting something of importance to the group.

Mamas fighting about babies.
One mama bit the other one's baby. Not cool.

Feeding time! The babies and mamas had cool barks to recognize each other.
I loved hearing the babies bark at their moms to roll over a bit more. 

<3 Seal love <3.

We made it to Morro Bay and relaxed for a few hours -- we were exhausted! Then Sean took me to San Luis Obispo for dinner. He found a place that was "very Natalie" called Big Sky Cafe. I had shrimp tacos (divine!) and Sean had a chicken and eggplant grilled cheese sandwich. For dessert we had a scrumptious apple crisp. SLO closed too early -- we were ready to hit the shops, so we walked around a bit before heading back to Morro Bay and crashing for the night.

We woke up the next morning and headed to the rock!

Morro Rock -- a HUGE rock in Morro Bay.
I loved watching the surfers ride the waves.

Rock!

We took CA-101 to Sunnyvale, to visit Sean's sister. It was beautiful as well, lots of agriculture. We stopped in Gilroy to check out the outlets (I scored a sweater for $3.75!) and found a delicious (dangerously delicious) hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Morgan Hill. It was fun to hang out with Sarah and G, and to see Maui and Hilo. We then headed back inland!

I am so glad I put this on my twenty-five before twenty-five list! Everyone should drive the 1. California truly is a magical place. I can't decide what my favorite part was... but I think it was the moment when we found ourselves singing at the top of our lungs about how nothing comes close to our golden coast.

:-)

Six down, nineteen to go!

1. Go backpacking.
2. Walk across the Golden Gate.
3. Have a gluten-free beer tasting. (I don't like beer! 12/17/11)
4. Take a midnight walk on the beach.
5. Make gluten free pasta.
6. Paint. (Painted Valentine art! 1/2/12)
7. Do an entire roll of instant film using strangers and subjects.
8. Make my own goat cheese.
9. Take the train to Reno.
10. Solve a Rubix cube.
11. Attend Midnight Mass.
12. Pick a pineapple in Hawaii.
13. Host a dinner party.
14. Lose 25 pounds.
15. Get my A1C below 7.5.
16. Take a trip along CA-1. (To San Luis Obispo! 1/7/12-1/8/12)
17. Make gluten free bagels.
18. Go on a Segway tour of San Francisco.
19. Snowshoe. (Whew! Exhausting and fun - 12/28/11)
20. Make my own amazing CrockPot recipe. (Spaghetti with veg and sausage! 12/19/11)
21. Camp in Yosemite.
22. Learn to and catch a fish.
23. Take a wok around Chinatown in Vancouver.
24. Make stained glass.
25. Embroider pillow cases.