Tuesday, October 28, 2014

California Dreaming

Blog friends! I'm sure you thought I died, or even worse--fell off the blogging bandwagon. I didn't. I simply had a busy few weeks followed by a trip to California! Typically I share projects, DIY's, fun facts, etc. on this little site of mine, but this trip to the Golden State was too good to keep to myself. Of course, I still believe in learning, so I'll share some snapshots and a few facts, too.

We flew in to SFO (aka the San Francisco airport), stopped by Fisherman's Wharf to see what all the fuss was about, and headed up to Napa to spend the night. Thus begins the list:

10 Things I Learned in The Golden State

10. The Napa Valley is one of the oldest and best-known areas for wine production. I learned a lot here, like that the vines have to be about three years old before producing useful grapes, and there are between 500 and 600 grapes in a bottle of wine.

9. Animals are cute. But I guess we already knew that, huh.

8. Over 250 million people visit California annually, so it is considered the most visited state in the U.S. I figured this photo would illustrate that the best (*cue laughter*).

After we left Napa, we started our drive down the coast. We drove down Highway 1 and stopped in some of the little (and big) towns in between San Francisco and L.A.

Pebble Beach (above) and Big Sur (below) are two of those take-your-breath-away spots along the coast of Highway 1.

7. Big Sur was initially connected to the rest of California through the construction of Route 56 in 1919. The highway was built with the help of unskilled convicts and locals, including John Steinbeck (no wonder he was continuously inspired to write good stuff). The road was incorporated as Highway 1 in 1939.

6. Stuff like this grows along the coast. But I'm not really sure what this is, so… Learning fail.

5. If you take the 5, it's about 380 miles between S.F. and L.A. If you take the scenic route and stop anywhere and everywhere in between, go up to Napa, go down to L.A., go everywhere in between… You'll put about 1,500 miles on your rental car. But don't quote me on that.

This would also be the part where I talked about how great L.A. was, but I was so busy spending time with friends that I didn't take any photos. I'm only a little mad about it.

4. Sunsets are even more gorgeous when reflected in the ocean.

3. We saw seals. I may or may not have screamed. According to the E-Seal Newsletter I picked up, males can grow up to 5,000 lbs, and they battle for breeding rights for up to 100 days without food or water. So.. I'm not really sure how they make it up to 5,000 lbs without eating a little In-N-Out.

2. The Golden Gate Bridge is considered by some to be one of 7 Wonders of the Modern World, and it is painted International Orange. An estimated 5,000 - 10,000 gallons of paint are used each year to keep the bridge lookin' fresh. While incredible, the bridge is also home to more suicides than any other location in the world. The Bridge Rail Foundation is looking to do something to change this statistic.