The Annual Central Coast Vacation: Day 1

We're on vacation.

This is our 4th year vacationing on California's central coast.

It's become a tradition.

We stay at the same place--a little, 1 bedroom, historic, red, log cabin.

The cabin used to be on William Randolf Heart's property.

We can walk to the beach, to the forest, and downtown Cambria.

There are amazing places to hike, Big Sur and redwoods to visit, incredible fish tacos, and lots of fantastic farmer's markets.

We love it here.

There is something very sweet about returning to the same place year after year.

There are so many favorite things to look forward to doing again.

But there are still new things to discover too.

The drive up though, is all about tradition.

#1.  

We always intend to get a really early start.

We always leave later than we intend to.

We always get stuck in the nasty LA traffic.

See it out the back window?

#2
Thankfully it never lasts long and as soon as we hit this spot, we feel like we're really on our way.

#3
And when we hit this spot, and the vistas open up to the waves and hills, we really feel like we're leaving everything behind.
We smile.
A lot.

#4

We always stop at Sambos for breakfast.

This is Davy's first time on the trip.

Well, he was along last year, but he was only the size of a grain of rice--or smaller.

All the kids love Sambos.

Davy fit right in.

#5

We walk around Santa Barbara a bit to stretch our legs.

Sometimes we walk all the way to the pier.

Or we just take pictures on the wall and enjoy the view.

It was so sunny and gorgeous this morning.

#6

The 2nd half of the drive goes by pretty fast and we arrive in Cambria by early afternoon.

We open the cabin and inhale it's special scent.

Then we head down to the beach.

And no matter how sunny it's been all day, the late afternoon fog rolls in and it gets dark, windy and cold.

But we don't care.

It's just a drive, but it's part of the adventure.

We always listen to audio books.

This year we are listening to The Wind and the Willows.

(downloaded for free here)

It's great.

But be forewarned.

Your 5 year old will definitely pick up on the best statements made by Ratty, Mole and Toad.  
And you'll probably hear him repeat, "now don't be an ass!" in a fabulous British accent.

I suppose we'll have to tell him that isn't OK here in the states.

But it does sound pretty funny.

We also saw more hawks than we can count, and our first golden eagle.

He flew right across the road in front of us.

Amazing.

We can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for us.

You can head over to Picnics in the Park to see some great vintage signs we found on the road today.

And come back Thursday for a fun surprise.

See you then.

Love from,

Greta