beautiful views, delicious food

i go hiking pretty often, probably average one 3.5 mile hike about once a week.  or i will at least go on the elliptical.  i'd say im in okay shape.  good enough to do a hike described as moderate to strenuous.  i'd hiked mt. whitney when i was in high school, so i thought "hey, 8 mile loop?  NBD."  maybe i was a little be ambitious.

the 8-mile loop at andrew molera state park is actually 3 trails combined - starting with the ridge trail, then the panaroma trail, finishing with the bluffs trail.  we did the whole hike, and i'd totally recommend the hike, but if i were to do it again i might do a few things differently.  like wear pants.  and better shoes.

the ridge trail - lots of uphill.  beautiful views and you get some shade from some huge redwood trees, but the uphill part was hard.  like the hardest part of debs park times 10. 

once you get to the end of the ridge trail you have a beautiful view as a reward!

the problem with traveling as a couple - you rarely have pictures together.  we set the timer and put the camera on a bench for this. 

and then you start the panorama trail.  by the name of it you'd probably say that this hike would offer amazing views.  and it does.  it also offers the best chance to get poison oak since the trail is overgrown for quite a while.  and i'm talking so overgrown that at some points i wasn't sure if we were actually on a trail or just walking through bushes.  i'd invest in some of those awesome pants-that-zip-into-shorts deals (nerd alert!) if i was gonna do this hike again.  i probably spent more time staring at the trail trying to avoid poison oak than taking in the beautiful panoramic view (but i did get some lovely pictures none the less!).

view from the panorama trail

california condor - an severely endangered species, but i probably saw about 8 the entire trip!

the bluffs trail - the easiest trail of the three with some great coastal views.  in fact i would say this is a SUPER easy hike.  but then we did it at the end of the uphill ridge trail and overgrown panorama trail so maybe it just seemed a lot easier.  i'd also say this trail is shorts approved, with very little poison oak.

head to toe lululemon, its addicting - cool racerback, power within short

after the 8 miles my knee was throbbing with pain, i probably need real hiking shoes.  we ate our picnic lunch in the shade and then right back to the cabin and into the the shower to wash off any chance of poison oak.  so far i haven't seen any (whoo).  we took naps and then went to dinner at nepenthe, which has just as beautiful views as the hikes with basically no effort and you can eat amazingly delicious food.   we got there just in time for sunset, and even with the fog rolling in it was beautiful!  

madewell cardigan, iris basic dress, american apparel pouch, diy vanessa mooney necklace 

after waiting like an hour for a table (which was okay since we were like zombies from the hike) we sat down an amazing meal on the outside patio. 

laura chenel goat cheese with whole roasted garlic

house salad with the house blue cheese dressing.  so yummy!

rib eye steak with chimichurri sauce and garlic mashed potatoes

we ended the night back at the campfire with wine and smores.  such a good weekend that went by way too fast.  i think i could have had one more day - maybe to just get an inner tube and float down the river.  next time!   

smores & seals

back from my little trip up the coast to big sur, which now seems like it was way to short.  also the worst part of a vacation is coming home - you have to unpack, do laundry, go back to work.  i'm already ready for my next trip!

anywayyyy, we stayed in a little sur cabin at glen oaks big sur which was pretty nice (with the exception of a little electrical problem - it was fixed the next day).  we had our own little campfire, a kitchenette, and the bathroom had heated floors - AMAZING.  after the long drive up (gps in the prius took us a weird way, i think it added about an hour to the trip) we spent thursday night hanging out at our cabin/campfire making smores and drinking wine.   

the coast from cambria to marin is the monterey bay national marine sanctuary, so the boyfriend and i drove up to point lobos to see some marine life.  i was hoping too see a whale or otter but we only saw seals (and a ground squirrel).  it was really beautiful and a nice walk.

madewell top, jbrand jeans, birkenstocks, raybans

after a nap at the cabin we went to a generic shopping center in monterey so i could see the final harry potter movie on the first day.  so happy the boyfriend was okay with adding this to the trip.  i couldn't not see the last film on the first day (i'd planned trip with out realizing what weekend it was) and harry potter is kinda a big deal for me.

more pics from the rest of the trip coming soon!

the greatest meeting of land & sea

the boyfriend and i are heading up the coast for a little vacation to beautiful big sur.  i going to try hard NOT to blog so it will feel more like a real vacation, but i will probably be uploading photos so make sure you follow me on instagram (stylextraordinaire) or twitter!

hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and if you are staying in LA avoid the freeways at all costs!!  vacation time!

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