5 more months of giving

5. Make a once a month donation to an organization that could use it - DONE!

Six months ago, I checked in with where I was in my progress on #5.  Now that I'm in the home stretch of this 30 Before 30 project, and I'm cramming in all of my back posts that I've been too lazy to blog I'm catching up on some posts from the past, I though it would be a good time to check in and document some of the worthy organizations Sadira and I have chosen to support the second half of this year.

And Lord knows, there hasn't been any shortage of tragedy and need over the past few months, geesh.  Mother Nature, can you give us a break already?!

To pick up where I left off, a recap of the past five months (I'm leaving out June purposefully...for now):

January - January is National Blood Donor Month, and the Red Cross made it easier than ever to give blood.  They regularly come to my office (we are a health services company, afterall...), but this time they sent me a letter detailing all of the places their mobile units would be located conducting blood drives during the month of January.  Conveniently for me, there was one just a mile from my office in Columbia.  I was able to run over during my lunch break, make a donation, and be back in time for my afternoon meetings.  There are countless reasons to give blood, and I'm sure we've all heard them, including how many people can be helped with just one blood donation.  If those reasons aren't enough, read Sydney's story and do it for her.
 
February - Out with the old, and in with the new. Following the Christmas 'splosion of new clothes, it was time to move some of the old out. I had several large trash bags of clothes (both mine and Sadira's) ready for donation. Planet Aid is an awesome organization that recycles clothes, and provides them to people all over the globe who need them as a result of war, natural disasters, you name it. They are also big on protecting the environment and are very environmentally conscious, which is a plus in my book. The best part? They have these awesome donation bins located in several spots throughout Baltimore, and a few in Columbia, where I work. Seriously, could not be easier to donate. Check their website to see if there are bins in your area.

May (yup, I'm going out of order) - In May we participated in the NAMI walks annual fundraiser. NAMI stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness, and my office always is a corporate fundraiser.  I served on the fund raising team for the second year, this year, and Sadira and I walked at the end of May, with funds going to support educated and services for mental illness.

March - March was memorable.  This cannot be said in one concise paragraph.  This is going to take some time to explain.
 
On March 8th I arrived home after our marathon Hawaii/California adventure.  I wasn't home for long though, because I had plans to head north to Connecticut for my friend Shannon's wedding reception, on March 11th.  Very late in the night on March 10th, I was finishing up some laundry to pack for our brief trip up north when I happened to notice a Twitter post that a monster 8.9 earthquake had just rocked Japan.  
 
I turned on CNN as they were showing live footage of the subsequent tsunami.  I don't know how late I was up that night, but it was late.  I just watched as the water hit the coastline, pushing whole homes along like they were dollhouses.
 
As much as I think modern technology helps to keep our world connected, there was something very haunting that night as I watched people's homes disappear.  Voyeuristic, almost.  Like I was watching something I had no business watching.  Presumably, I watched the tsunami as it took people's lives.  Live on television, I watched, with the many other people around the world, as  Japan's eastern coastline disappeared.
 
Moments like that make me hate technology.
 
I thought about my friend Deirdre and her husband, who are stationed in Japan, and all of the children she teaches at her job, who's smiling faces I see on my Facebook newsfeed.  Was she okay?  How far east is she located?  Was she at work when the earthquake struck?  I didn't know.
 
I thought about my friend Rie, whom I hadn't spoken to in over a year, but it doesn't matter, because she's one of those friends who you just pick up the phone and it's like no time has passed.  Last time we spoke she was working in Toyota City.  Was she still there?  Had she moved?  If she moved, was she now in one of the areas affected?  I didn't know.
 



Rie and me, 2005

 
I thought about my other friends in Japan, whom I hadn't spoke to since college but were still on my mind...Aiko, Anna, Yumiko, Naoko.  Were they okay?  Were their families okay?  I didn't know.
 
I felt helpless.
 
I hate feeling helpless.
 
I had to go to bed.  It was almost 4am and I had to be on a bus at 7:40am.
 
I went to bed sick with worry for my friends in Japan.  I woke up sick with worry for my friends in Hawaii.
 
The tsunami was moving eastward, set to hit land sometime that Friday morning.  The experts weren't sure with what kind of velocity it would hit the islands.  I watched footage being broadcasted directly from Ka'anapali, exactly where I had been with my friends Donna and Jamie just two weeks earlier. 
 
I stalked their Facebook statuses.  Jamie was in California for business, Donna was heading back to the hospital (she's the "emergencies gal" so she had to be there).  I knew that if anything, she was safest at the hospital, further inland. 
 
I stalked my friend Emanuelle's Facebook.  She had only moved out there in November and admitted she was nervous and wasn't sure what to do.  She kept us posted.
 
Moments like that make me love technology.
 
I stayed glued to Facebook, and CNN...until the very last second when I had to leave.  I almost missed my bus.
 
Fortunately the bus had Wi-Fi.  Everyone was connected.  Everyone was glued.  All 80 people on the bus shared information as it was received.
 
Then the news came that Hawaii was okay.  They didn't get hit.  The tsunami had lessened as it traveled across the Pacific, losing steam by the time it hit the Hawaiian Islands, and everyone was safe.
 
As we all know, Japan was not as fortunate, and the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami would be played out in the news for weeks to come.
 
I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what.  Helping in an international crisis is much more difficult than when it's in your own backyard.  I heard that one of the Baltimore Ravens, Haruki Nakamuri (one of my faves!!!) was organizing an event to raise money for Japan relief.  Fans were invited to Ripken Stadium, and for several difference dollar amounts, could have their Ravens gear signed by several different players.
 
Perfect! 
 
I made plans to go with my friend Amanda.
 
But the day of, it was rainy and very cold outside, and her son Mason, is still an itty bitty baby.  So we decided to call it off.
 
But my donation still made it.  I may not have been able to get my jersey signed that day, but I was still able to make a donation through Haruki's fundraiser.
 
Oh, and in case you're wondering, all of my friends in Japan are safe and accounted for.  Thank the Lord.
 
 
I have more to say about charity on an international level...but I'll save that for another blog post.
 
 
April - The last week of April 2011 will go down in history as the most deadly string of tornadoes in the United States since 1925.  It felt like every time I turned on the TV, or the radio, or Facebook, or the internet, there was a tornado warning in another state.  More footage of damage.  More devastation. Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Illinois...the list went on and on.  Six hundred and seventy-seven tornadoes in the month of April alone!

Very rarely does the opportunity to give land directly in your lap, but I was lucky in April, it did.  My friend Melissa (who is also a fellow couponer!) sent me a message, saying that Dot (our friend Kelly's mom) was collecting items to send to Alabama, where her son lives.  Apparently she knew some people down there who had lost just about everything and they were pulling together items to send down to the community.  Done deal, this was easy.

With my huge stash of items that I'm gotten for free or nearly free from couponing, I was able to pull together a big box of toiletries, baby items and household cleaning supplies in no time.  Sadira helped me.  Here's the stash we were able to pull together to donate to the folks in Alabama:

The best moment came when we going through our upstairs stash, deciding what to donate, when I saw Sadie looking at some kid's Dora toothbrushes we had in her stash...one was pink and one was purple, both her favorite colors.  I was ready for her to give me a song and dance as to why she didn't want to give them up.  So I said to her, (knowing that the family we were helping had a little girl), "why don't you pick one to keep, and one to give away to a little girl in Alabama?"

She looked at me square in the eyes, "No, mommy."

I thought for a second about what I was going to say.  I wanted to choose my words carefully, because I certainly don't want to FORCE her to give, I want her to grow up and WANT to give...how do I say this?  Talk about what happened? Talk about what it would feel like to lose our home?

Before I could respond, she said, "No Mommy, I don't need to keep one.  I already have one.  Let's send both of these.  And give them to TWO little girls in Alabama!"


!!!!

I don't know what I said in reply.  Probably something like, "that's a great idea," and "I'm so proud of you, honey." But I really don't know.  I was blown away that this little tiny girl was so willing to give away something of hers, something that I knew she LOVED, and I felt like my heart was exploding.

And I didn't even realize I had gotten all teary eyed, until her sarcastic smart-ass side came out and as she quizzically studied my face she said, "what the heck you cryin' for Mommy?"


"Nothing, Sade.  I'm just crying cause I love you so much."

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better late than never, right?

Those are Earth Day cookies...DUH!

6. Plant a tree on Earth Day. - DONE!

What?  What's that you say?  Earth Day was like 55 days ago?

I know, I know.  I'm horribly behind in my blogging...so in true Mirjafary form, I've procrastinated, waited til the last minute and now it's the final countdown.  (Not gonna lie, you probably don't want to click that link, haha! Don't say I didn't warn you...)

So waaaaaaay back in mid-April Sadira and I were really looking forward to Earth Day, because Oregon Ridge Nature Center was having a HUUUGE Earth Day celebration with tons of family activities including....a tree plant!  Perfect, right?  Great way to cross #6 off the list.

But remember how we had that perfectly planned out camping trip, and ended up having to change our plans at that last minute?  Well, that's pretty much the story of my life.  I make plans, and God laughs. 

So OF COURSE things didn't work out the way I planned them...meaning on the day of Earth Day it was freezing cold.  And pouring. 

Thanks Mother Earth.

So we opted for an indoor celebration of Earth day, and planted some spring flowers instead.  It was our Earth Day compromise. 

We had to do the actual "planting" inside because it was so cold out.

 

Grumpy face because it was FREEZING and RAINY out there!

In the meantime, I was gifted not one, not two, but THREE trees to plant on my own.  One was a red maple (which I gave to a neighbor), another was a magnolia (which is in a sad state of affairs on my porch), and the third was a plumeria stalk brought directly from Hawaii by my friend Donna.

I have yet to find "mostly sandy soil" in Baltimore in which to plant the plumeria.

About two weeks later our Earth Day celebration at Oregon Ridge was rescheduled.  We got out there annndddd.....my camera battery was dead.  Booo.  But we did get to plant a tree.  Sadira picked out a tree with pink flowering leaves (no surprise there).  I'm not sure what exactly it is, maybe a dogwood? 

We learned that there is a proper way to plant a tree, and that trees need to be planted no deeper than the soil they were previously in, and wide enough to allow the roots to expand and grow.  You also have to include a soil pedestal where the tree will sit, with a little drainage ditch around it, so it doesn't essentially drown itself. 

Who would've known?

Anyway, a few weeks later, we were back in the area to attend a birthday party, and I DID have my camera.  So we drove through the area where the tree had been planted, and found it (umm, at least, I'm pretty sure this one was ours...).  Looks like someone added a cute little support fence around it, because we definitely didn't do that.

Happy Earth Day 55 days belated!!!

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a-camping we will go..

 

8. Go camping. Suck it up and do it. - DONE!

Look at my kiddo up there.  All covered in mud.  And that was the BEGINNING of our camping expedition!  THUMP! Did you hear that "thump?"  That's the sound of my friend Lindz somewhere in Georgia falling over dead at the sight of that mess.  Quick!  Someone resuscitate her!! ;)

The last time I went camping was Girl Scout camp, circa 1990.  I'm not even sure if I made it through a whole night before calling my mom to come pick me up.  And even them we didn't sleep outdoors.  We slept in sleeping bags on cots in a little bungalow.  

Seriously.  I don't even know how that counted toward a badge, but whatevs.

So my dear friends Erika and TJ offered to help me knock #8 off my list, and I'm so glad they did, because I would've been COMPLETELY CLUELESS without them.

Erika had camped before, had all of the supplies (whatever those may be) and even knew of a great campsite.  She sent me the link for the campsite, and I have to admit, even to my untrained eye, it looked pretty awesome.  Sprawling land with forests thick with the Appalachian Trail, a giant sparkling lake, and the best part---there were bathrooms!! Score.  I'm in.

So we picked a weekend, and made our plans.  I had NOTHING to bring, no tent, no sleeping bag, no air mattress.  When I say "camping clueless" I really mean I-would-never-even-consider-going-camping-because-if-I'm-going-away-from-home-I'm-staying-somewhere-nice-dammit.

It's truly not even something I'd consider doing, that's how foreign it is to me.  I put it on the list because I found myself as an adult saying, "I hate camping!" and then people would say, "well, have you ever really gone camping?" and the answer would be "well, this one time a Girl Scout camp..."

Then someone would make a bad "American Pie" joke, and it would all go downhill from there.

Sigh.

I needed to prove that my hatred for camping was based on proof.  I had to experience this firsthand and draw my own conclusions.

I say this begrudgingly.

Anyway, so the blessed day arrives, and we're on our way out to the campsite.  I will admit, I was actually a teeny tiny bit....excited.  And as we approach the campsite, it's looking pretty cool.  Erika and TJ were a few miles ahead of me, so as I pull into the park, I'm getting more and more excited.

That is until I see a sign that say, "CAMPGROUND FULL."

Shit.

The campground's full.

Apparently it was "National Take a Walk in a National Park Day" and that was why the campground was full.  Seriously.  This kind of stuff only happens to me.  It's unreal.

I find Erika and TJ, and Erika's already on the phone calling around to other sites.  I swear, SHE should've been the Girl Scout.  There was no option for NOT camping, especially cause we were fully packed and the kids were AMPED up.  So we finally get through to another one of the sites.  It's only 10 miles away, they have space available for us, and it's conveniently located on the Antietam Battlefield.  Awesome.

So we drive over there, pay for our spot, and find our campsite.

Let me just say this.  If our campsite pick #1 was the Four Seasons of campgrounds, then this runner-up was definitely the Econolodge.  It was...a tight squeeze to say the least.  And muddy.

Really really really really muddy.

Here's our mud puddle campsite before we set up shop:

That may look like dirt, but it's not.  It's mud.

We're all pretty adaptable and decided to roll with the punches.  Erika compared it to tailgating in the rain...you just have to accept it in order to have fun.  We all accepted the fact that we were gonna be a muddy mess by the end of adventure, and started setting up the tent.

A word about the tent.  Here is the tent before:

During the set up process:

(Sadie and TJ taking a break, bonding over Angry Birds):

 

The final tent:

 

I have to talk about this tent.  It was absolutely majestic.  It was like the Hilton of tents.  In fact is was so amazing that I dubbed it "the Hiltent" for the weekend.  

Let's talk about the Hiltent.  

It had FOUR rooms. Seriously.  The Hiltent may or may not have had more square footage than the first floor of my house.  A portion of it was actually called "the atrium."  The directions even said that, "use the long pole while erecting the atrium."

(SIDE BAR: I love using the word erect or erecting in casual conversation.  Just goes back to my fifth grade boy sense of humor.  You're welcome!)

:)

So once the Hiltent, with it's atrium and mutiple vestibules, was finished, and successfully erected (giggle, giggle) we decided to kick back and relax, and do whatever it is that people do when they are camping.  We ended up taking a tour of all of the campgrounds "amenities."

We looked at the creek:

We played in the "Kids Kabin:"

 

We swung on a tire swing:

 

We played on the slides...take a look at these muddy, muddy children (Sadie on left, Zane on right):

 

We played tether ball, the world's DORKIEST GAME EVER:

 

There was a pretty hilarious moment during a particularly heated tether ball game.  It ended with *someone* (who shall not be named) laughing so hard she peed her pants and said, "That's what I get for never doing my Kegels."

Hilarious!!!!!!!

We hung out down by the creek more:

 

Made ice cream in THE ONLY piece of camping equipment I brought---an ice cream maker!

 

It was actually crazy good.  I will use that thing at home and make homemade ice cream whenever I want.  Easy and delicious!

At one point Erika asked what time it was.  It felt as if we had been there for days.

We had only been there for two hours.

We decided we discovered the secret to making sure our kids don't grow up too fast.  We always find ourselves saying, "time is flying! They're growing so fast!"

Just take your kids camping.  Time will pass veeerrrryyy slowly.  Ha.

But that's just fine, when you get to spend time with cute faces like these:

(Please excuse my total lack of make-up.  Guess I was going for that au naturale Susan B. Anthony pioneer woman look):

 

Though I have to admit, lounging in the Hiltent, with the cool breeze and the sun shining WAS pretty awesome...

and the kiddos LOVED jumping from one air mattress to another.

Sadie and Zane.  They are cut from the same cloth.  Zane IS Sadie.  It's nuts how they have the exact same personality.  She loves him.  But then again, how can you not?  It's super sweet.

Pretty soon it was dinnertime.  TJ got started on the fire, but ultimately got some good help from our neighbors to the right.  See that white canopy?  Yeah, those were our neighbors.  We could practically reach out and touch them. ;)

Well, what were you expecting, the FOUR SEASONS?! 

We soon discovered one of the benefits of our Econolodge campground...the daily tractor ride around the lot campground!

Here we are on the tractor.  I'd like to add that neither Zane nor Titus had pants on.  And I don't believe Sadira had shoes on.  We were going for the full hillbilly experience.

(Again, don't run in fear at my lack of make-up):

Oh, and did I mention Santa just happened to be camping with us? It was him.  He was even kind enough to let Sadie and Titus unleash their 2011 Christmas lists, and gave them an update on Mrs. Claus and the Reindeer.

Who knew that during the off season Santa enjoyed steamed crabs and camping in Western Maryland?

Erika made dinner over the fire. I'm not sure how much cooking versus charring was going on, but I will say she did a helluva better job than either TJ or myself could do.

And Sadie loved it.

Then it was s'more time.  YUMMMMM....

(Hey Lindz, look at Zane's feet. I dare you.  I triple dog dare you!)

Not too long after that, we decided it was time to get the kiddos ready for bed, so we could enjoy our camping experience by sitting around the campfire, drinking and telling stories not appropriate for toddler ears.

Yeah!

As we were getting the kids settled in to bed (a difficult task, since they were impressed with the Hiltent too), I pulled out the super-appropriate bedtime reading material we had decided to bring along--Curious George Goes Camping.   Everyone was enjoying themselves, and we were just getting to the part where Curious Geroge saves the campground from certain destruction by forest fire, when I look up and see a GIANT SPIDER ON THE INSIDE WALL OF THE HILTENT, JUST INCHES ABOVE SADIRA'S HEAD.

Please refer to this post for my feelings on spiders.

Then Erika and I did what anyone in our position would do.  We stayed calm just long enough to grab the kids out of bed, and yank them by their arms into our laps on the other side of the tent, all the while saying, (calmly but with a sense of urgency) "comeherecomherecomeherecomeherecomehere!!!!" and then the minute we had them, start screaming like little girls for TJ to come save us.

Erika had the flashlight firmly fixed on that arachnid, and I kid you not, it was like this big:

From here <-------------------------------------------------------------------------> To here.

I may be exaggerating, I've been known to do so, but I don't think I am.  Homeboy was HUGE.  And all I kept thinking about was how spiders with legs that long could move fast. 

Seriously dude, I get we're camping and all, but that spider was RIDIC. Didn't he know we were staying in the Hiltent??  Spiders are not welcome in the Hiltent!!!!!

(TJ removed the offender, and later even admitted that the thing was huge, and we were justly warranted for screaming like banshees.  Thanks TJ!)

That night as I got settled in my own air mattress (in the Hiltent's left wing), and realized that we were really were SLEEPING OUTSIDE for the WHOLE night, I got to thinking about wild animals, and bugs, and any other things that might make their way toward us.  But as I examined the flying buttresses of the Hiltent, I figured the liklihood of that happening was probably slim.

I guess us adults had enjoyed a little too much to drink, because we needed to make multiple trips outside the Hiltent to pop a squat.  And when you're in the middle of nature, things are much louder than they normally would be with the city noise.  At one point nature called Erika, and TJ so eloquently asked her if she was straddling the tent, since we could hear her so clearly.  Of course then I started laughing and couldn't fall back asleep.

Another point during the night I woke up FREEEZING.  Fortunately this was the one thing I had plan ahead for, and threw on a couple layers and grabbed an extra blanket.  I figured if I was freezing, Sadie would be an ice cube....however this is how I found her:

Looks pretty comfy, huh?  All she had on was a pair of PJ's and ONE blanket.  I, on the other had, had sweatpants, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and three blankets and was still shivering.  Unreal.

For comparison, here's Titus:

Erika and I had a few giggles at their expense. :)

The next morning inevitably arrived, and Baby Zane was the first to wake up.  An hour so later, the rest of the kids followed, which meant I had to wake up too. 

We had some breakfast:

Played in the Hiltent:

and thought about what we were going to do for the rest of the day.  Hiking?  Fishing?  Paddle boat down the creek?

Who am I kidding, we had the cars packed up and ready to go by 9:30am. Hahahaha. ;)

But all in all, it was a fun and very interesting experience.  Although I still don't think I'm the "camping type," it wasn't HORRIBLE, just not how I would choose to spend a weekend.  (There were some folks there who said they went camping there EVERY WEEK in the summer.  Could you imagine? EVERY WEEK? Nope, no thanks.)

Camping is something that I'd be willing to do maybe once a year, for a day or two.  It was definitely fun to do something different.  Though, if I ever go camping again, I would DEFINITELY have to go with Erika and TJ.  Having good friends along for the adventure made it 100% worth it.  I couldn't imagine how miserable it would be to be stuck outside in the mud with friends who didn't make the best of the situation.  Or rescue you from spiders.  Or char your dinner. ;)

And now that I've been camping in the Hiltent, I wouldn't be able to stay anywhere less. ;)

And let me tell you, that shower that I took when I got home was the BEST SHOWER OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again, I'm reminded how I truly have the best friends in the business.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Sadira and I are so lucky to have the people in our lives that we have now.  We really hit the friend jackpot, and Erika and TJ are just two examples of that.

Thanks Erika, TJ, Titus and Zane for joining us on this adventure.  I'll even go so far to say that you might be able to twist my arm and get me out camping again sometime! 

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cruisin' up the cali coast

 4. Drive the PCH and make good on my promise to the Cali girls. - DONE!

So after spending two days in LA, a day at the Magic Kingdom, and a day and a half in San Diego, Sadira and I started our long trek up the Cali coast.  This leg of our trip was 563 miles, approximately 11 hours of driving, just me and my 3 year old navigator.  She had plenty of things to keep her occupied, books, coloring book, a DVD player and tons of movies, but she never touched them once.  I was pretty excited that Sadira was just about as excited as I was to drive up the coast.

Best part?  We were driving in what used to be my DREAM CAR when I was 16!!!!!  What is this car, you ask?

Why it's a trusty four door Jeep Wrangler. :) Seriously, it was the best car ever, and so much fun to drive.

 

LOVE that car.  Still wish I would've gotten one.  Maybe one day I will.

To be honest, I think this part of our journey is best told through pictures.  So here we go...a pictorial journey up the Pacific Coast Highway.

As we left Jess's house, we were greeted with the view of snow capped mountain tops. Pretty cool.

It wasn't too long til we were at the coastline and at the beach...

Passed by the airport...

Saw Catalina in the distance...

Drove through Alix's 'hood one more time..

Passed the Getty Villa..

Had a late lunch with Alix (there was no way we could be so close and not spend time with her!)

It was delicious!

Swung on the celebrity swings..

And played on the celebrity jungle gym...

Then it was time for cupcakes. (I think this is my single most favorite picture of Sadie and Alix EVER!!!!! They were obviously looking forward to the cupcakes)

Played Paparazzi in the "Paprazzi Free Zone" (I don't often follow the rules...)

Posed for more pics (she's pretty well trained at this point)

We got back on the road just in time to see this beautiful sunset.



The west coast really has the advantage when it comes to sunsets!!! GORGEOUS!

We passed through Ventura Beach...

Pretty cool view on a Saturday night..

Then we stopped off in....Santa Barbara!  Where we....

enjoyed some Pinkberry,

listened to some jazz,

hung out with JB,

went shopping,

and picked out some cool accessories.

It was our goal to make it to San Luis Obispo, but I was getting tired---and fast.  So we stopped off in Santa Maria for the night and stayed at a hotel that I SWEAR was haunted.

Seriously SPOOKY.

I mean, just look at this place..

But it did have this cool frog out front.  The next morning we said bye to the frog and hit the road.  Yes, Sadie wore the same outfit two days in a row.  I can't remember why.

Lesson learned?  Anytime a hotel is described as "historic," that most likely means HAUNTED.

We swung past Pismo Beach...

It was a little overcast, but we didn't care.

Of course we had to check out the beach view.

We got some breakfast at a super cute little cafe.  They had the best crepes, and I had a cafe mocha to wake myself up.  The lady working there was so sweet, she gave Sadie some hot cocoa on the house. Lucky.

See how cute?  Such a tiny little place.  And yes, that's nutella in the window, and yes, I had nutella in my crepe.  DELISH!

Sadie made friends with Sunny the Golden Retriever outside.  While she was shaking his paw she said, "Nice to meet ya, Sunny."  SO CUTE.

Back on the road!  And it started to rain harder...

We ended up just driving through San Luis Obispo.

There was a mosque named after me,

and these awesome, cute little painted houses.

That's about all we had time to see in San Luis Obispo.

We drove a little further and pulled over to take a shot with the beach.  It was still drizzling.

We past by the Hearst Castle, but unfortunately didn't have time to pay a visit.  Next time!

Just north of San Simeon, we pulled off to the side of the road to see the elephant seals!

It was still rainy, and very windy, but we didn't care.

The elephant seals were cute, but REALLY LOUD!

The water was crazy choppy.

The next leg of our trip north was where it REALLY started to get interesting.  Up until this point we had been driving from beach town to beach town.  There were other highways and roads nearby; however as we got closer and closer to Big Sur, the road got narrower and narrower, and the scenery outside was limited to ocean on one side and trees on the other. 

This is the type of land where you sees signs like, "last gas station for next 100 miles, fill up now."

Sadie was excited, to say the least.  She's got adventure in her blood!

Pretty soon I realized we were navigating on a tiny road on the side of a cliff.  In the rain.

This is what it looked like:

The trusty Jeep!! Best car ever for this type of roadtrip.

This was the road behind me.  There a road with a mountain on one side, and cliff that falls into the ocean on the other.

The road ahead.

This was truly just the side of the cliff:

Still smiling!

Sadira loved to get out of the car and peek over the side of the cliff.  This gave me heart palpitations.

Soon the rain stopped.  Although the fog continued to roll in, our visibility started increasing.  Which made me happy and freaked out simultaneously.

Just a mile or two south of Big Sur:

Still 185 miles till our final destination!

At most points during this commute, I could pull the Jeep off the road and be RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE CLIFF.  It was pretty amazing.  Several times I would do that, just staring out at the view, and the next thing I knew, 15 minutes had gone by...breathtakingly beautiful scenery.

Black sand beach:

Pictures just can do it justice to show just how high up this was.  Trust me, it was HIGH.

We stopped here to stretch our legs and have some snacks.

The sun slooowwwly started to peek out...which made the view that much more spectacular.

We saw some surfers dudes waaaay down below.

The road up ahead stretched out before us just as the sun came out!

But the minute we got to the top of the cliff, we hit the clouds again.  And this completely random stoplight on the side of the cliff.  (There was no intersection....)

On the road again...

Then we were treated to the best views yet.

First this:

And then this:

And the I saw the bridge.  The first of two bridges that I had had NIGHTMARES about prior to this trip.  Nightmares that an earthquake decided to break out just as I was driving over it...

Very happy we survived and I made it to the other side:

I think this photo shows best just how this road is clearly ON THE SIDE OF A CLIFF:

Higher and higher the road climbed...

I think this speaks for itself:

The classic "Big Sur" photo.  I couldn't wait to make it across this bridge.

Bixby Bridge up ahead in the distance:

Getting ready to cross the bridge...

Looking back at the bridge from the other side:

We made it!!

Sadie was very upset, because she was asleep when we crossed the bridge.

Pretty soon we were back to civilization, passing through the Monterey Peninsula.

We kept chugging through Santa Cruz, and up to San Jose and EVENTUALLY....we made it to San Francisco. :)  The final leg of our journey!

I have to say that although I loved every bit of our amazing two week vacation, this had to be one of my most favorite days because it was just the Sadie Bug and I, out on our own adventure.  I hope she always has the sense of wonderment and adventure that she has now.  She's hands down the best travel buddy I've ever had.

Just a week or two after we got home, I read about this happening.  An ENTIRE SECTION of route 1--the very highway we were driving on--just south of Big Sur crumbled and FELL INTO THE OCEAN.  Unreal.  I'm grateful that it didn't happen while we were there, and I'm grateful that our trip wasn't a few weeks later, or the entire road would've been closed.  Crazy how things happen.

Next up...our Stieper San Francisco adventure!

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