IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO...

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair... the song made famous by the Forest Gump movie.  And the song that kept popping into my head as we were in Cali. - quite a few times.  We ended up having a picnic with friends on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco.  Picking flowers along the hillside, putting flowers in my hair because well, I was in SF for the first time, and just had to.

Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park

Okay, I will start at the beginning - because we didn't start off in San Francisco on Hippie Hill.  We started off a year ago with the idea that we wanted to go to California.  My husband and I felt like the Lord was showing us to take a trip to CA and our friend had a dream last year that he was standing on a beach facing the Pacific Ocean, praying and speaking God's Word over the West Coast.  The three of us took our road trip this past Spring.  My hubby and I drove to Ontario, CA, near LA, and our good friend friend flew from out east to meet us there. 

Hubby & I about half way to our destination, 
with Mount Shasta in the background.  Do we look a bit worn out and in need of a vacation?...  We were as we had just spent the previous few weeks cleaning and moving out of the rental house we'd been in for four years, moving into one that was smaller and cheaper.  Moving is a HUGE undertaking, even if it's only 5 minutes down the road.  We were definitely looking forward to a much needed road trip!

William & I standing in front of the Bonnie Brae House

Our first full day in California was Resurrection Sunday and I was super excited that we were going to see - of all places - the Bonnie Brae House.  This is the historic home where the 

Pentecostal movement began back in 1906.  Called the Azusa Street Revival, this was a historic revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California.  We didn't go inside because seeing the inside of the house is by appointment only, but as soon as we walked up to the gate, we could sense the presence of the Lord in a very strong and tangible way.    

There was a guy working on his car in front of the house, and he started telling us about "all the people who come to see this place."  He explained that "people come from all over to see this house.  Sometimes when people leave, they experience miracles.  One woman went up to the gate in her wheelchair, and when she left, she no longer needed her chair".  He went on to say "When I first moved here years ago, I could feel my arm hairs stand on end, kinda like now.  I ain't felt that in a really long time".  It was really a cool experience and I love the history that goes along with the Bonnie Brae House.  If you want to read more about what God was doing in 1906 at this very spot, click one of the links above. 

Our next stop was a 20 minute walk from the Bonnie Brae House.  The Angelus Temple and the parsonage of Aimee Semple McPherson are located right next to Echo Park in central LA.

Me standing in front of the former parsonage of Aimee Semple McPherson

 Aimee, a 20th-century evangelist, was a woman ahead of her time.  She crossed the United States with two young children in an era when women were not even able to vote.  Sister McPherson became an evangelist and preached the gospel not only across the entire United States, but also around the world.  

     

The next day, we drove to the beach. This isn't the beach... this is our friend hiking up a big hill side.  
How did we end up here you ask?

BECAUSE - we took a detour - BECAUSE - we saw a sign that said "campsite", and my husband was sure there was a camping site at the very top of this mountain.  We had wanted to camp at some point on our trip but it was either too cold or rainy.  We thought this might be a great place to set up camp.  We drove all the way to the top, and although we never found the campsite, we did take an awesome hike with amazing views.  It was also nice to get out of the city and all its fog.  
LA has A LOT of fog - wouldn't want to live there.

Still smiling on the way up

My hubby after climbing to the top of this huge boulder

Hubby trying to catch a butterfly

After our hike, we headed back down the mountain, and arrived at the beach.  The temperature went from 70 and sunny on the top of the mountain, to 50 and really windy.  It was overcast and we had the whole place almost to ourselves.  It was awesome to spend a couple hours a the beach...

Walking in the freezing cold water (not hubby and I, just our friend)

Praying over the state of California (remember the dream?) and the Pacific West Coast

 Inviting God's presence...

And soon after, the clouds parted and the sun 
came shining through!  Beautiful!  

Wifey flying our kite

Hubby flying our kite over the water

While in LA we visited my husband's aunt.  We ate lunch at 

In-N-Out Burger - my first time there!  The food was yummy and the prices were great!  You can't beat a $2.50 burger.

On our way out of LA, we stopped a the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.  Although we saw a few poppies, their usual bloom was late that year due to the lack of rain.  It was extremely windy that day but we still enjoyed a beautiful hike along the ridge of the Antelope Valley.

Poppies along the roadside

Hold onto your hats!  The wind was so strong it was hard to walk.

More poppies

We continued driving north along the coast on Highway 1, stopping at several places right on the ocean.  One place we stopped was the cute little town with lots of shops and restaurants.  I had the most AMAZING fish tacos in Morro Bay and if we ever make our way back I will definitely be stopping for more of those fish tacos.

After leaving Morro Bay, we headed toward Big Sur.  Portion's of Big Sur's iconic coastline have been temporarily closed due to the effects of 2017's winter storms - heavy rainfalls led to mudslides, fallen boulders, and a bridge outage.  The Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge was re-opened in October 2017, however, the area around the mudslide may take at least a year to repair.

Tired after a full day of driving, yet so nice to be on the coast listening to the sound of the crashing waves and beautiful sunsets.

Hubby and our good friend

Beautiful views of the ocean all along the coast

I love this sunset photo, with the wildflowers posing for just the right photo op

Being silly!

Our next stop was San Francisco!  We spent the day walking around Pier 39, and it was definitely a fun experience! Street vendors, street entertainment, sea lions, and more.

These guys & gals were so loud!  Super smelly too but funny to watch them lay around all day and do nothing.  These sea lions showed up around 1989 and have been there every since.  Click on the link to read more about how the sea lions got here and why they are still there.

My Vionic sandals held up after a few miles of walking, but my legs were super sore and I was ready to relax and eat some yummy bread at the Boudin Bistro.  They make their bread from scratch and you can walk around the museum while you wait to be seated, reading about the bakery's history and watching them create 
and bake bread.

Just hangin' out!

The next day we went to Golden Gate Park and met up with some friends of ours who are from the mid-west but currently 
live in San Francisco.  

Hubby with friend's little girl walking barefoot in the flowers.

If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair... Do you have that song stuck in your head now?  Did you know that "flowers" in this song has a different meaning?

He just looks like Mr. Tough guy.  
Oh yeah!  That IS the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Now here's a story....

My husband saw a sign for a lighthouse that was "only 20 miles away" right on the ocean.  What the sign didn't say is that it takes at least an hour (it felt like two) driving on extremely curvy roads to get there.  Plus we had to slow down for the cows, and stop a couple times while they crossed the roads.  Why did the cow cross the road?  To slow us down on our drive to get to this "It had better be an amazing" view of the lighthouse right on the coast.

  

We finally made it to the parking lot.  We parked & walked, and walked, and not too much further I'm sure...  

The views were really amazing!  So majestic!  Yeah, worth it!

Point-Reyes
(click on link for more information)

And then we made it to the top and we could see the lighthouse!  BUT, the gate to walk down the stairs (the stairs in the picture above) was closed, because we got there at dusk.  Which was totally OKAY with me because although it would have been really fun to trek all the way down those stairs after walking a half hour UP HILL from the car, and then ALL THE WAY BACK UP, I was okay to just enjoy the view from the top.

Do you ever take the road less traveled?  I always thought I was an adventurous person, until I met and married my husband.  He is the biggest adventurist I know.  I had to either learn to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, or I could stay in my little box and miss out on a lot of the fun and the beautiful memories we have made in our 8 1/2 years together.  I am learning each day to choose the road less traveled (with my husband by my side) as we go along on this beautiful journey called life.

Our trip to California wouldn't be complete without visiting the Redwoods!  We made sure to get out and hike around a couple times which is an absolute must.  If you just drive through without stopping, it's not the same as actually standing next to one of these big giants.

These trees are HUGE!

And super TALL!

And then... we made our way back to the beach again, chasing and finding another beautiful California sunset.

Too much technology!! (quote from my husband - since he JUST got his own smart phone, I have been using that line on him the past few days).  I was taking pictures on my cell phone, really.  And yes it WAS cold enough to wear my winter coat at many of our stops.  If Little Mama Dumpling ain't happy (cuz she's cold), ain't nobody happy.

Love this photo! We sat on top of these MASSIVE Rocks while the waves crashed all around us

We definitely got our share of sunsets.  On several evenings as the sun was setting, and others were heading home or back to their hotels, we were driving into into the sunsets.  We often had the quiet & tranquil beauty of God's creation almost completely to ourselves.  Walks on the beach, beautiful views, seeing the sky painted in so many magnificent colors, drives along the coast as the sun went down, and getting off the beaten path to find that perfect view.  It was all about enjoying the journey each and every step of the way, not just getting to our destination.

Our last day of driving - pouring rain and overcast skies.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the rain and thunderstorms, dark clouds.  However, we live in the desert and we get 7-8 inches (this average seems high to me) of rainy weather and over 300 days of sun each year.  When we have the occasional thunderstorm (about once every couple of years), I get so excited and run outside to watch the lighting and dance around in the rain, just like when I was a kid.  The neighbors must think I'm a bit strange.  BUT driving for 12 hours in the POURING rain is not very fun.  It just isn't.  We took a break from the driving and stopped at the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon.  A little touristy, not too crowded, and our entrance fee was for a good cause.  The Sea Lion Caves is a privately owned wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary (since 1932) and is America's largest sea cave.   

Sad story... When you first look at the picture, you see some cute seals belting away, singing their hearts out.  If you look in the background, you can see a sea lion lying on a rock with something green around it's neck - it's fishing net.  We watched it climb up on some rocks and then the other seals that were on that rock quickly jumped off, almost like it was some alien.  I asked the guy working if there was anything that could be done.  He said that because the seals are protected and living in the wild (there is a huge fence between the seals in their natural habitat and where the public is able to view them), their staff are not allowed to climb out there to help free this little guy.  If they did, they'd be breaking the law (because they are a protected species), and if they used some type of device to sedate him for a bit, it could (before it was fully sedated) jump off or fall off a rock and end up drowning.  They also don't know how the other seals would respond, if they would attack any person who tried to enter their habitat.  The only way to help this little guy, is if the netting caught on one of the rocks while it was climbing around, and it the sea lion got stuck, then they could call a rescue agency to come, and they would attempt to rescue it and remove the green fishing net around it's head. It almost brought me to tears as I watched it struggle and be shunned by the other seals.  We prayed for this little guy to be rescued, even if it meant it got caught on a rock for a bit.


Since I don't want to end on a sad note, here are some more (random) pictures of our amazing West Coast road trip!

Picture taken by our friend

Our super cool friend who joined us on our trip, or did we join him?

Have an amazing rest of your summer and enjoy each day!  Don't forget to take some time outs and take the road less traveled.

Blessings, LMD