i’m so hood

We did something pretty freaking incredible yesterday.  I will leave you in suspense for as long as possible while I tell our story:

We woke up on the earlier side (in the realm of 8:30–go us!), packed up the car and headed toward Moss Landing for a very special adventure.  One thing I was not expecting about coastal California is the massive amount of fog and the cooler temperatures (this is obviously not so much the case for southern Cal, but northern and central are quite chilly).  And by cooler, I mean freezing…at least that’s what 60 degrees feels like to two Florida girls.  So we bundled (I wore three jackets with all of the hoods up) and packed our little bag and headed out on a boat in the cold, cold fog yesterday morning in search of something magical.  For a good long while, we waited and waited and waited.  It was so cold.  I prayed for either sunlight or the magic, but if we were not going to get either, I just prayed to go home.  Nobody likes sitting in the middle of an indiscernible body of water in the cold fog waiting for nothing.  It kind of sucks.  Then, just as I was falling asleep, something magical happened: a blow hole appeared and exhaled beautiful, wonderful whale breath.  Yes, we went whale watching yesterday, folks, and it was absolutely incredible.  Like, really, seriously, one-of-a-kind experience awesome.  So, recap: it’s cold and foggy and the sun is trying so hard to peek through the thick layer of fog, and all of the sudden a whale breathes near us.  So cool.

We found out the identity of the whale, a humpback whose name is Stinky.  S/he and a companion (unfortunately this whale is not cool enough to be named by the boat’s captain and marine biologist yet) went from mysterious water creatures to our best friends in no time.  It was so cool to see them playing with one another and logging so close to each other.  Another cool thing was that they were surrounded by sea lions, so even if they went under the water for a bit, we always kept pretty good tabs on them because of the sea lions frolicking all around.  It’s really difficult to describe how amazing it all was.  And of course, pictures just do not do it any justice.  You need to do this for yourselves some day.  It was truly not to be missed.  Thank you, Sanctuary Cruises for such an incredible experience.

After our adventure, we went to a small Mexican place in Moss Landing that Joellen’s parents recommended.  The Whole Enchilada did not disappoint.  We ordered the steamed artichoke (after all, we were in artichoke country), and it was SO GOOD; Joellen had the mole cheese enchiladas and enjoyed them and I had a seafood soup, which was just alright, but hit the spot since I really just wanted something warm (in fairness, I don’t really like shrimp but needed something brothy to warm me up).  It was just what we needed to revamp and get back on the road for the trek down to Los Angeles.

The drive was so beautiful.  Again, if you ever have a chance to drive the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH as us cool Californians like to call it, you should.  We stopped a few times to take pictures of the fog, the Pacific, the cliffs and the sunset.  The beauty was so unreal, and of course, the pictures don’t even show the half of it.  Gorgeous.

We arrived in LA late last night and have been doing various housekeeping things this morning–laundry, emails, repacking, organizing, etc.  Definitely necessary, even after just a few days on the road.  We feel great and ready for our first LA day.  So many more adventures to be had!

❤ Amy