This past weekend, Noah and I had the opportunity to travel to California! His cousin, Kaitlin, was getting married and so we thought it would also be the perfect opportunity to take mini vacation/trip to California! This was my first time seeing the coast as well as flying on a plane and it was an amazing week, it went by too fast!
While I did not bring my professional camera, I took photos on my phone to be able to capture the beautiful landscape of California as well as the fun things we got to experience in California! We spent 6 days in California and I can boldly say, it was not enough time! We spent time around Central Coast. Keep reading down below to hear my trip to California and my thoughts and experiences about traveling!
Plane Trip Photos
Being on a plane for the first time was terrifying and exciting at the same time! My ears don’t pop while I experience elevation change while I am in a car, so I was wondering if they were going to pop when I flew in a plane. Thank goodness it did! We got to take four planes (two there and two back), so I got to experience the landing and take off many times during this trip, which I loved! As a photographer it was amazing being able to see the landscape of the earth from up above. I got to see the mountains, all of the long sole roads in some areas and even the different types of farming you can move across the United States!
Downtown San Luis Obispo (SLO)
While we were in San Luis Obispo (SLO), we got to explore the downtown stores. There were many from name brand locations, like Apple, to little boutiques. One place that I just loved was called Growing Grounds Downtown, it was absolutely beautiful! It was so cool to see the utilization of this business. This business was built between two other businesses which I thought was so inventive! It was also crazy to see how they can actually do this because their winters don’t get snow like Iowa does! As a photographer I knew I could go in their daily and still have photos that I still have to capture! It was also cool to see all the horticulture that is native to California that we don’t get to experience in Iowa!
Avila Beach
We got the amazing opportunity to stay at Avila Beach two nights. The first day at Avila we got to explore the beach at sun rise! I am not normally a sunrise person, but these days I was! We also got to see sunset, which I can’t tell which one was my favorite! I loved seeing them both so much and being able to see it just go into the distance with nothing else, no land features in the distance was amazing. At the same time, it felt kind freaky, because I was thinking being on a ship and seeing nothing but ocean, has to be crazy! While we were at Avila we also got to see oysters that were on the rocks and on the beams of the piers.
Morro Bay/ Ragged Point
We also got to experience Highway 1, Morro Bay & Ragged Point. We got to explore all the little tourist stores, from salt water taffy to sea shell stores. While we were exploring there were many beautiful scenic, I got to capture some pretty photos around the area. We got to see the sea lions, otters, and the casual seagulls. The first photo in this gallery is one of my favorites that I took while on this trip. I say that because, it looks like something right out of a magazine! From the classic car, to the antique Coca-Cola sign, it feels like something you would see in an old magazine!
Pismo Beach
We had a supper at Pismo beach, so we did not technically see it during the day, but we had to take a picture with the Pismo Beach sign!
Pirate’s Cove
On our last day in Avila we got to explore Pirate’s Cove! It was a nice little hike up to this place, once you were up to pirate’s cove, you got the most peaceful, beautiful view of the coast line and the ocean it’s self.
This isn’t 100% a trip if you don’t take a picture of the AMAZING food!
This was our first official dinner in California! We were not the most hungry when we went for supper because we had sushi earlier in the day and I was cold from walking outside and hunkering for some food. This was such a good pizza! It was only one topping, but it was so worth it!
Hands down, the best food we ate on the trip! I absolutely love crab and have always wanted to try a seafood boil! I am getting hungry for it just writing this! It was spicy like I thought it would be, it was just SO AMAZING! If you ever like Crab and are in Cali! You better try this place!
When in California, you have to try a California roll. Noah and I love sushi and we decided when in SLO, to get sushi and try it and it didn’t disappoint! They also serve all you can eat sushi, we were tempted, but we weren’t that hungry!
We got to experience California Mexican food. When we went to California Taco, Noah and I decided to split the El Molcajete, which was delicious! It came with refried beans and Mexican rice. It was a lovely ending to our trip in California!
This was my first wine tasting since I just turned 21 this last July and it was such a fun experience. I haven’t acquired the wine taste yet, but it was fun to hear the history and see how wine is made in the wine country. It was also fun to taste what a wine tastes like when it is not fully fermented.
It was a fun experience to try an in-n-out burger, but after trying it… I sadly am not a fan of it! Don’t get me wrong it was dirt cheap for the food, it just was really greasy and not that much flavor. I am just glad I got to try a Cali- known fast food joint.
Hopefully you enjoyed my trip to California and had a good read, learning about my experiences while being there!
With Love,
Cassie
