Finally, another adventure! This one I was really excited about. I was going down for the weekend to pre-celebrate my birthday with my boyfriend. He was working down in the Bay Area, so I made the trek on a Friday to go see him. We didn’t know what we were going to do that weekend, so it made me even more excited. The drive was smooth sailing… until Berkeley. Traffic. An hour sitting in traffic wasn’t my idea of a good start, until I got to the hotel and the sunset made it all worth it.
The next morning we slept in and enjoyed the time together. We got dressed and headed off to Peet’s Coffee and Whole Foods to grab some drinks and food for the drive over to Half Moon Bay. I was stoked because it looked like it was going to be a beautiful, clear day there. I hadn’t been there in quite a few years (over 15 at least) and so I was beyond ready to go explore and get more practice in with my camera.
First stop, we had no idea. We just drove along until a beach name sounded good. Dunes Beach. Perfect. We pulled up right in front. Blue skies strewn with a few wispy clouds. I got my camera out and was ready to start snapping away.
As we walked down the beach, I couldn’t help but love the moment; camera in one hand, Matt’s hand in the other, just strolling along. It was an amazing, beautiful walk.
Walking along looking for seashells, Matt found a Stormtrooper the size of a green army man. Sweet! So my creative mind decided to take some shots of it looking like it was coming out of the ocean on the beach. I was actually surprised how good they turned out.
We made it back to the car and decided to check out another place. But not before I noticed a California Poppy. Of course I had to take a picture of it!
Finally, back in the car and off we go! We drove along and pulled into Pillar Point Harbor. There were a few small shops and a ton of little restaurants. We went into a salt water taffy shop, where I picked up some candy and Matt found a kite. We continued walking along the streets of the harbor, just checking out the scenery with no particular place in mind of where to go. We ate at a quaint restaurant called Ketch-Joanne for lunch, which was packed and had ridiculously good looking food.
Our next stop was to go for a hike. Matt wanted to take me there for the views so I could get some good shots of the ocean. He had been there before working on a job and he knew I’d love it. We pulled over to the side of the road and parked up a little ways from the McNee Ranch State Park. There were plenty of cars and who could blame them, it was a beautiful, warm day out. Camera and backpack in hand, we were ready to go. We decided on taking the Gray Whale Cove Trail the followed the hills along Highway 1.
We walked the almost two miles over to Gray Whale Cove State Beach. Crossing a busy highway, we made our way down to the small, yet beautiful beach. There were plenty of tourists, along with locals, playing beach games, surfing, reading books, even some getting their nudey time on. And then you have me snapping pictures of everything.
After hanging out for a little bit, it was time to test out Matt’s new kite. We were both stoked. It was like being a kid all over again. He was up first, learning the ropes so he could then teach me. I hadn’t had that much fun in the longest time. Running around, dodging the kite from Matt, throwing it back up in the air after it crashed. I had an ear-to-ear smile on my face.
After playing with the kite, we decided we better head back the two miles to the car so we could catch the sunset. It seemed a lot longer on the way back. I was ready for a glass of wine and a blanket. Back to the car and we drove back into Half Moon Bay, Matt looking for a beach he remembered going to a month prior. We ended up at Francis Beach, where many people were cleaning up their picnics and couples were sitting at tables waiting for the sun to go down. We made our way to the beach and walked a few hundred yards before deciding to sit down, arm in arm and watch the sun set.
There were tons of clouds in the way of the sun and Matt kept saying how it was a sucky sunset and he wished it was a prettier one. All I could say to him was, “It’s perfect,” as I laid my head on his shoulder and smiled…
Adventure Is All You Need 