Happy Spring!

After getting sick numerous times this winter, I'm so happy to be healthy and active this spring! 

A couple of weekends ago, Peter and I went on a romantic day-long adventure up Highway 1 to do some hiking, sightseeing, and eating. We gave ourselves the morning to relax and hangout with the animals, and then we made our way up to the Salmon Creek Waterfall Trail in Big Sur. It's in the southernmost portion of Big Sur, about 3 1/2 miles north of Ragged Point. I really loved how ecologically diverse the trail was. It starts with a dense Live Oak forest and a gorgeous, rocky waterfall, and then climbs to a more arid climate, with tons of wildflowers and amazing views! The trail goes for miles, so you can decide how far you want to hike in and then turn around once you're tired. There are also some campsites out there, but we didn't make it that far because we wanted to do some sightseeing.

I felt like we'd stumbled upon Terabithia.

The trail was surprisingly narrow, but the flowers were lovely!

The view from the top of Salmon Creek Falls Trail.

On our way back down Highway 1, we stopped to see the elephant seals. We were a little disappointed to learn that all of the mature males (whose strange snouts no doubt inspired the species' name) had already migrated south for the season, but we enjoyed watching the seal pups shovel sand onto their backs. The barking noises they make are also hilarious and a little sad. We also stopped at a beach to check out Piedras Blancas Light Station, but couldn't get very far because there were a bunch of seal pups blocking access to the beach. What jerks!

Elephant seals

By this point we were getting pretty hungry. I bought a sandwich and some chips at a San Simeon gas station on our way up; the chips were delicious, but the sandwich was dry. So we decided to make the trek out to Linn's original farm stand in Cambria to get some pie. I'd been dreaming about this pie all week and it did not disappoint! I love getting the olallieberry, which I believe is a cross between a blackberry and and a raspberry. Peter's favorite is apple pie. But I honestly enjoyed the creamy vanilla bean ice cream the most! Peter said that was "scaralicious." If you're looking for the most amazing pie on the Central Coast, go to Linn's!

Linn's olallieberry pie and vanilla ice cream is to die for!

Last but not least, we stopped at Taco Temple in Morro Bay for dinner. I know—we did the whole meal thing backwards, but everything still tastes the same so it doesn't really matter, right? This place is one of the coolest taco shops around! The surf-themed decor is fun and welcoming (albeit, Peter and I noticed that they have a lot of sculptures of sea animals eating each other—not sure why). There's a free, all-you-can-eat chip and salsa bar, and ... the tacos are GINORMOUS! You only need to order one taco because they pile it so high with meat, veggies, and flavorful sauces. I ordered a shrimp taco with mango-pinapple salsa and Peter ordered a calamari taco. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat much of it because I was so stuffed with pie and chips, but I took it home for a delicious late-evening meal.

This is my shrimp taco after only a couple of bites.

Chips and salsa—the dinner of champions!

This was truly one of the most enjoyable days I've spent on the Central Coast and I highly recommend you recreate it for yourself! If you have any other hiking or eating recommendations, please let me know.

Happy Living,

Amy