The Road is Long...

Three days have passed now since the Velo Family returned from our Christmas Holiday on the Pacific Coast. While I'm glad to be home in my comfortable bed and familiar places, it is always sad to see the end to a holiday, especially one with so many memorable moments. Our whirlwind tour of San Francisco left us wanted more but grateful for what we did experience, and the unseasonably warm weather in Venice Beach and Los Angeles gave us some much needed fun times in the sun. It was the trip home, however, that inspired our journey to begin with. Since moving to the West Coast in 2007, it has been a dream of my husband and I to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway and see all the natural beauty we'd only seen in movies. So with about four days until our rental car needed to be returned, we set off North from Venice Beach for the slow, jaw-dropping trip home.

This trip I also rediscovered my fear
of tunnels through mountains!

A washroom break in Morro Bay gave us this
lovely and unexpected view

Our first day of travel would take us to Santa Cruz, CA, with stops along the way whoever the mood caught us. It truly was more beautiful than I could ever have expected. Having just spent three days along the Coast, I was well aware of the majesty of the waves, but nothing could have prepared me for spectacle of the massive waves meeting the cliffs along the coast. Words and photos could never truly depict the reality, and I was instantly thankful for our determination to do this trip, despite the obstacles we faced on our trip down from Vancouver. With many stops along the way, what should have been a seven hour trip quickly became nearly double that, meaning we didn't have the time or the daylight left to take a walk through Big Sur and see the giant redwoods. It's always good to have excuses to come back though!

We also met this guy in Morro Bay, just hanging out having a nap with his buddies

It's hard to complain when this is
the backdrop to your road trip!

The next few days saw much of the same, with many more stops along the coast, including a return to Cannon Beach, OR and some self-indulgent stops in Astoria, OR to visit the Goonies House, and Snoqualmie Falls in Washington to see the iconic scene featured in the opening of the 90's TV series, Twin Peaks, and a stop for some cherry pie and a "darn good cup of coffee". When we finally reached our front door, the whole family was exhausted and thankful to be out of the rental car and in the warmth of our home. After settling back in, I had time to reflect on our travels, and what new perspectives the journey gave me.

Muir Woods just outside of San Francisco is surprisingly busy on Sundays, so we were forced to discover Muir Beach instead...what a shame ;) 

The kids in awe seeing the beach from "The Goonies". I've yet to see Cannon Beach not covered in fog. One day...

Even though it's not sunny like California, the Pacific Northwest is home to many beautiful landscapes as well, like the majestic Snoqualmie Falls.

With views like this, it was
worth travelling by car

Not so much a revelation, but one thing I appreciate from our trip is that most of what I was able to see and experience on the coast we could not have done without a car. There is little access to many of the places we stopped unless they were more well populated places like Santa Cruz or Cannon Beach, where bus lines and travel groups are organized to allow people to travel there. I do know people who have cycled along the Pacific Coast Highway, but haven driven past many brave people on two-wheels, it is not an activity for the faint of heart, rubbing shoulders with fast moving cars and breathing in exhaust along the way. So had we not buckled down and rented a car, our trip would have been missing all the spontaneous stops along the beautiful coastline.

The view from one of our many spontaneous stops along the way

Winding our way along the
California Coast

The view on a windy morning in Santa Cruz.
There are certainly worse places to have a stopover during a road trip!

They were always much happier when not
trapped in the back seat of a car

What I also learned is that I don't miss long car trips at all. My entire childhood was spent like most other people my age. Road trips with the family to visit relatives long distances away, for family camping trips, and even the long haul from Southern Ontario to Florida for a stay in Disney World. Even as adults, Chris and I would make similar trips throughout Ontario and Quebec to see friends and family. Now, after almost four years without a car, I have forgotten the monotony of long car trips, and the stress of driving itself. Be it our car trouble on the highway heading into Los Angeles, or the never-ending winding roads along the coast, it was not long before I was dreaming of the relaxing experience of travelling by train or plane. And then there was our children, not accustomed to being stuck in small spaces for hours on end. Without making you relive our trials and tribulations of siblings fighting or car-sickness, I can tell you I am not eager to get back into a car for an extended period with my kids any time soon.

After our eleven day road trip, I feel
like we have so much to be thankful
for and to look forward to!

Our family road trip over Christmas was epic to say the least, and a very long time coming. We have some wonderful memories that will stay with us always, as well as a continued desire to explore all that the Pacific Coast has to offer. My husband and I can now officially mark some 'to-do's' of our travel list, and add a few more for future travels. We have also re-affirmed our choice to live car-free, fully understanding all the stress and cost involved with car-ownership. We certainly don't regret our decision to take this slow, car-centred trip, as we were able to have experiences we wouldn't have had otherwise, but we also know we won't be rushing off to the dealership anytime soon to get a car of our own. In the end, it was exactly the trip we wanted and needed to take, satiating our need for travel for the time being, and leaving us excited for family adventures to come!

Chris and I share a geek moment from our childhood at the Goonies house

Oh no! The Fremont Troll in Seattle has our kids! Poor guy ;)

Christmas Day in the Sun

It's official, I may never want to wish for a white Christmas again! After spending a stressful Christmas Eve driving down from San Francisco and remembering why it is we we are happy to not have to worry about car ownership, we made it to Venice Beach in Los Angeles just in time for a walk along the pier to watch the sunset and find one of the few places still open for dinner the night before Christmas. Then it was home to settle in, hang the Christmas tree and place our decorations on, wrap the remaining presents and hang our stockings to prepare for Santa. As you may recall, over the Remembrance Day weekend, while Daddy was away, the kids and I worked together to make a portable Christmas tree specifically for this trip. As promised, here are the fruits of our labour. A lovely felt tree decorated with handmade felt baubles hand sewn by my seven year old and yours truly. It may not have had all the beauty of a fresh cut evergreen, but for our family vacation, it was perfect!

Christmas morning surprises!

Christmas morning, after convincing the kids to sleep a few more hours when they woke up at 4:00am, we got out of bed to see what Santa left behind. The kids were very happy to see that Santa had heeded their requests for scooters, which they promptly took out for a spin (and a couple tumbles from Etienne) immediately after breakfast. That's when they learned Mommy wasn't crazy when she insisted they wear shorts and t-shirts and not the sweaters and pants they received as gifts. Instead of the snow all our friends in family in Canada were experiencing, our kids were spending Christmas day in the sun at temperatures hovering around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). And once Mommy was ready, we set off to the beach for what we else? A bike ride!

Scooting along the Canals. Not a bad way to spend
Christmas morning

All set for our Christmas day ride

Chris and I have become big proponents for Airbnb, having found some amazing places to stay throughout North America. Our current home away from home is no exception, and a big selling factor for us was that it included cruiser bikes for Chris and I. So Christmas morning we took our rides down to the water, rented the kids a couple of bikes, Coralie happily opting for a beach cruiser this time, and we rode North from Venice Beach to Santa Monica for some fun at the pier. The ride was much easier than the one we rode just two days prior in San Francisco, and Etienne managed to lead the way the entire trip, mastering hand brakes quicker than I expected. But then, his motivation may have been getting to the pier and going on some rides, because as soon as we parked our bikes, that's all he asked for. We managed to ride the Pacific Wheel, and the kids each got one smaller ride of their own, despite pleas and cries for more, before we had a quick bite for lunch and head back on our bikes towards Venice.

Etienne leading the way with the Santa Monica Pier in sight

Hard not to smile on a day like this

The Pacific Wheel at Santa Monica Pier

Etienne's good to go

Coralie all set for a Pirate Ship ride

Although we had grand plans to do lots of riding, Chris and I realized that all the kids wanted to do was play in the sand. So we stopped off at our place to grab their bathing suits and pack a beach bag (again, provided by our hosts), and rode back to the beach to drop off the kids' bike rentals and settle into the sand while the kids played in the water and on the man-made bluffs. We also treated them to some body boards to ride the surf, which Coralie almost mastered but Etienne soon gave up to instead jump through the waves. Once they were too cold from the water, the joined the many other kids sliding down the bluffs. These massive piles of sand are created each year to protect the coastal cities from storm surges, but are subsequently used by local and visiting children for tobogganing. Not a bad substitute for the snowy hills to the North, especially when you can do so in shorts and a t-shirt!

This is about as far as he got...

...Before doing this instead

Coralie riding the waves

So that was how the Velo Family spent their Christmas day. Relaxing and riding bikes in the warm sunshine on the Pacific Coast of California. I really did think I would miss snow, being a sucker for traditionalism when it comes to Christmas. Clearly, I was wrong, because I'm already thinking to next year and what warm and sunny place we can go next! Maybe it's because I've spent the previous six Christmas' in Vancouver and seeing only one snowy Christmas in that time, or maybe I needed a break from the cold and the wet. I think though, that the most likely reason of all is that I, like my husband, crave adventure and travel, so to give ourselves this Christmas in the sun was the perfect gift. Getting to spend it on bikes is just the cherry on top!

A lovely family shot as the sun set on our Christmas on the beach

One last shot with my partner in crime on our
seventeenth Christmas together!