Summer Travels Part 1: West Coast

I’ve been avoiding this post because of how overwhelming it feels. How do I summarize our incredible summer adventures with a few photos and paragraphs? How do I put into the words the way I felt while standing in pure silence in the midst of the misty redwoods? How do I convey the complete awe inspiring grandness of the Swiss Alps with a photo? How do I let you into the depth of my soul where these memories and feelings reside? How can I write about this when I yearn so deeply to go back, to stand on the mountain tops, to breathe in and to feel that deep sense of peace?

I’ll try by starting on the West Coast. In June we flew out West to visit family, but we added a roadtrip into the mix. After a day trip to Lake Tahoe, we drove from Sacramento, to San Francisco and up the Pacific Coastline to the sand dunes in Florence Oregon. Having grown up in Oregon, I’d made many roadtrips to and through California, but this was my first time really seeing what’s known as the Lost Coast. The Northern California coast in Humboldt and Mendocino counties is quite rugged and undeveloped. It felt like a different country. The green pastures leading up to steep and rocky cliffs with big drop offs into the ocean were quite stunning to see. In a state that is so heavily populated, these undeveloped areas were truly magnificent.

The redwoods were breathtaking. How can trees be so grand and so old?! How can they continue to stand after thousands of years? I felt so small walking through this grove. There weren’t many people out and at one point I stood there, in complete silence, no wind, maybe one distant sound of a bird, it was unreal to experience this lack of sound.

Look at the variety of landscapes…rocky cliffs and trails in Tahoe, grassy cliffs of the Marin Headlands, white snow peaks of the Cascade mountain range (Mt. Adams), sandy 300 ft dunes on the Oregon coast, and rolling hills of El Dorado County. What a beautiful country we live in.

Water, always water. We are drawn to it no matter where we go. A glacial lake in Tahoe, the wide open lakes of Minnesota, and the Pacific Ocean. We will find water no matter where we go. Our West Coast trip ended in the middle of the country with a stopover in Minnesota to visit my brother and his family. It was a really great way to end the vacation.

Nature is so healing. We are able to think more clearly, our heart rates drop, and stress is reduced…but it’s so easy to forget all of this as we get caught up in our day to day lives. If you’re curious about this and how nature impacts us, I highly recommend reading The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams. It’s one of my all top favorite books ever read, maybe a must read for everyone.

A month went by between our two big trips and I’ll share about the next one in Summer Travels Part 2: Switzerland. It’s impossible to not share every photo, but I hope these few pictures give you a little glimpse into the beauty we witnessed in our own country.

Until next time,

Ella