San Diego to Seattle

Being that we've lived in Seattle for over a month now, I figured it was time for a little update. Basically... We've. Been. Busy. Our transition from San Diego to Seattle was a very challenging one, to say the least. We ended up leaving San Diego jobless and homeless. Pretty scary... I knew we could trust the Lord that He would take care of us (He always has in the past), but it was definitely still worrisome knowing that the bills would still be coming in. We left San Diego and drove up to Los Angeles to stay with Will's brother and girlfriend until we heard anything. We figured we'd be there for at least the weekend and would just hang out with them and wait. No more than one minute after we arrived at their apartment and I got a call from the nurse manager in Seattle. She interviewed me over the phone and offered me the job on the spot! We were insanely shocked and thrilled! I was seconds away from accepting a "backup" position in Santa Barbara (which wouldn't have been half bad...), but Seattle was definitely our top choice. And here we are! We're just praying each transition isn't that insane. Yikes! I didn't know if Seattle was going to be a sure thing, but I hoped it would be so I planned accordingly.  Turns out the road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway is a pretty popular one, so I found a ton of resources to help me plan our trip! Once we knew Seattle was going to work out, we could just relax and enjoy a beautiful little road trip together. It was SO much fun and filled with more beauty than you could ever imagine. Everyone needs to go on this trip at some point in their lives!
Our first stop was the beautiful Santa Barbara!

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Our camping site #1. Naturally we had to have a hammock-hanging, beers-cheering celebration that we made it through the first day! 

Good morning! Jack was such a stud and did amazingly well camping in a tent for over a week! He's now officially our "camping cat."

A quick oceanside stop at Moonstone Beach.

Our faithful Passat wagon was SUCH a roadtrip champ! We were super proud (especially Will) that we were able to downsize from 3 to 1 tote on the back. Maybe we will be able to downsize even more for out next trip! Getting rid of stuff is so freeing...

Hearst Castle!

Every room was so detailed and so luxurious.

Even an indoor pool!

Now, on to Big Sur... aka Heaven.

Just phenomenal.

The place I was most looking forward to stopping at: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park! Featuring McWay Falls. Dear goodness, the beauty...

Bixby Bridge.

More of our Camping Cat! This was at the glorious KOA Campground where we FINALLY had running water and hot showers! Praise the Lord!

Wine tasting in Napa Valley for the day. Vino love. 

They said it wouldn't fit in our car  :(

My crazy and cool hubby longboarding through some Redwoods.

Glass Beach. They used to dump garbage (including glass bottles) here near the ocean for years, sadly. But now, after decades of waves, these glass pieces and shards have turning into gorgeous rocks and pebbles.

Glass Beach (MacKerricher State Park).

The winding roads along the Redwoods.

The photos don't even do these massive trees justice. So huge!

My sweet little family.

Jedidiah State Park: definitely our favorite place to explore the Redwoods.

We finally made it to Oregon! And holy cow, what a beautiful greeting.

Windy beach life.

Coquille River Lighthouse.

Oregon coast.

Heceta Lighthouse.

Touring the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Yumm...

This may have been our second time through the cheese sampling line... 

Will particularly liked the ice cream.

Oswald West State Park.

Apparently a popular surfing spot in Oregon!

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.

We finally made it to Washington!

This trip was so wonderful... Will and I got to dream and explore and talk about the future. It's an exciting life, this travel nursing stuff. Ever-changing, ever-surprising, ever-challenging. And we are already forever grateful.