A Day Trip to Ano Nuevo State Park

One of the amazing things about living in California is all of the amazing State Parks in our backyard. We had been wanting to go visit Ano Nuevo State Park to see the elephant seals, so we waited until the cold season to visit as they are most active.

On our way to the State Park, we stopped at a lighthouse to break up our trip a bit. Side-note: We are crazy spoiled now! We used to drive 4+ hours regularly in Texas, but after a little over an hour, we need to break now!

After another 20 minutes, we drove into the park. It was both windy AND cold when we went, so we were lucky enough to see the elephant seals in all of their glory!

The only way you can visit during the "active season" (December - March) is to take a guided tour with a docent. These leave every 15 minutes, so it wasn't a problem to jump on one.

The great part of going with a guide is that we got off the wooden trails and were hiking around the dunes in search of rogue seals. Basically, these guys that aren't with the pack are the "losers" that know they won't be mating with a female this season.

On the main beach, we saw some fighting between males, but nothing too crazy. Any time one male got too close, the alphas would start barking at them in warning. It was pretty funny to see and hear!

On the way back home, we stopped in Pescadero for lunch. We had been through the town before, so we knew we loved the Arcangeli deli's bread and sandwiches. We also shared a quick wine tasting at Sante Arcangeli, that was, unfortunately, pretty bad. 

Overall, it was a nice sunny day spent on the California Coast!

A Day Trip to Big Sur

We love to take advantage of any and all time off to explore more of the beautiful area we live in. On New Year's Eve, we drove a few hours south to Big Sur. The drive there is also part of the adventure, so we made multiple stops along the way to do some hiking and enjoy the views.

We arrived at the heart of Big Sur at Pheiffer Big Sur State Park to do a bit of hiking. There's a really easy "Nature Trail" that led to the "Valley View" hike. All in, it was about 3 miles and it took us about an hour and a half roundtrip.

Driving a bit further south, we stopped for lunch at Nepenthe. I had seen the views from this restaurant and it had been really high on my list to visit since we moved to California. Unfortunately, it's not dog-friendly (like most of Big Sur), so it took us a few years to visit!

We shared a bottle of Riesling and had a really good (if overpriced) lunch with stunning views.

Our last stop was a quick glance at McWay Falls. This is the pretty iconic view of Big Sur! Last time we visited, there wasn't much water flowing from the falls, but this time we got to see if it in all of its glory.

Driving back, we stopped at Garrapata State Park for a quick coastal walk. This is a place that actually IS dog-friendly, so we'll be back with the pup to hike some more and for him to run along the beach.

Driving along Route 1 is one of our favorite things to do and a pretty amazing way to end 2019! The coast is just SO beautiful and hiking around in the redwoods for the day is always good for the soul.

Up Next: Another trip to the coast to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park.

Wadi Rum & Dead Sea, Jordan

After we left Petra, we drove over to Wadi Rum Village. From here, we were picked up and transported to our camp for the night. It was a bumpy but BEAUTIFUL drive as the sun was setting over the desert.

Lots of movies are filmed in Wadi Rum (The Martian, Star Wars) because it really does look so foreign. And since there are no cities anywhere close, there is extreme silence and amazing stargazing!

We caught the sunset and relaxed in our tent for a while before we went to hang out in the main tent. Our Bedouin hosts kept our cups of black sage tea full while we sat by the fire (much appreciated since it was SO cold!). When it was time for dinner, they pulled the food up from where it was cooking in the sand and we feasted! 

That evening, we borrowed some warm coats and stargazed until we couldn't feel our noses anymore! It was amazing to see and I've never seen that many stars before.

 The wind whipped outside of our tent and we woke up to sand all in our bed. It was definitely a unique experience, but I'll be honest and say we didn't get much sleep. 

Sadly the water was FREEZING cold, so we skipped a morning shower. We enjoyed the beautiful desert views some more and breakfast before heading back to the Village with some other couples. This ended up being our favorite part as they knew the owner of the camp and we were invited over to have some tea and chat in his home.

On our way to the Dead Sea, we encountered a uniquely Middle Eastern roadblock - wild camels!

Our next few days were pretty laid-back. We relaxed into resort life at the Marriott, which was much needed after our night in the desert. Our days were made up of laying at the pool/beach, getting massages at the spa, and floating in the Dead Sea!

Floating in that water was so crazy - you literally couldn't sink. It keeps popping you back up to the top even if you tried to go under. When the wind whipped the water into our faces though, that was unpleasant. The water is something like 10x saltier than the ocean and it was HORRIBLE to get in your mouth or eyes.

The Marriott had a great set up there - you slather yourself in mud, let it dry, and then rinse it all off in the water afterward. They even had shoes to borrow and "sweet water" to rinse all the saltwater off. Our skin felt so unbelievably soft for days!

Our flight out wasn't until 2:30am the next morning, so after we swan in the water, we hung out in our room as long as possible, then went to the spa until it was time to eat dinner and check out. Thanks to our Marriott status, we had unlimited access to the spa and this ended up being a lifesaver! 

We were super sad to leave, but it was a long trip for us! Our trek home started in Amman, through Istanbul & Dublin, before finally getting back home. It was a pretty epic trip and I'm so happy we were able to fit it in before all of the coronavirus madness began.  

Up Next: Since who knows when we'll get to travel next, I'll jump into some recent local travels we've done - starting with our day trip to Big Sur!

Petra, Jordan

We arrived in Amman early, rented a car, and made our way immediately towards Petra. 

If you are headed to Jordan, I highly recommend the Jordan pass. This pass covers your entry visa to the country as well as numerous other sites, including Petra. 

We picked our hotel (The Movenpick) because it was conveniently located directly across the street from the entrance to Petra, so after lunch, we walked out our door ready to explore. Ever since I saw Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, I'd wanted to visit - it didn't disappoint!

Now, I used to think "Petra" meant just the Treasury - when in reality, Petra is HUGE! Each time you enter, you have to walk through the Siq for about 30 minutes to arrive at the iconic Treasury. Our first day, we decided to do this and also hike the Main Trail, passing the Royal Tombs, Street of Facades, and the Amphitheater. 

From there, the Al Khubtha Trail branches off to the left and you can hike to the epic Treasury viewpoint. In total, this walk/hike took us about 1.5 hours one way, stopping for pictures along the way. The last 30 minutes is basically straight uphill, but the payoff was amazing!

Once you get there, you pay a small "fee" by purchasing a tea, water, etc. and you get access to this incredible spot. We enjoyed the view for a while before heading back down.

By the time we left, it was getting dark - we actually needed our phone lights to guide us out of the cavern! We hadn't planned on checking out Petra By Night because I had heard it wasn't worth the price. Luckily, we got treated to a free show since they were setting up the candles throughout the Siq.

The next morning, we walked through the Siq along the Main Trail, but then took the Monastery Route this time. We heard that there were around 900 steps to reach the top, so we made a game of counting 100 steps at a time to keep our spirits high. In the end, it was WAY easier than the hike we'd done the day before!

We got there before most of the crowds had arrived and there was a nice little cafe to sit, have a drink, and enjoy the views. Once it started getting crowded, we trekked down. The most annoying thing about this route was all the people taking donkeys up to the top. The path was small and jumping out the way got super old super quick. 

Once we got back down, we had some time before we needed to check out, so we explored some random caves and Jason climbed up to another temple.

We had such a great few days exploring Petra - and we barely scratched the surface! It was nice and cool when we went as well, so I was really happy with the timing of our visit.

Up Next: We drove to Wadi Rum for a unique experience - staying in a Bedouin camp!