Motorcycling Through Lava Beds National Monument

The longest day's ride of my birthday motorcycle trip was 280 miles, traveling from Bend, Oregon, to Fall River Mills, California. This stretch of our trip not only set a record for the most mileage I've put on my bike in one day, it was the first time we've had our bikes in California! It …

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Joshin’ Around in Joshua Tree

While we continue to mask, socially distance from others, wash our hands, work from home, and go months on end without gathering with friends or family, I cannot entirely live in a sterile hole. Working for a health care organization and helping to communicate all things COVID-19 to our doctors, nursing staff, pharmacists, admin teams, …

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Afternoon Among the Coastal Redwoods

In addition to driving along the coast from Carmel-by-the-Sea north to San Francisco, there are some interesting inland sights worth exploring. After our morning on the 17-Mile Drive and lunch in Monterey, we continued north on route 1 until Santa Cruz when we caught a smaller road that traveled inland and to higher elevations as …

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Places to Eat in Monterey, California

After a fun morning completing the 17-Mile Drive, we headed a very short distance north to Monterey for lunch. It was a beautiful and sunny day as well as a holiday so I shouldn’t have been surprised by all the traffic and people, but it was nuts! We drove around for a while looking for …

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California’s 17-Mile Drive

After incredible days driving the Big Sur coast and hiking in Pinnacles National Park, we decided to spend the last day of our long weekend taking a road trip from Carmel-by-the-Sea back to San Francisco for our 9:30 p.m. flight home. I had no idea how expensive it would be to stay in Carmel and …

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Hiking in Pinnacles National Park

Our travels have taken us to some beautiful places, both at home and abroad. While I’ve always found those outdoor experiences to be highlights of our trips, it wasn’t until we moved to the Pacific Northwest and really picked up hiking as a hobby that I’ve intentionally planned vacations around spending time in nature. Meaning, …

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Driving Big Sur

Brian and I had Presidents' Day off and United miles burning a hole in our pocket so we booked a getaway to a new area of California for both of us—Big Sur. Brian had met a customer in Monterey once, but I’d never spent time south of San Francisco and was looking forward to exploring …

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