Rocchin' California, Part 2!

 Now where were we.....oh, yes, dying as we walked back up the 308 steps!  At this point, we really wanted to sit by the ocean.  So, off we went!

Something else different about the west coast...there are cows at the beach!

We made it!

Touched the Pacific!

So happy!

We didn't see any sea lions....but did see this super cool crab.

Hey, dude.

Never, ever did I imagine that I would be able to sit in front of the Pacific Ocean.  What a great trip!

 Mike and I are both in agreement that our next day was our favorite.  We drove north to check out the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve north of Guerneville.

It was SO quiet and peaceful!

I sent my dad a few of these pictures...as a past logger, he was quite intrigued!

Parson Jones - tallest tree in the park- it's taller than a football field is long!

Such a cool picture...showed many of the highlights of the last thousand years that these trees have been alive!

I love trees!

Oldest Tree in the grove - this is named after a lumberman who chose to preserve this portion of the Redwoods in the 1870s.  Thank goodness for that!!!

We love Selfies!

The Icicle Tree - did some research on this.  Redwoods will grow the "icicles" to help protect themselves again fires and high winds.  This icicle used to be much larger but "icicle poachers" have stolen pieces of it over the years to build furniture.  Humans stink.

 And the last leg of our journey took us to the Russian River.   This is the second largest river in California (after the Sacramento River).  Mike knew he wanted to visit the Russian River Brewery so we thought it would be cool to canoe down it!  Here we go!

Some more wildlife!

Yo, what's up?

"When can we go to the brewery?"

An Osprey!

I was fiddling around with the camera....and not rowing!

Mama Duck and her Babies!

He's back!

More wildlife!

This was so strange...at several spots along the river, we saw these "ghost town" beaches.  Lots of umbrellas, chairs, tents, but no people!  I wonder if it's a weekend place and since we were rowing by late Sunday, everyone had left for the weekend.  We guessed they just left their things there all week.  So weird!

'Merica

So in love with California!

And yes, we made it to the brewery!!

Beautiful view during our flight home!

Seemed pretty perfect -- got to see the sunset during the last leg of our journey.

Life is good.

 As mentioned in Part 1 of our California adventure, the kiddos had a pretty spectacular time themselves.  Thanks to our lovely baby-sitters (and cat sitters!), we were able to feel comfortable and at ease during our entire trip because of all the fun texts and pictures we got.  Here are just a few!

DaVinci Center!

FaceTime was always super fun!

 It was a great trip for all involved.  THANK you to the VILLAGE that helped take care of the house, children, and kitties!  Mike and I are back and ready to tackle Summer 2K17 with the Rocc Flock!  Long Live Summer!!!!