The California Goodbye.

 

Morro Rock, CA - not a bad morning breakfast spot. 

A wonderful brunch/goodbye for now with the one and only Judy Starr. 

 

Couldn't leave CA without saying goodbye to our favorite Elephant Seals. 

A special thanks to the Johnson's for letting us stay at their beautiful place off of hwy 1 with a backyard hike up into the clouds.

Hwy 1 drive for the day up to Santa Cruz. 

Great hike and visit with Felix's cousin Patrick in Santa Cruz! 

Decided to upgrade our van after we saw this sweet ride! :) Thankfully all of our stuff still fit. 

Mountain biking and city biking all of Santa Cruz for the day! 

Fika break in the van. 

Mystery Spot was a must. 

Tourist. 

Enjoying the best wine gifted by Judy Starr at Mt. St Helena. 

Returned to the crag where Felix first fell in love with climbing! The bubble at Mt. St. Helena. 

Ready to be a dad? (Not currently pregnant)

Wonderful time in Sacramento with some of our favorites, Sean and Vanesa! 

The Grotto crag outside of Jamestown CA, a truly magical place to climb, we spent the entire day there and had the place to ourselves.

Our girl Shilpa living her best life! She was the best host for a couple days while we got ready to spend a week in Yosemite. 

Yosemite week begins! Had an incredible group of people that came in and out all week to climb and hang out with us! 

All smiles while climbing! 

Michelle elegantly walking up a mild high ball. 

Michelle making the traverse look easy. 

Rebecca getting after it! 

A beautiful boulder for crack climbers. 

Felix and the boys enjoyed the paparazzi off of the lower yosemite falls trail to cheer them on while they bouldered. 

Put our friends Cody and Jenny on some routes at Swan Slab!

The nutcracker crew!

Loved being back on the wall with some exposure! 

Pure happiness. 

Top out brews and views! 

Chilly Eric in the frigid 70 degree weather... 

The top of the climb!

The best climbing crew!

"Get my pencil jump"

Felix embracing the unemployed life..while being gifted with a very thoughtful gift from his work. 

The famous Scott Mellon gifted us with his presence!

The newest obsession..if you know, you know. 

Every view in the valley is breathtaking. 

Sarah getting after it on a finger crack! Felix capturing the try hard. 

An interesting start to Central Pillar of Frenzy, saw a cub at the base before walking up to the wall!

Views during the climb! A five pitch route that Michelle and I switched leads on while Felix climbed in the middle and graciously carried an extra rope we needed for the descent. 

Meadow hangs post climb, attempted to find our friend Eric who was on day 2 on Salathe Wall up El Cap. 

Headlamps on El Cap at night blending in with stars (they came out later). 

A wonderful visit from Katie and her daughter Laura!

Felix enjoyed scaring and entertaining Laura all day. 

I mean, dang - that view though. 

 

Friday morning climb up Werner's Ant Tree to Surprise that Felix led beautifully. 

Belay station views. 

The wedding crew arrived! 

Wedding day hangs with the best. 

Felix and Ben looking sharp. 

To say the least we had a pretty phenomenal time.

The most beautiful wedding celebrating Caitlin and Art! 

California sure is a hard state to say goodbye to! It has been the place Felix and I met and fell in love in, the place where we have built the most incredible group of friends, the place where we both fell in love with climbing and it will always be where our first home is. This first month in the van has been different than we imagined since it was so full of visiting friends and family, seeing multiple people a day, often waking up in one city/town and sleeping in another trying to fit it all in. It has felt like a whirlwind that we are just now sitting down and soaking it all in. We are currently in the small town of Mariposa, CA outside of Yosemite on a rainy day which gave us the time to slow down and catch up. I could write more about our travels here but most of it is said through the pictures above! We plan to spend another 2 days climbing in the Valley before we head up to Oregon, driving during the rainy days that are in the forecast for the end of the week. We are very sad to leave this beautiful state but equally excited to move on to new places! I thought being this close to where our home was for the past few years would make me homesick and crave being in a "home" but I am surprised and happy to say that that is not the case, the van and the nomadic life we have feels more normal and natural than I could have imagined. The next 4 weeks will be mostly just Felix and I before we head to Texas for my brother's wedding! Thanks for following along, I hope to return to updating the blog approx. every 2 weeks, this one went a little longer since we were just having too much fun :).