norcal and home

once we hit california, we took some scenic routes through the redwood forests.  pretty amazing how big some of the trees are.

we had lunch at a visitor's center along the avenue of the giants.  we had a couple of blue jays keep us company and try to make off with our food.

the visitor's center had lots of hands-on exhibits.  cody loved all the different things he could touch.

there was a short nature walk across from the visitor's center that was just beautiful.

we made a final stop on the redwood portion of our journey and drove through a redwood tree.  it was a pretty snug fit!  someone volunteered to take a picture for us while we drove through, but she hit the wrong button, so all we have is out the front windshield on the way in.

we drove through some beautiful wine country as we got closer to san francisco.

and finally made it back to san fran to drive across the golden gate bridge

we stayed with marianne, landon, and capri in san jose for the last night of our journey.  we're so glad landon's intership coincided with our trip so we could see them twice!

we went to the monterey bay aquarium as our last stop on the way(ish) home. 

we asked some guy to take our picture with the whole aquarium logo on the building and this is what we got.

the tide pool was cool and pretty shocking when a new wave crashed down every few seconds.

cody really liked the places where he could touch the animals.  he got to feel some starfish, seaweed, and a few sea cucumbers.  he was so gentle.

the sea turtle was pretty entertaining.  he kept scratching his neck on this rock.

the 'jellyfish experience' was super fun.  they had so many different kinds of jellyfish to look at (no touching of course) and some fun interactive things, like this one where you could push down on a little column and make your jellyfish move around.

cody was pretty tired by the end of the aquarium, so he got a pretty good nap as we took off for home.  it was a long last six hours from there.  we were sure glad when we pulled into our garage and were home at last.  after a month in arizona and a week in northern california and oregon, i think we'll just stay put at our own house for a while now.

and of course, we got a few new magnets along the way.

- fisherman's wharf in san francisco

- a baby loaf from the tillamook cheese factory

- the california redwoods

- portland's international rose test garden

- monterey bay aquarium