I will never forget this day

The next morning, we got up even before the cats did to catch a one-way flight to Santa Ana (aka John Wayne) International Airport. I'd been thinking about doing a road trip up Highway 1 for a few months. It seemed like I was seeing it everywhere and mah boy Thomas Rhett kept telling me about it every time we'd  sing together. 

Then my mom told us she needed to get a new car—funnily and quite seriously, the little Z3 my dad got before he got really sick doesn't have a enough trunk space. A bunch of various family members wanted it. I told my mom the only people she could justify giving it to, at least for now, had to be us. After all,  I was the one who rode around in it with my dad with our top off.  I was the one who watched him wash and wax it in the driveway.  I was the one who married a man equally fastidious about car care. It wasn't hard to convince her. 

Raz and I batted around a few ideas as far as timing, and I plugged some dates into my trusty Alaska Airlines app one night over dinner. When I discovered a $64 flight the day after our anni, we booked it. Fate. 

I also made us a Google doc outlining our journey. To be honest, I built the framework and let Raz plan the stops and time between them. After that, he volleyed it back to me, and my Travel Agent alter ego, Roxana, booked the accommodations. If you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly "happy campers," so a combination of airbnbs and hotel/motels were well within Roxana's purview. 

We landed in Orange County and were packed and ready to hit the road from my mom and George's house before noon. We gave ourselves seven days to get back to Seattle. Here's where we knew we needed to get to each night before the sun set:

• Night 1: Santa Barbara
• Night 2: Carmel
• Night 3: Bodega Bay (we stayed in Occidental and it was so weird and amazing)
• Night 4: Eureka 
• Night 5: Bandon, OR
• Night 6: Lincoln City
• Night 7: HOME

Along the shore in Ventura, CA

Ready to get this party started

Exploring the Santa Barbara marina

Where Oprah and I might stroll

Beach steps in Santa Barbara—I had to pull over a few times

Starting up those is not comforting

Mountains just north of Santa Barbara

Bev at one of many vista points

Everywhere we looked was just epic

McWay Falls in Big Sur

Taking it all in—my hat is from Urban and on sale for $10 if you want it

Can I move in under the waterfall?

Found a nice person to take our photo

Bixby Bridge in Big Sur

Just north of Big Sur

Hairpin turns on the way to San Francisco—this is where I almost lost my cookies, and I don't get carsick Stalking baby elk just north of Eureka (where they have the BEST Best Western Plus and Cambodian food—trust me)

Just over the border of Oregon on the 101

The cutest house I made Raz drive back to in Bandon just so I could take a pic

Celebrating the 4th in Lincoln City

Almost home and feeling a little emo about it all—check my Instagram for the whole little essay

A few Dos and Don'ts:

• DO take as much time as you can. It would have been great to have a few more days for some of our favorite places along the way, but we treated this as an intro to where we wanted to return.
• DO get recommendations from locals. We took some incredible back roads and had a few delicious pastries because we asked questions. 
• DO pull over. A lot.
• DO take the detour onto Seventeen Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. Very worth it.
• DO take the detour onto the Avenue of the Giants, which parallels the 101. It's otherworldly. 
• DON'T rent a Mustang. We had a fun little game counting them all. 
• DON'T invest much time in Malibu. It's extremely overrated. Unless you go to Nobu to join the Kardashian/Jenners for one of their private back room parties. 
• DON'T forget to ask your friends for reccos before you leave.
• DON'T be afraid to take wayyyyyy too many photos (I'll probably be posting mine forever).
• DON'T underestimate the power of Yelp in random towns to tell you where the best places to eat are along the way (hello, Annie's Cambodian in Eureka, CA—even thinking about it is making me drool in my mouth).
• DON'T forget the tunes, even if they're throwback mix CDs! 

We didn't stop in San Francisco because my bff was selfish enough to be in Europe while we were driving through ( who does she think she is?). If we were to do it again, we might stop there for a few days. We might not. We weren't terribly tired in spite of chilling with only each other for seven days straight, having a terrible radio signal most of the time, and forgetting our CDs.

We've discussed it, and this trip probably comes in at #2 behind our honeymoon, which is nearly impossible to beat. We knew it would be once-in-a-lifetime driving my dad's car home to Seattle where I know he'd be thrilled for it to live. I'm so glad we jumped at the opportunity and got to make such powerful anniversary memories. This is a tradition I know we'll keep going—the tradition of adventure instead things each year.

Anything I missed? Anything you want to know about our trip? Let me know in the comments!