It took two days to drive from Bakersfield, California to Portland, Oregon, so Eric and I tried to make the most of it while on the road.  We drove through Napa Valley, quickly stopping to taste some wine, and spent the night on the Avenue of the Giants, among California's huge redwood trees.

I’ve heard rumors of the Greatest Family Reunion Ever (GFRE) from the time I married Eric.  Over Memorial Day weekend, we arrived in Fresno and I met much of my extended family for the first time and was finally inducted into this very welcoming and very large family.

Yosemite is not an easy place to describe with words. You have to go yourself to experience the feeling that, as a sign read, "only the soul can comprehend what the eye sees."

There is one thing that everyone from California told us we must do upon visiting their state - drive the coast and stay at Big Sur.  And as promised, Big Sur and the rest of California's coast demanded a lot of noticing and appreciation.

Continuing on our tour of California, Eric and I visited my cousin, Carrie, in Santa Barbara, a city I absolutely fell in love with.  Still maintaining the Southern California feel with the beaches, Spanish architecture, and beautiful weather, Santa Barbara is a much smaller city than San Diego, with lots to explore in the surrounding areas.

I'm always a sucker for learning about traditional cultures and, while in California, I've wanted to learn more about the Native Americans who inhabited this land long before the Europeans set foot here; so while on our way to Bakersfield to visit my aunt and uncle for the weekend, I Googled, "Native American sites near Bakersfield," and Carrizo Plain National Monument came up as a hit, with the painted rock as the main attraction.

Our first week in America was spent in Southern California, surrounded by beaches and great Mexican food.  We certainly understand why our many friends from the area are always bragging about San Diego. 

A month across America. And of all the things to do before we leave, I stayed up late to make a color-coded map.