We spent two weeks in the Gilroy area of California. We wanted to explore some of the coast and hit a National Park there. When I pick places to stay, one of the things I look at is cell service strength. We have to have decent Verizon service so work can be done. In three years, we’ve only had to move once due to lack of cell single. We almost had to move from this area. We weren’t that far from a big city, but there were so many people the bandwidth was completely bogged down. It was bad. The area it’s self was pretty good! We enjoyed it!

Welcome to the Garlic Capital of the World! Gilroy is all about the garlic. You can get garlic flavored…everything. And I do mean…everything. We tried the garlic ice cream. The garlic flavor was so light that we couldn’t really taste the garlic much.

This entire part of California is a heavy agricultural area. If a house or business isn’t sitting on some land…it’s being used to grow something. One of our favorite things to do was try and guess what was growing in the different fields. Have you ever seen artichoke plants? They look pretty crazy!

All those fields of veggies and fruits meant tons of little farm stands…and some not so little stands. Casa de Fruta is one of those touristy places we usually try to avoid, but a friend of ours told us we had to see it. She was right! We stopped on our way out of the area and it was pretty cool! So many different local fruits, veggies, nuts, and candies! I’d never seen so many different flavors and styles of garlic. There were honey, jams, jellies, dates and nuts…I could have spent several hours looking at everything.

We had to stock up on a few things. We could have easily spent way too much on all of the yummy looking treats here!

We found a fish-n-chips truck called Ketch It outside one of those fruit and veggie places. Guys…it was the best fried fish we’ve ever had. Ever. And the garlic fries…top notch! We went back twice…we would have gone one more time, but the timing was off. We will forever compare all other fish-n-chips to these. We also found a burger place. The Habit. It’s fast food, but better. We like them better than In & Out and Five Guys and so far in California we’ve seen Habit stores in most areas we’re staying in. We try not to eat out too often, but it does happen.

We spent a day driving highway one. The road is as snaky as you’ve heard and the views…are even better than you think they’re going to be. Luckily, there were tons of pull-offs so we could safely gawk. And we did. We gawked and ogled and said wow more times than we thought we would.

To be honest, it was better than I thought it would be. I’d seen pictures, but you know we compare everything to Alaska and Maine. I thought…how could it be anywhere near as great as Alaska or Maine…but Guys, it is. It’s gorgeous! And the color of the water even on a cloudy day was so pretty. We started near the Monterrey Bay area and made it down to the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see the little waterfall. We had to stand in line to get a glimpse of it. The crowd was not the best but it was pretty though! It was worth wading through the crowd and standing in line to get a glimpse.

Garrapata State Park was probably my favorite stop of the day. I love love love all of the flowers right next to the beach! I mean…look at those colors!! When we started out that morning we were pretty much on our own. Not that many people out and about. But, by mid-morning the people found us and we decided to call it quits on the exploring.

Pinnacles National Park was a surprise. I actually found it after I’d made our reservations. It was a happy coincidence that we were close enough to go check out Pinnacles NP. We only got to visit once, but there’s enough to do for several visits. Pinnacles NP is part of an old volcanic field that sits near the San Andreas Fault Zone. There’s not a lot of parking at this NP. You have to park at the visitor center then ride a shuttle bus back to the hiking. So be prepared for that.

We were about a mile into a five mile hike when Nicholas started not feeling well. He pushed on a little more, but just wasn’t feeling it. Nicholas, Alex, and I ended up turning around while Jerl and Charles finished out the hike. We were so bummed to miss the hike, but it was a really hot day and the heat was making Nicholas feel even worse. Luckily, we’d packed a lunch so the three of us made our way back down to the visitor center where we sat in the shade and had our lunch while we waited. The food and the cooler temps in the shade helped.

The main reason we wanted to visit Pinnacles was to see the California condors. Pinnacles National Park is a nesting area for them and is one of very few release sites in the US for the big birds. Weighing in at around twenty pounds with a wingspan of nine and a half feet, the California condor is one of the largest birds in North America. They’re certainly not the prettiest bird…but they are awe inspiring.

While the little boys and I were relaxing in the shade, Jerl and Charles were working hard on the trail. Check out those foot holds in the pic above! I’m a little jealous I didn’t get to finish this trail. It looks totally awesome! Jerl and Charles came back with tales of how difficult it was all while raving about the views!

It’s a thistle…but it’s pink. I’d never seen a pink thistle before. They’re usually purple…but the ones at Pinnacles were all this vibrant pink color. Love! The other beauties pictured above were also at Pinnacles!

These pretties were all down highway one. I love them so much! I mean…Guys…it’s purple with a pink glow!!!

While this area presented a challenge with cell service, we really enjoyed our time in Gilroy, CA. So much so that we would consider going back one day even though it was extremely congested with people.

See y’all down the road!

#westernloop2018