We stopped in Monterey, California to visit the Aquarium. They had a really interesting tank with a kelp forest in it, and from the aquarium's balconies facing the ocean we were able to see seals and sea otters. Plus - as this photo can attest to - I am a sucker for jellyfish. They are just so mesmerizing, and so unlike any other animals.
These are just a couple of shots of beautiful scenery along the highway. The whole trip was gorgeous, and right along the ocean for days of driving, but for some reason we didn't take a lot of pictures of it - too busy just soaking it in, I guess!
Balboa Park in San Diego has a world-famous zoo, a bunch of museums, and several parks. We spent our first day there. After the zoo we hit the Natural History Museum, and then came across an area full of art shops where the artists were actively working on things while we browsed - it was pretty cool. We ended up buying a pair of small glass vases from a glassblower there.
This year the road trip Carter and I took was from San Diego, California to Portland, Oregon - the majority of the Pacific Coast Highway. Carter took this photo on the flight to San Diego - I'm not sure exactly what we were passing over at the time, but it sure looks cool!
Actually, I just did some poking around on Google Maps and I think I may have figured out where this is - it appears to be Barett Lake, about 30 miles east of San Diego.
On this trip we passed west-to-east through Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. We saw TONS of wildlife, but didn't take a lot of photos. We must have seen a hundred alligators while driving Loop Road through Big Cypress. And it's hard to tell scale from that photo, but that turtle's shell was easily two feet in diameter.
As the parallel to the sunrise photos we took on the Atlantic coast of Florida, we also got some sunset photos on the gulf coast side. These were from a park called Honeymoon Island State Park, north of Clearwater.
A lot of Florida state parks have trails that are basically boardwalks through the wetlands, which is a great way to get out into that area and see things you might not otherwise see. But a lot of the parks *also* have these signs warning you not to "molest" the alligators. Such an odd choice of words. :P
When we passed through Orlando we spent a day at Universal Studios. Carter and I both aren't very good with rides (we get motion sick too easily) - we went on a single ride when we first got there, and immediately afterwards decided that we were done with rides for the day. I know, we're a couple of sissies. But who wants to spend a whole day feeling nauseous? Instead we walked around and looked at everything - it's a pretty impressive place! The Harry Potter area was pretty impressive, and we love the Simpsons and really enjoyed that area as well.
When I was a teenager my family went to Orlando for a vacation, and on the day we were all supposed to go to Kennedy Space Center I was sick and had to stay back at the hotel. I've been upset about it even since. :P I love everything to do with space, and it was great to finally be able to get out to KSC after all these years.
On our second night we were staying right on the beach in Melbourne, Florida and got up early to head down to the beach and watch the sun come up. It turned out to be a pretty spectacular sunrise, too.
