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Wanderlust Wednesday // The Pacific Northwest

Crater Lake National Park by 3dphoto.net on Flickr.

We have been having fun trying to figure out what the heck we are going to for our honeymoon over the past year, but as the wedding draws near we have had to really focus, and finally decide. So we have chosen...drum roll...a road trip through the Pacific Northwest - hitting up California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, Canada.

And it is now super official since we booked our first reservation yesterday. We booked an ocean front cabin at the Iron Springs Resort in Washington! They were voted one of the best places to get a cabin in the West by Sunset Magazine. Here is their website (be prepared to drool over the amazing beach views and fun cozy cabins, perfect for getting away from it all).

http://www.ironspringsresort.com/

Our plan is to drive up to Vancouver and back all the while enjoying all the great parks and views along the way. We plan to camp, hike, drink, eat good food, enjoy the scenery, relax and do it all our own way from the comfort of our car. All I have to say is this is going to be one epic road trip.

Resting in the Arms of the World by Lulu the Bold on Flickr.

Here are a few stops we have in mind:
Yosemite National Park, CA
Bodie State Historic Park, CA
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Crater Lake, OR
Eugene, OR
Seattle, WA
Lynden, WA
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Lynn Canyon Park, BC, Canada
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
Goldstream Provincial Park, BC, CanadaVictoria, BC, Canada
Port Angeles, WA
Olympic National Park, WA
Copalis Beach, WA
Portland, OR
Brandon, OR
Redwoods National Forest, CA
Patricks Point State Park, CA
Humboldt, CA
San Fransisco, CA
Monterey, CA
Big Sur, CA

You can check out all the places we are dying to see on my Tumblr!
http://maddreamdesign.tumblr.com/

Do you guys have any stops, parks or beaches to suggest along the way? We would love to here your favorites! Leave a comment below.

xo,

Mad Style // Beach Style

Paddling season is up and running with the third race of the season happening tomorrow. One thing the paddling season brings are those at the beach all day kind of days.

Summer is upon us and in California we have been having some great weather, but we also get a huge marine layer in the am, June gloom and eventually wonderful warm nights. So what should a girl pack for a whole day at the beach? I am talking waking up at 3am and not getting home till 6pm kinda beach day. I know, not your average day at the beach, but they are the best!

These are my favorite essentials for spending a day at the beach with my paddling ohana and getting a work out in while I am at it!

Inspiration:
(once the sun comes out)

I love this...hat, chambray cover up and a comfy pair of shorts = perfect.

The faves:

*At 3am I have got my leggings and big jacket on. I usually stuff my feet into my comfy uggs, grab my beach bag and go. There is no time for hair, so I almost always have a hat on.

Jacket: Patagonia Down Sweater Full-Zip Hoodie
Leggings: Lululemon Wunder Under
Bag: Roxy Start Stop Bag
Hat: Rip Curl Island Fever Trucker Hat

*We race in the mornings, so it is still cooler with the marine layer, but I always make sure to have sunscreen on, along with my favorite bathing suit top. We are all about cross and racer backs when it comes to tops.

Bathing Suit: Patagonia Print Kupala Top
Towel: Land's End Dot Beach Towel
Sunscreen: Neutrogena Suncare

NAC surfing in Santa Barbra, CA:

Photo Credit: C. Silvester

*After our race it is all about showering off and getting some food before the guys get back. The sun is usually out by now and it is warming up so I love an outfit like my inspiration above or a good sundress. Fun sunglasses are a must.

Sandals: Rainbows - Expresso Leather
Chambray Shirt: J. Crew Selvedge Chambray
Sunglasses: Sabre
T-Shirt: Rip Curl X Heather Brown Tee Into the Sea
+ my fave pair of denim shorts!

Photo Credit

Now after completing this Friday's favorites for the beach, all I can think about is August! On my birthday, I will be off to Hawaii for a full 10 days...GET ME THERE!

Happy Friday!!!

Falling for Friday // 3-22-13

(1) Pete's // (2) Busy Bee Cafe // (3) Betty Belts // (4) The Pier // (5) City Hall

Today I am featuring my favorite things to do while I am here in Ventura, Ca.
Right now I am in Ventura at the Craftcation Conference! You can find out more here.

Ventura, California
Ventura is located about an hour north of Los Angeles, Ca and about 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara, Ca. It is a beach town known for its great surf and their wonderful downtown area with great food and shops.

Here are my favorite things to do in Ventura!

1. Pete's Breakfast House
We always leave so early to go to Ventura, so the first thing on the list is always breakfast.
And it is always Pete's!

2. Main Street - Downtown Ventura
Shopping and Dining
Antique Stores
A good lunch - Busy Bee Cafe, Nature's Grill
Craft shops - Betty Belts, Superbuzzy
Fun retail stores

3. The Pier
Paddle
Watch the surfers
Enjoy the beach

4. The Architecture
Gorgeous buildings all around town that are so hard to miss.
The Mission San Buenaventura
Ventura City Hall building

If you ever get the chance to go or enjoy it as much as I do, you will find it is a great place for some R&R. Who doesn't love some of that?

Happy Friday!

M E X I C O // 2 0 1 2

This trip was magical (for more reasons than one)!

Sunset at El Pabellon

I don't know if it was the the amazing rehash of our trip 7 years ago, the engagement, the places we have fallen in love with, the places that we hold deep in our memories and heart from these places, that new love feeling we still had 7years ago, the allure of Mexico itself, or the amazing off the beaten path adventure feeling you get when we go to these place, but I think it is a little bit of everything.

Mexico has been high on our list and in hearts for some time now. It had been 5 years since we had crossed that border, and a lot has happened to our beloved Mexico during that time. The growth there is insane.

A ship beached and abandoned in the middle of nowhere used to be the view of a small little lane of houses, and has now grown into a sleepy little fishing village stretching about a half mile. This would be Shipwrecks (or Freighters). Now probably a favorite place in the world for the time being.

We had just come up from El Pabellón, arguably, the best nicest campsite in Northern Baja. Here you find a little spot in the middle of nowhere where you can only see beach fro miles and you are the only two people on it for miles. Nice drivable hard sand and soft sand dunes that open up to a nice flat campground that is definitely geared toward fishing and RVing. Here Ozzie played for hours, we went for a beach run, we made chocolate chip pancakes, took tons of pictures and enjoyed the overcast, yet pink sunset. Dolphins came to say hello and I was able to have a hot shower in a clean bathroom!

Views of El Pabellon

El Pabellón is right outside of San Quintin where we fulled up and made our way north back up toward the border. About an hour north we came into Camalu on Highway 1. Here we turned left and hit the dirt for the coast, stopping at Shipwrecks, Robert's Left and finally coming to Cuatro Casas.

Perfect Baja truck

Robert's Left

Quatro Casas is probably my favorite place in Baja so far. Dolphins, high cliffs, a little cove, perfect waves, perfect sunsets, and make you want to get up early sunrises. This was the perfect spot to celebrate our engagement. Rum and Coke, steak, bonfire, hot pink sunset, dying winds, crashing waves and a warm bed to sleep in with my boy and my dog. We have lots of pictures from this spot 7 years ago because it was freezing so we ended up in Jimi's truck with the heater and music blasting watching the sunset. These are good photos from a happy time and are forever engrained in my head. I think that is what makes this place so special. We now have a ton of new photos, same place, different day but still a very happy time.

Baja Doggie, Ozzie

Sunset at Cuatro Casas

Sunrise at Cuatro Casas

Me on the pebble beach of Cuatro Casas

Mexico = Happiness
Happiness = beach, off road, tacos, dolphins, things that take your breathe away

No matter how many times you see a sunset, you never grow tired of it. We still sit there in awe of the colors and the beauty of it. That is my favorite thing about traveling, seeing all the places that take your breathe away, no matter how many times you see it.

¡Mexico, hasta luego!

Kona withdrawls

Still having withdrawls. I had forgotten how much I love the Big Island. It is still my favorite, yet I have not been to Maui or Kaua'i (I should really go!). It was so great to be back after so many years and I have to say it is still generally the same place I fell in love with the first time I went.

Here are a few places to check out if you are ever on the Big Island or in Kona.

#1 - The King Kam - The King Kamehameha Hotel is right at the site of where King Kamehameha resided when he prospered on the Big Island. This hotel is all about Big Island history and royalty. The bay in which The King Kam sits on offers a gorgeous white sand beach, the picturesque view of the Ahu'ena Heiau, the historic temple reconstructed by King Kamehameha himself. In the lobby they offer 20 paintings depicting the history of King Kamehameha, his predecessors and of the island, all painted by a local artist, along with tons of photographs, artifacts and a mural.

#2 - Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Park - The City of Refuge - This is considered a sacred site as it was a place of sanctuary, where you could be saved. It was also Royal grounds in which chiefs came to visit and the many ki'i house the bones of these chiefs, that infuse the area with their mana, or spirit. Another great historical and spiritual site.

#3 - Waipi'o Valley - Hike down into this gorgeous valley and check out the waterfall, the black sand beach, the dense forest and river that make up this lush valley deep set in high sea cliffs. The hike back up is brutal, but if you have 4 wheel drive and a car that can make the climb and the trek through large mud puddles, that is a plus. Well worth the hike though, if you are on foot. The hike starts at the top of the southern lookout point, which also has great views.

#4 - Mauna Kea - Also, a sacred place, as are all the peaks in Hawai'i. Best known for being the highest peak in all of the state of Hawai'i. It is home to The Mauna Kea Observatories. Lots of stars to see and the drive is pretty awesome.

#5 - South Point - Down here you are at the most Southern point in the USA. There are giant sea cliffs that drop off into the ocean. Lots of fishing and jumping off of rocks happening here! There is also a green sand beach in which you can hike the 3 miles to or catch a ride with a few of the locals that take tourists to and from the beach for a small fee (it is worth it). The drive through this area is gorgeous! Lots of farm land and lots of untamed land that is rough, rugged and beautiful.

Here are some photos of our trip. Enjoy!

30 feet up at South Point

Green Sand Beach, South Point

Honaunau

Jimi on beach in front of the King Kam

Kona, Big Island, Hawai'i

Jumping off South Point

Kona Sunset

Waipi'o Valley

Waipi'o Lookout

SanO Sundays

Our favorite thing about paddling is riding waves. Hands down. One of the best places to ride waves in a canoe in Orange County, Ca is San Onofre State Beach. This kind of surfing is what you see everyone on those canoes in Waikiki doing, catching waves from way outside and being able to ride them all the way into shore. For me this is the best of both worlds...surfing and paddling, can't get any better than that, in my opinion.

Photo Credit: Kel Thompson

My love for the ocean started when I was really young. I wanted to be a lifeguard at the age of three, swim lessons were my favorite and I started swimming on my own just after I turned three. My sister and I were in the water 24/7 in the summer with Jr. Guards, swim team, the beach, and our neighborhood pool. I started surfing in Jr. high every summer and started paddling my sophomore year of high school, so now I was on the water almost every day of the week year round. My senior year of high school I started surfing 3 times a week and paddling 6 days a week and that lasted through the first couple of years of college. Once I started art school at CSULB surfing dropped off for me, but paddling and my love for the ocean still hold true.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

I have never understood the surfer attitude that is given off when you are not someone who is there everyday or is just there to have fun, like the idea that this is their beach and why are you here, even though I had been coming to the same exact spot to go to the beach every summer since before I can remember. We still get the same attitude now as paddlers, or stand up paddlers, from surfers, even though a lot of us surf and have the same love of the waves and ocean that surfers do.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

Paddling was an easy choice for me because of the community, the history, the culture and the boat. Believe it or not I feel so much more comfortable in a boat, then on a board! There is always someone to paddle with and there are always dozens of people who are willing to go surf SanO with you in a canoe. We were able to muster up three surf canoes, 3 standup boards, a surf ski and a dozen surf boards on a trailer made for fun. We had people from all different clubs down there taking rides together and sharing some of the most gorgeous day! SanO days maybe only happen 2 -3 times a year for us but they are always well worth the wait and no one can get us down on days like that.

Photo Credit: Molly Bishop

It is whoever is having the most fun right? Its all about the people you meet, the experiences you find and the days you will never forget...that is what paddling is all about. xo