All refreshed from our last four weeks immersed in nature - from the Oregon coast to Yosemite National Park - we thought we were due for a little city mischief. So, we repacked the car and headed off towards San Francisco. Jess's friend, Kendra, whom she met during her time in Sheffield, happened to be in the area visiting her boyfriend so we planned a rendezvous. We thought it couldn't hurt to take a minor detour through the heart of California's wine region, th...

Feeling pretty re-energised after some much needed warm weather, a taste of the Californian countryside and a magnificent three day trek through Yosemite National Park, we're now on our way back to the coast towards San Francisco. As soon as we heard the National Parks were open again after the recent government shutdown, we decided to head inland to visit Yosemite. Over the coastal mountain range we were finally able to shed the thermals and ugg boots! The weat...

Known as the tallest and amongst the largest and most ancient trees in the world, the Redwoods of California were just begging to be hugged... And what better way to see them than in the Redwood National and State forests, which contain around half of California's Redwoods! They also happened to be directly on our route from Oregon and proved a great introduction to California's natural beauty. Due to the US government shut down over the past month, our biggest c...

The Oregon coast turned out to be much more spectacular than we ever imagined, and some of our photos will back us up. Stunningly rugged coastlines, blue skies, redwood forests and tons of wildlife were the theme, although our initial interest in visiting Oregon was for the craft brewery scene. All we saw of Washington state was the freeway, and not because we hadn't heard good things. We just decided that we'd have to skip a few things in order to fit the whole...

Keiryn and Yolande are two dear friends we met during our time in Banff. They had moved to Victoria, British Columbia over the spring, and were heading to Nova Scotia to visit Yo's family at the end of September. We wanted to catch them in Victoria before they left, so we decided to B line it from Jasper straight to Vancouver Island, but not without a short visit to the much anticipated Okanagan Valley. The drive across British Columbia was beautiful with windin...