Lake Thun

I know I am all over the board with my travel posts lately. I still have a couple more places in Switzerland and all of España to get through before I return to Europe on July 10th. Hard to imagine that in less than a month I will be traipsing around The Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland again! This time to celebrate the birthday of the sweetest sister and best friend a girl could ask for - we are so blessed!

Back to today's post. Lake Thun. This was one of my most favorite days in Europe (rivaled by this one). Everything was perfect - the weather, the scenery, the homemade sandwiches - everything we did that day was done at a relaxed pace with no agenda or set schedule. It was such a memorable day of spending time with two friends - one old, one new - and sharing our experiences, our laughter, and our hearts.

This day also produced some of my favorite photos. The photo above is hanging in my parents' living room. It's a beauty and brings back memories of a day well spent.

point loma

After spending the day in San Diego we made two short stops before heading back north to Orange. First up was Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument. What a picturesque place this was with its rocky shoreline and stunning views. We walked around the park to take in all that it offered and I was able to snap a few shots before we hit the road to our next destination - La Jolla.

Looking at these photos makes me want to travel the US more. I saw a ton of Europe last year, but have really only seen pockets of the US. What are some states I should make a point to visit? I would love to know!

san diego

Late Wednesday night I returned from Southern California. I had such a great trip and hope to share bits of it on the blog with you. I was so amazed at how beautiful California is. It surprised me that it was so mountainous - hills hills everywhere. I guess I should have know that though.

We arrived in the OC super late Thursday night and woke up at the crack of dawn on Friday to set off to San Diego for the day. The waking up early was unintentional - it was really hard to adjust to the time change and I was in bed most nights at 9:30. I'm lame. We didn't plan too much for our time in SoCal, but thought a day trip to San Diego was a good idea. We researched (ok, we googled) some areas to see and got some recommendations from our hosts. We spent a good portion of our day in the Gaslamp Quarter which was full of shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars. We perused some shops before eating at OperaCaffe, a quaint Italian eatery. The food was delish and not too heavy. We continued our walk around the area and happened upon PetCo Park where the Padres play - we had no idea it was right in the city. I am pretty sure there are not many ballparks that allow you to walk right onto the premises. Lucky us. If I ever make it back I think I will plan a late lunch at Searsucker (it looks so good), followed by a Padres' game. Sounds like an almost perfect day.

Other stops included a peek inside the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop and a pitstop at Forever 21 to buy a pair of sunnies because somebody forgot theirs!

currently traveling

left / right

Today I kick off the first leg of my summer travels. Five days in Southern California with a lifelong friend. I've only been to CA one time and that was in San Fran so I am not really sure what to expect from it's neighbor to the south. It feels like I am traveling to another country where I don't know the culture or what is going on there. It feels strange admitting that, but a part of me feels that I don't understand the SoCal culture.

We have very loose plans for our time there. We are spending the weekend with family we both have out there, but other than that we've got nothing. Suggestions and recommendations are very welcome at this point. I also have yet to pack for this adventure. I am usually very good about knowing what to pack, but honestly traveling to CA seems a bit overwhelming. Hopefully I can get it together before I head to the airport in a couple hours. It looks like we are going to have really nice weather, temps in the 70's and 80's so I am thinking shorts, skirts, easy tops, and a pair of jeans should suffice. This vacation snuck up on me a bit, can you tell? I am looking forward to a bit of a break, but leaving behind tons of stuff to do is never a good feeling. Anyone else off adventuring this weekend? If so, where to?

fit

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Fitness is an extremely rare subject on the blog - the fact that I am not fit and I know nothing about fitness contributes to the lack of this content. As a kid and through high school I played sports, but wasn't a crazy athletic person. I understood how to play the game and had some skill so I excelled. After graduating high school I didn't work out or do anything physical. I started a light workout routine when I returned from Europe in the fall. It's been a struggle to keep it up, but I am doing my best. All this fit talk to say that I still have so much work to do in the working out area. I have pain and discomfort in my shoulders and yesterday I met with a physical therapist who told me that the reason for the pain is that I am too weak! It's almost comical to admit, but I do know it's completely accurate. So now I am required to work out more to build up my shoulder strength so they no longer ache. To get me pumped about my added workout my parents bought me new sneakers and I am thinking about treating myself to some new workout gear from Old Navy. How do you guys get psyched to workout? Is it something you look forward to or something you force yourself to do? Please tell me I am not alone in this! That working out is great, but can also be completely torturous.

BTW. I hate working out in front of people. It gives me anxiety. At my PT appointment yesterday I had to do all the exercises in a huge room with lots of other people there. It was mortifying and something I hope I can avoid in the future.