Brunette Jetsetter

Got to stand in two hemispheres in Greenwich 😁

Greenwich is a beautiful area with a lot of maritime and scientific history. The Royal Observatory is home to the prime meridian and used as the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time. The hike up the hill had some beautiful views of Greenwich below! Touring the Painted Hall and the Old Royal Naval College was a great experience as well🥰

I fell in love with the cute .hotel while stying there in London 🥰

One of my favorite areas is the Southwark area on the south bank of the Thames. It's not too touristy, yet still close to everything, and I love walking along the south bank. So when I saw this hotel, I fell in love with the location, quirky aesthetic, and charm instantly, and it definitely lived up to my expectations ♥️

Our last day in London😭

London was so hard to leave! I didn't know how much I missed it, but all the beautiful destinations to come in the next part of our trip made it a little easier. On our last day, we started with a walk across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral, then a quick stop at Platform 9 ¾, next we toured Westminster Abbey, and wandered around Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park.

Some amazing London views😍

Our first full day in London I started with an early morning stroll along the south bank of the Thames to Big Ben (which was so nice to see without the crowds!), then we wandered across Tower Bridge to the Tower of London, explored Camden Market, had a Sunday Roast at a cute pub, rode the London Eye for some incredible views, walked around Covent Garden, and finally ended the day with a play in the West End! We were jam-packed, but we experienced a lot🥰

Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath 🇬🇧

Our second day we spent sightseeing around the countryside surrounding London. We did a tour at Windsor Castle, wandered the ancient stones at Stonehenge, saw the Roman baths at Bath, and ended the day with some shopping in Bath! It was a full day, but a lot of fun😊

London views from my first day🥰

After a long flight, a casual day wandering around and taking in the city close to our hotel was perfect. One of my favorite areas to wander is along the south bank of the Thames River, getting views such as St. Paul's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We also booked tickets for the Sky Garden and took in the views of London from above while enjoying a cocktail before eating dinner at The Anchor, one of London's last surviving river taverns from Shakespeare’s time.

London calling ☎️

I'm temporarily going to pause catching you all up on my summer vanlife adventures to share my current travels! The West Coast updates will resume after I return home from my 3 week adventure in the UK, starting in none other than London🥰 London was my home the summer of 2015 and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got to tour my family around all my favorite places. Being back has been a dream, and it is hard to leave!

Sunrise at Glacier Point ☀️

My first full day in Yosemite, I watched the sunrise over Half Dome from Glacier Point, viewed Bridalveil Fall, and then saw Yosemite Falls on the easy Lower Yosemite Falls Trail. It was a pretty laid-back day in preparation for my hike of Half Dome I was doing the next day.

My first glimpse of Yosemite National Park 😍

I was told that when coming to Yosemite, you absolutely have to enter the park driving through Tunnel View for the "Oh wow" moment, and now that I've been, I'd have to agree! After entering through the south entrance, you're in the park for a bit before you get to Tunnel View, but once you pass through the tunnel, you get an amazing view of Yosemite Valley🥰 Yosemite does have timed entry reservations required between 5am and 4pm, so on my first day I entered the park after 4pm and got to Tunnel View an hour or so before sunset. At this time, the crowds were minimal, and the light hitting the valley was amazing♥️

From the High Peaks to the caves, Pinnacles is beautiful🥰

I didn't know what to expect on my visit to Pinnacles National Park, but I loved how remote and uncrowded it was! It also had some great hiking. To really experience Pinnacles in all it's glory I definitely would recommend hiking up into the High Peaks. It's not too hard of a hike, and the views are spectacular. I hiked it as recommended by a park ranger, a loop starting with the Condor Gulch trail, then the High Peaks trail, ending with the small loop trail at Bear Gulch Cave for a total of almost 6 miles. Another great hike is the Old Pinnacles trail to the Balconies Cave. I loved getting to explore the caves in this park. Most of Bear Gulch Cave was closed to protect the bats, but Balconies was an amazing one to hike through.

Continue along the General's Hwy from Sequoia NP, and you'll reach Kings Canyon National Park. The park's namesake is a valley that was carved by glaciers, creating some beautiful scenery😍 In Kings Canyon, I mainly enjoyed the scenic drive, making stops along the way. I recommend doing the Grant Tree Trail (a half mile loop) right by the visitors center first to see the second largest tree in the world, the General Grant Tree. Some of my other favorite stops were Boyden Cavern, Grizzly Falls, Roaring River Falls, and Muir Rock.

In the land of big trees🌳🌳🌳

Sequoia National Park is home to the largest trees in the world, and I got to see General Sherman, the largest tree by volume up close! It was surreal to be surrounded by these giants. Two of the best trails to get up close to them are the Big Trees Trail and the Congress Trail. Another great trail to get some different scenery is the Tokopah Falls Trail, I even got to see a bear and her cub while hiking this one🥰

Love waking up to views like this🥰

While in Los Angeles, we camped right on the beach, I love being able to open my doors and enjoy my coffee while listening to the waves!

Disney California Adventure 🎡

Day 2 in Disneyland, we started at the California Adventure Park and hit all the rides and tried some amazing food and drinks before park hopping back to Disneyland for the rest of the day. For us, California Adventure was easily doable in a half day, and then we got to enjoy our favorites at Disneyland again as well as snag a reservation for dinner at Blue Bayou and for drinks at Ogas Cantina. We even got to meet some princesses as well as Minnie and Mickey back at Disneyland 🥰

My first time at Disneyland 🥰

I grew up going to Disney World but had yet to visit Disneyland. So while my friend was visiting me for my birthday we did a Disneyland trip! We had a blast being Disney adults and getting to buy souvenirs, try all the foods, and make some great reservations for restaurants! We did two jam-packed days and saw and did everything. This was day 1 in Disneyland✨️

Roadtrip down the PCH from San Francisco to LA ☀️

The drive along this section of the Pacific Coast Highway is one of my favorite roadtrips. You can rush it in a day if you get up very early and don't spend too much time stopping, or you can turn it into a few days of adventure! Some of my favorite stops along the way are:
~Monterey
~17 mile drive in Pebble Beach
~Bixby Bridge
~Big Sur
~McWay Falls
~Elephant Seal Vista Point
~Santa Barbara
~Ventura

Napa Valley is a beautiful place with some amazing wines 🍷

Spent the rest of my birthday weekend last month doing some tastings at some great vineyards in Napa, and it did not disappoint. Spread out over two days, I was able to enjoy tastings at Sterling, Castello di Amorosa, Rombauer, Artesa, Domaine Carneros, and Beringer. I highly recommend each one of these vineyards for their own reasons, but I had a blast with family and friends 🥰

I started my birthday weekend off last month in San Fran 🌁

I had been to this city before, but I enjoyed getting to explore it in more depth this time! I toured Alcatraz Island, explored Fisherman's Wharf, wandered around Chinatown, rode the cable cars, walked down Lombard Street, sampled chocolate at Ghirardelli, saw the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog, and had some amazing meals🥰