We’ve had a pretty nuts year, but we still made sure to squeeze in as much travel as much as possible. We love adventures, and this year was a pretty good adventure year.

March - San Francisco Bay Area

In March we went on a Northern California adventure. We stayed in South San Francisco to save a little money and because we had a rental car and knew we wanted to see some places outside of San Francisco.

Some of our San Francisco highlights:

Watching the sea lions at the wharf
Brunch at the Ferry Building: coffee from Red Bay Coffee and empanadas from El Porteno.
Chinatown
Golden Gate Bridge
Murals
The Painted Ladies
Twin Peaks
Lands End Lookout

We spent a day in Muir Woods National Monument and Mill Valley, CA. I had been to Muir Woods before with my mom and friend Bianca, and was so in awe of the park I knew I needed to go with Christopher. It was just as awe inspiring as my first visit and I highly recommend everyone visit if they have the chance.

I feel like a trip to Northern California isn’t complete without a day in Napa. We visited Frank Family Vineyards, had burgers and onion rings at Gott’s Roadside, and capped off the day at Pope Valley Winery.

Other Northern California highlights:

IN-N-OUT
West Coast Beaches

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose (largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in Western North America)
Visiting a Rothy’s store

August/September - Michigan, The Great Lakes, Ontario, Canada

Christopher had a work trip to a Detroit suburb and I didn’t have anything going on, so I tagged along. It was a first time for both of us.

Some of our favorite places in Detroit/Detroit Suburbs:

Detroit Public Library - built in 1921 and oh so beautiful
Karl’s is closed for now, but hopefully they will reopen in a new location because those pancakes are what dreams are made of
Guernsey Farms Dairy is an amazing place for chicken lunch or dinner and of course ice cream - if you are in the area do not sleep on this place
Northville Cider Mill (if you are there during cider season) is an adorable place for a delicious apple cider and a perfect apple cider donut
The Greenhouse of Walled Lake - if you partake in the electric lettuce or any of its cousins this is a super friendly spot to get yourself some supplies.
Potbelly Sandwich Works - a long time favorite of ours that we can never seen to live near

Neither of us had been to any of the Great Lakes or Ontario, so we popped over the border for the day to get Tim Horton’s and see Lakes Superior and Erie.

After Christopher was done with his work trip we drove across to to Grand Rapids for a few days. We got to see the small town where my Uncle Jeff grew up and Lake Michigan.

Some of our favorite places in Grand Rapids/Muskegon:

Anna’s House for a great breakfast/brunch
The Deck had great views of Lake Michigan and good drinks, the food was fine, but you’re there for the view
Jersey Junction - seasonal ice cream shop
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum was our first Presidential Library and we were stoked to finally get to one. We have been so close to a few of them over the last two years, but they’ve been closed because of Covid, so we weren’t able to check any off the list until this year.

September/October - Cruise to Alaska

Cruising to Alaska was a bucket list trip for us, and I am so grateful that we were able to make it happen. I knew Alaska would be beautiful, but I was genuinely not prepared for just how incredible it was. Cruising through Glacier Bay National Park was my favorite day of the trip, with Mendenhall Glacier as a close second, and learning about the Tlingit People rounding out my top 3.

October - Seattle, WA

Our cruise to Alaska sailed from Seattle, so we spent a couple days sightseeing before heading to Orlando for a visit.

November/December - Greenville, SC

We stopped in Greenville for a few hours on the way to Orlando in November and then spent a week there in December to do a little more exploring.

Orlando

Now that we don’t live in Orlando, I guess visiting is technically travel. We’ve visited Orlando almost every month since we moved in August. Here are a few of highlights I actually got pictures of.