{Life on a Budget} Day Trippin' - Point Lobos

Life can get pretty busy sometimes. Since this past week I've been on vacation, I decided to tackle a list of to-dos that have been lingering for forever. I cleaned out more of the house, organized the garage, we dropped off about fifteen bags worth of items at Goodwill, I cleaned out and organized the two hall closets, and I re-caulked the bathtub.  While it felt amazing to get so much accomplished, I definitely wasn't feeling very relaxed.  Neal was feeling similarly drained - he hadn't been on vacation, and was feeling just kinda "blah" and in need of a little break.  Since he always magically knows just what to do, he surprised me on Wednesday by telling me he had taken that coming Friday off of work, and that we were going on an adventure!

On Friday we dropped off E at school together, and then headed south to Santa Cruz.  We stopped at a little cafe for a delish breakfast ($30 total, including tip) that included homemade croissants, avocado, eggs, and bacon. So insanely good!  We then continued to head south some more until we reached Point Lobos.  We spent the next few hours hiking the entire outer rim of the park, taking in the incredible weather, clear skies, and the sound of waves crashing onto the shore.  It was such a wonderful time, and we got to just enjoy the nature surrounding us and each other's company, which obviously cost us nothing.

While the cost of living in the Bay Area is nothing short of absurdly astronomical, I will say that we at least have a ton of great things to do nearby that cost little or nothing.  For a mere $35 (I added $5 in for gas), we got to spend a sweet day together and got our hike on, one of Neal and my's favorite things to do.

View from our hike.

God bless Neal for putting up with my endless selfie requests!