The minute I walked into Santa Cruz, the best words I could think of to describe this small surfing town were “chill beach vibes.” The more I got to know this artistically-inclined place, the more special it became with its environmentally-conscious atmosphere, good-hearted outdoorsy and adventurous people who are very aware of the world as well as their immediate surroundings, the strikingly-beautiful cliffs on the beach views, the environment, and its love for surfing.

Having lived on the east coast for the majority of my life, the two places in central California I had heard of were the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the wineries in Napa Valley. Little did I know the history of Napa, which I learned from the sommeliers at many of my weekend wine tastings during my time living in Santa Cruz, and also from the movie “Bottle Shock.” This movie features Alan Rickman and Chris Pines and how the Judgment of Paris in 1972 put Napa on the map.

Redwoods are the tallest trees in the WORLD. It makes sense that many movies have been filmed here, including Star Wars’ Episode VI, A New Hope. In this movie, the redwoods were depicted as the Forest Moon of Endor. Along the 101 there is an exit you can take that is a 31-mile route called the Avenue of the Giants.

The deepest lake in the United States is nestled in a volcano due to its eruption more than 7000 years ago in southern Oregon called Crater Lake. It is hard to imagine the magnitude of how large this lake and volcano is until you see that there is another smaller volcano in the middle of the lake. We had many breathtaking moments at this national park during our road trip from Washington to California.

Bend, Oregon is an up-and-coming small town with a fun main street, along the Deschutes River. It is also in close proximity to several famous outdoor adventuring spots: Crater Lake National Park (2 hours away), about 30 minutes from Mt. Bachelor ski resort, and 30 minutes from hiking trails at the Three Sisters, which are mountains a part of the Cascade Range. I came here for my second long-distance road trip with my friend Mander. To us, Bend felt like a quaint town on a river, for an easy weekend escape from Portland.

Olympia, the capital of Washington state, is a small city on the Puget Sound with backdrop views of the Olympic National Park mountains. This town is filled with coffee shops, bakeries, and scenic water views! It is about 1-2 hours away from Olympic and Mt. Rainier National Parks, which made it a great location to work as a traveling hand therapist.