Photo Tour of Mother's Day at Half Moon Bay, CA!

My mom and I celebrated Mother's Day by spending the day at Half Moon Bay, a small city on the California coast. Just south of San Francisco, this area is filled with thriving marine life and endless tidepools. Known for Mavericks, home to some of the world's best big wave surfers, this area consists of miles of deserted white sandy beaches, redwood forests, beautiful state parks, wildflower fields, and hiking and biking trails along ocean bluffs and mountain ridges as far as the eye can see. I'm going to miss this place when I move out of California.

My sweet dog Rosie loved being out here with us.

Here's one of me and Rosie at the beach.

You can't see it from this angle in the photo below, but there are all sorts of trails that snake through the colorful fields of ice plants. It was a spectacular sight! That day was especially windy, and it was fun to watch the birds literally just float in the air, wings relaxed, as they let the wind take them wherever.

After vigorous play with the ball, here's Rosie resting with my mom at the beach :)

My favorite sight of the day was visiting the gorgeous Monterey cypress tree tunnels that populate this area. Monterey Cypress trees have the distinction of being found only on the California coast. Outside of this area, it's relatively rare to see these beautiful behemoths.

There was literally no one here. When the Cali storms came through fiercely a few months ago, many of the bridges and paths leading to these open spaces were destroyed. My mom and I eventually found a way to get in. It was so quiet and peaceful.

It brought me joy to see patches of bright green grass in some parts of the cypress tree forest.

It was a lovely time in nature with my Mom. We've always had a rocky relationship, so it can be challenging to relate to her. Driving over to meet her in Half Moon Bay, I resolved to simply stay in the present moment, free of my own judgments and reactions. Quite honestly, I'm proud of myself for how much I've grown over all these years when it comes to my relationship with my parents. Yet I'm also proud of my Mom and how far she's come from her rough and traumatic past. I can feel both of us trying our best to heal our past. At least on our good days. Today was one of those days :)

Here's a fun little video of me out in nature. My mom wanted to film me doing yoga and dancing to some of her favorite songs, so she can show all her FB friends. Because I love yoga and dancing so much, I happily agreed. It was quite fun :) Enjoy the video, Hive community!