This idea of ours, this whole RV thing, it’s been a crazy ride so far. We have learned a lot about ourselves and about each other. We’ve learned a lot about what we want in life.

The last week and a half has been pretty big for the McLaughlin crew.

September 26th marked one year of being free from our past jobs — free from corporate monotony and unhappiness. I just like to think of it as our “freedom anniversary.”

Immediately after our last day of work, we set out on our first adventure: New York City.

We went to visit Andy’s sister and brother-in-law in Manhattan, and explore the city.

It was my first time in NYC so Andy and I decided to do as much as we could. I loved the subways — what an amazing way to travel. We had a blast figuring out how to get around.

We saw some recognizable sights.

We viewed some amazing art.

And I got a little teary-eyed while seeing some of my favorite pieces in person — things I had learned about only on slideshows in my art history classes in college.

Or learned about while taking piano lessons…

Or read about in books…

We ate some amazing food, toured some fascinating places, and spent time with wonderful company. We even celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary here.

October 2nd marked our 6 year wedding anniversary, and we think we are pretty lucky that we got to spend it in California. I think traveling to cool places for our anniversary is a great trend!

Our California anniversary was more laid-back than New York. After a nice breakfast at a cafe in town, we took the dogs for a hike.

Then we decided to head down to the coast. Our original plan was to check out some tide pools but we ended up going to Coronado Island instead.

Andy had not been out to Coronado before, so we decided to check out the famous hotel.

It was a beautiful day to hang out on the beach. We took a walk while playing in the waves. Then we decided to leave the island and find a place for dinner.

We drove around downtown and went through Little Italy.

We ended up finding a wonderful restaurant in Ocean Beach (one of our favorite areas). The meal was phenomenal, as was the atmosphere. The interior reminded me a bit of what I imagine the inside of Hogwarts would look like. It was perfectly themed to the gift Andy gave me.

Since we try to follow traditional gift-giving for anniversaries, the gift for 6 years would have been iron. Andy hand made me a bookmark with one of my favorite Harry Potter quotes stamped into it. I was very impressed and incredibly happy!

It was a really special anniversary and we feel very thankful for the past year of our marriage!

On Monday, we went to the Safari Park with Andy’s dad.

I tried something a little different and went in to feed the lorikeets.

It made me just a little nervous but now I think I have to do it every time I go!

We saw a lot of fun animals and it was perfect zoo weather.

I even rescued this little guy from some over-zealous people.

After the zoo, we said goodbye to Andy’s dad and headed our separate ways. Since I needed to drop something off at a vineyard nearby, we decided to stay for a glass of wine and amazing view.

On Wednesday, we said goodbye to Andy’s dad (who is now back in MN). I finished up another article for a magazine, sent in letters about a few more potential ones, and we have been busy with our jobs and the park. Looking forward to spending some time by the ocean over this wonderful weekend ahead of us!