VACATION
B. and I had been talking about a vacation for a long time. Early plans included going to New York or Boston, but that would have been too expensive. We thought that road trip would be better and decided that going down the California coast would be this year's vacation.
Day 1:
We left pretty late that morning and drove across the bay bridge into the city. The plan was to go all the way down the 1. We intercepted the 1 around Pacifica which is a city south of San Francisco but on the west side of the peninsula. It was very pretty but very cold. We drove down the one and stopped in Half Moon Bay. We found a small coffee shop/book store that faced the water and sat and had coffee taking in the beautiful view. B. decided to go swimming. It was way too cold for me so I decided to stay in the comfort of my jacket at the coffee shop. I was sitting next to an older couple, who were talking about someone in the water. I looked up and realized they were talking about B. They were wondering if he was just crazy or brave to be going out in the freezing cold water. I assured them that it was the former rather than the latter. As we were discussing this the lady pointed out that there was a seal swimming right next to B. For about a minute he stayed right by him and then started to swim off. I thought he was going to chase after him but he didn't. He came back up to the coffee shop very excited not only about the seal but energize about the swim.
We took a walk for several hours along the beach. It was very pretty. We finally got back into the jeep and drove down to pigeon point. They have a light house there and a hostel. We checked in and headed into Santa Cruz. Of course we did the whole tourist thing of the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. They had two rollercoaseters one of which had been around since the 20's which was really cool. We had to leave early because they had a curfew at the hostel. We tried to use the hot tub at pigeon point but there were key issues so that didn't happen. Unfortunately, the couples rooms were all taken so we had to sleep in the dorms.
Day two.
We headed into Santa Cruz again for breakfast and were heading to Hollister and San Juan Bautista. I thought that if I was going to torture B. with going through the mission that he should do something he likes first. Anyways, Hollister didn't go quite as planned. First off, the lock broke to the off road park so it took us about an hour to get in. Second, we were running on empty so didn't want to do too much. We did eventually make it to the top and did some fun off roading and got kind of lost but eventually made it out. We headed to town and had lunch at the Jardines de San Juan which is a great Mexican restaurant with a wonderful garden. After lunch we headed over to Mission and did the tour. It was very impressive. I think the most memorable part was the actual church. It is the last of the missions that is actually still used as a church. We actually wandered too close to the padre's quarters and were asked to leave the area. There is actually a state park surrounding the mission and we did the tour of that too. I thought that was super cool because the buildings were so well preserved and you could go through them and see how people lived back in the mid to late 1800's.
After B. started getting bored and antsy we headed over to Morgan Hill. His aunt and uncle live there in the hills. We went swimming, had dinner and talked late into the night. It was tons of fun. They are very fun people. And we got to sleep in the same room!
Day three
After breakfast in Morgan Hill, we headed back down to Monterey to see the aquarium. It was an awesome aquarium. They had tons of fishies and sharks and I finally found out what Mahi-Mahi is. It is dolphinfish. It looks like a dolphin but it is actually a FISH! They also had a huge display of jelly fish. They also had squids and huge tanks of other fishies. My favorites were the otters and the Penguins. They were so cute. Anyways there were so many fun things that its hard to describe. After the aquarium we went through cannery row. That was very educational and cool. We also went into some of the shops. B. bought some candy and tried to get me to eat it but he had this look on his face that made me think it was some joke candy. So his ploy didn't work. We went to to the fisherman's wharf and had a super great dinner. We stayed at a Motel 6 and watched TV , which for us a treat.
Day four
We headed down to Big Sur. It was a glorious drive with the sea on one side and the Forrest on the other. We checked into our room and went for a hike through the woods. We ended up going to the top of a trail and seeing a pretty waterfall. At the end of day we went to the Redwood Gill Cafe and played chess with B. I realized that he is a really bad loser and then I realized so am I ...
Day five
We left very early thinking it would take forever to get to Hearst Castle. We ended up getting to Hearst State Beach around noon and Bryan of course wanted to go swimming. I went in for a few seconds and my feet went numb. We thought about going ocean kyaking but it was too expensive. We went to lunch and on our way back to Hearst Castle. There was an accident ahead of us and we tried to help by getting GPS coordinates to the police but they were already on the way. It was very scary to pass the scene and affected us both very deeply.
Hearst Castle kind of helped push the sadness aside. I had been with my Dad and Daina when I was young but I didn't remember the sheer majesty of the place. It was different, as they'd built a visitor's center with an Imax theatre. You took a shuttle all the way up to the house. They now have 4 different tours that take you through different parts of the house. We only had the time and money to do one. I found out that the architect was Julia Morgan, who is very famous in Berkeley for building houses and public buildings. After the tour we saw the film at the Imax which was pretty bad. The acting was horrid, it was like an ad for how great Hearst was, when he really wasn't that nice of a person. Anyways, that night we stayed in Cambria and I found this really nice hostel that is like a bed and breakfast. All the people there were really nice and friendly.
Day 6
We decided to cut our trip short and head home. We went down to San Luis Obispo and toured the Cal Poly campus. After that we hit the 101 and headed all the way home. We stopped off in Sallinas for lunch and stopped off in Gilroy to get new jeans for B., but that was the extent of the excitement for that day.
Day 7
We stayed at home and relaxed.
Day 1:
We left pretty late that morning and drove across the bay bridge into the city. The plan was to go all the way down the 1. We intercepted the 1 around Pacifica which is a city south of San Francisco but on the west side of the peninsula. It was very pretty but very cold. We drove down the one and stopped in Half Moon Bay. We found a small coffee shop/book store that faced the water and sat and had coffee taking in the beautiful view. B. decided to go swimming. It was way too cold for me so I decided to stay in the comfort of my jacket at the coffee shop. I was sitting next to an older couple, who were talking about someone in the water. I looked up and realized they were talking about B. They were wondering if he was just crazy or brave to be going out in the freezing cold water. I assured them that it was the former rather than the latter. As we were discussing this the lady pointed out that there was a seal swimming right next to B. For about a minute he stayed right by him and then started to swim off. I thought he was going to chase after him but he didn't. He came back up to the coffee shop very excited not only about the seal but energize about the swim.
We took a walk for several hours along the beach. It was very pretty. We finally got back into the jeep and drove down to pigeon point. They have a light house there and a hostel. We checked in and headed into Santa Cruz. Of course we did the whole tourist thing of the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. They had two rollercoaseters one of which had been around since the 20's which was really cool. We had to leave early because they had a curfew at the hostel. We tried to use the hot tub at pigeon point but there were key issues so that didn't happen. Unfortunately, the couples rooms were all taken so we had to sleep in the dorms.
Day two.
We headed into Santa Cruz again for breakfast and were heading to Hollister and San Juan Bautista. I thought that if I was going to torture B. with going through the mission that he should do something he likes first. Anyways, Hollister didn't go quite as planned. First off, the lock broke to the off road park so it took us about an hour to get in. Second, we were running on empty so didn't want to do too much. We did eventually make it to the top and did some fun off roading and got kind of lost but eventually made it out. We headed to town and had lunch at the Jardines de San Juan which is a great Mexican restaurant with a wonderful garden. After lunch we headed over to Mission and did the tour. It was very impressive. I think the most memorable part was the actual church. It is the last of the missions that is actually still used as a church. We actually wandered too close to the padre's quarters and were asked to leave the area. There is actually a state park surrounding the mission and we did the tour of that too. I thought that was super cool because the buildings were so well preserved and you could go through them and see how people lived back in the mid to late 1800's.
After B. started getting bored and antsy we headed over to Morgan Hill. His aunt and uncle live there in the hills. We went swimming, had dinner and talked late into the night. It was tons of fun. They are very fun people. And we got to sleep in the same room!
Day three
After breakfast in Morgan Hill, we headed back down to Monterey to see the aquarium. It was an awesome aquarium. They had tons of fishies and sharks and I finally found out what Mahi-Mahi is. It is dolphinfish. It looks like a dolphin but it is actually a FISH! They also had a huge display of jelly fish. They also had squids and huge tanks of other fishies. My favorites were the otters and the Penguins. They were so cute. Anyways there were so many fun things that its hard to describe. After the aquarium we went through cannery row. That was very educational and cool. We also went into some of the shops. B. bought some candy and tried to get me to eat it but he had this look on his face that made me think it was some joke candy. So his ploy didn't work. We went to to the fisherman's wharf and had a super great dinner. We stayed at a Motel 6 and watched TV , which for us a treat.
Day four
We headed down to Big Sur. It was a glorious drive with the sea on one side and the Forrest on the other. We checked into our room and went for a hike through the woods. We ended up going to the top of a trail and seeing a pretty waterfall. At the end of day we went to the Redwood Gill Cafe and played chess with B. I realized that he is a really bad loser and then I realized so am I ...
Day five
We left very early thinking it would take forever to get to Hearst Castle. We ended up getting to Hearst State Beach around noon and Bryan of course wanted to go swimming. I went in for a few seconds and my feet went numb. We thought about going ocean kyaking but it was too expensive. We went to lunch and on our way back to Hearst Castle. There was an accident ahead of us and we tried to help by getting GPS coordinates to the police but they were already on the way. It was very scary to pass the scene and affected us both very deeply.
Hearst Castle kind of helped push the sadness aside. I had been with my Dad and Daina when I was young but I didn't remember the sheer majesty of the place. It was different, as they'd built a visitor's center with an Imax theatre. You took a shuttle all the way up to the house. They now have 4 different tours that take you through different parts of the house. We only had the time and money to do one. I found out that the architect was Julia Morgan, who is very famous in Berkeley for building houses and public buildings. After the tour we saw the film at the Imax which was pretty bad. The acting was horrid, it was like an ad for how great Hearst was, when he really wasn't that nice of a person. Anyways, that night we stayed in Cambria and I found this really nice hostel that is like a bed and breakfast. All the people there were really nice and friendly.
Day 6
We decided to cut our trip short and head home. We went down to San Luis Obispo and toured the Cal Poly campus. After that we hit the 101 and headed all the way home. We stopped off in Sallinas for lunch and stopped off in Gilroy to get new jeans for B., but that was the extent of the excitement for that day.
Day 7
We stayed at home and relaxed.
posted by LadyJayne at 9:42 AM
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