Matt and I went kayaking yesterday. I think learning the "wet exit" - escaping from one's kayak while upside down in the water - is one of the scariest things I've done. The practice came in handy though, since I did in fact overturn in the river! It was really hard to intentionally turn myself over when we were practicing.
We're having a great time here in Telluride; it is going to be hard to leave on Saturday. Especially since it's been 100+ in Dallas since we've been gone and it's 69 here right now.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
*wave* from Telluride
Hello from Telluride. I'm sitting here in our wonderful house with a tiny bit of my attention on Casino Royale (the boys are watching it). I just finished working on our vacation puzzle for the evening. Since I'm such a puzzle-working master, I've decided to do this one without looking at the box to make it more challenging.
We had an almost effortless drive from Dallas to Albuquerque on Saturday, except for the ridiculous hail storm we encountered less than 60 miles from our destination. We had a nice dinner that night at a little Mexican place in the old historic downtown and hit the sack pretty early (time change helped with that) in our semi-ghetto hotel.
We were on the road by 7am on Sunday, driving to Mesa Verde. We arrived around noon, got our campsite in order, and then saw some sights. We did a self-guided tour of the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings and then did a neat hike on the Petroglyph Point Trail, which took us by some really neat petroglyphs. The hike was also very uncrowded - we barely saw anyone - and was a good way to adjust to the altitude (Mesa Verde is about 7,000+ ft elevation). That night we cooked hot dogs on our campfire and enjoyed the beauty of the place. Our campsite was in a grove of oak trees on side and a meadow on the other. We saw deer in our meadow two different times. It rained some that night, but nothing too major.
We packed up our campsite on Monday morning and hit up the campground's pancake breakfast. We decided we weren't in the mood for any of the guided tours and had seen enough of the Native American sights, so we took a hike at the north end of the park, the Park Lookout Trail, which took us to the top of a mesa where we could see just about ... everything! We also saw a couple rabbits and the footprint and scat of some sort of cat. We were the only people on the trail the entire time, and we enjoyed cool, cloudy weather that made it quite pleasant. After that we left Mesa Verde and drove to Telluride, arriving there in time for lunch.
Our house here is lovely - the perfect size for the five of us (John, Susie, Luke, Matt and me). It is up in the Mountain Village of Telluride. It's your typical log plus river stone construction, and it has two bedrooms and three baths on the first floor, along with living, dining, and kitchen, and the master and a loft is upstairs. The ceilings everywhere on the first floor are just as high as the second floor ceilings, so it is very airy. And we have a nice little backyard with a hot tub.
We went on a nice hike today. :) The weather is so awesome...I was talking to Mom and it was102 in Dallas, while it was sprinkling and maybe 60 here. Yay!
We had an almost effortless drive from Dallas to Albuquerque on Saturday, except for the ridiculous hail storm we encountered less than 60 miles from our destination. We had a nice dinner that night at a little Mexican place in the old historic downtown and hit the sack pretty early (time change helped with that) in our semi-ghetto hotel.
We were on the road by 7am on Sunday, driving to Mesa Verde. We arrived around noon, got our campsite in order, and then saw some sights. We did a self-guided tour of the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings and then did a neat hike on the Petroglyph Point Trail, which took us by some really neat petroglyphs. The hike was also very uncrowded - we barely saw anyone - and was a good way to adjust to the altitude (Mesa Verde is about 7,000+ ft elevation). That night we cooked hot dogs on our campfire and enjoyed the beauty of the place. Our campsite was in a grove of oak trees on side and a meadow on the other. We saw deer in our meadow two different times. It rained some that night, but nothing too major.
We packed up our campsite on Monday morning and hit up the campground's pancake breakfast. We decided we weren't in the mood for any of the guided tours and had seen enough of the Native American sights, so we took a hike at the north end of the park, the Park Lookout Trail, which took us to the top of a mesa where we could see just about ... everything! We also saw a couple rabbits and the footprint and scat of some sort of cat. We were the only people on the trail the entire time, and we enjoyed cool, cloudy weather that made it quite pleasant. After that we left Mesa Verde and drove to Telluride, arriving there in time for lunch.
Our house here is lovely - the perfect size for the five of us (John, Susie, Luke, Matt and me). It is up in the Mountain Village of Telluride. It's your typical log plus river stone construction, and it has two bedrooms and three baths on the first floor, along with living, dining, and kitchen, and the master and a loft is upstairs. The ceilings everywhere on the first floor are just as high as the second floor ceilings, so it is very airy. And we have a nice little backyard with a hot tub.
We went on a nice hike today. :) The weather is so awesome...I was talking to Mom and it was102 in Dallas, while it was sprinkling and maybe 60 here. Yay!
Friday, July 18, 2008
another cat video
Simon's cat makes another appearance on YouTube.
And why does this link strike me as something that Matt and Luke might have cooked up for Hammy? http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/07/sure-i-have-a-l.html
And why does this link strike me as something that Matt and Luke might have cooked up for Hammy? http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/07/sure-i-have-a-l.html
Monday, July 14, 2008
WAHOO!
Microsoft stunned many in the audience by announcing that Final Fantasy XIII is now in development for the Xbox 360. Not only is the game coming to the console, but it will arrive on the same day and date as the PlayStation 3 edition of the game, with no timed exclusivity of any kind.
gamespot.com
gamespot.com
Sunday, July 13, 2008
summertime summertime sum-sum-summertime
We've had an eventful week and a half. It all started with an awesome trip to the ranch to celebrate July 4 with Mom and Dad, and John, Susie, and Luke. We spent the nights of July 3-4 there and there was much fun had by all. Lots of floating in the lake and eating good food. We set off fireworks both nights at Pou Beach, including the kickass "War of the Worlds" box-o-fire. There were quite a few spectacular fireworks displays going on around us - rumor had it one of the Pous' neighbors spent a cool 4 grand on theirs. On Friday we banded together to run the cows through the shoot to de-worm them. Mom and I did some great herding =D
Matt and I had our next big adventure on Tuesday when we visited Hurricane Harbor. Getting there right before it opened and having pre-purchased tickets, we managed to get something like seven rides in during the first hour. We tried the new "Mega Wedgie" (twice) and "Tornado," and hit up old favorites like The Black Hole (shh, don't mention that one to John Wiley Price), Blue Niagara, Der Stuka and Geronimo, Shotgun Falls, Hydra Maniac, Blue Raider, Kamikaze, and of course, a circuit around the Lazy River and a dip in the wave pool. Thanks to diligent application of SPF 85 sunscreen, we didn't even get burned. We also enjoyed the new locker technology. I wore a plastic wristband with a paper-thin chip in it that, when held in front of the locker panel, popped open our locker for unlimited access to our things. Aside from the $10 fee, it was pretty dang cool! But not too bad when I think back to the olden days, when you had to pump something like $3 in quarters into the locker every time you opened it up.
We just got back from another trip to the ranch, this time a Hall family gathering to celebrate birthdays (Uncle Mike, Jerry Washam, Dad a couple weeks from now). Lisa, Eric, and Miles, Mike and Eve, and Carolyn were all there, as well as the Pous and Washams on day two. Also, much to Pene's delight, she finally got to meet her cousin Travis (Lisa and Eric's big yellow lab) and they played and played. Pene has been passed out on our loveseat ever since we got home - she's exhausted! The highlight of the weekend was probably Carolyn's Better than Sex cake (the superior Hall family version, made of two layers of yellow cake with vanilla pudding, homemade whipped cream, pineapple, and coconut).
Other than that, things have been going along uneventfully. We're preparing to head out to Colorado at the end of the week. Miss Pen will be spending the time with her grandparents and Mike Shannon. Matt is adjusting to his new position of manager at work, which he's handling with ease. He is getting a Blackberry sometime this week to enable him to keep up with work e-mail and client contacts as a manager, and it'll be fun to play with. I finished the Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey a few days ago, and it'll be nice to have that all beaten before going on vacation. I'll probably resume playing Final Fantasy III on my DS for my next gaming adventure (FF IV comes out for the DS later this month and looks very cool).
We're having dinner tonight with the Roberts at Gloria's - Em and Rick are in town this weekend looking for apartments and it will be great to see them.
Matt and I had our next big adventure on Tuesday when we visited Hurricane Harbor. Getting there right before it opened and having pre-purchased tickets, we managed to get something like seven rides in during the first hour. We tried the new "Mega Wedgie" (twice) and "Tornado," and hit up old favorites like The Black Hole (shh, don't mention that one to John Wiley Price), Blue Niagara, Der Stuka and Geronimo, Shotgun Falls, Hydra Maniac, Blue Raider, Kamikaze, and of course, a circuit around the Lazy River and a dip in the wave pool. Thanks to diligent application of SPF 85 sunscreen, we didn't even get burned. We also enjoyed the new locker technology. I wore a plastic wristband with a paper-thin chip in it that, when held in front of the locker panel, popped open our locker for unlimited access to our things. Aside from the $10 fee, it was pretty dang cool! But not too bad when I think back to the olden days, when you had to pump something like $3 in quarters into the locker every time you opened it up.
We just got back from another trip to the ranch, this time a Hall family gathering to celebrate birthdays (Uncle Mike, Jerry Washam, Dad a couple weeks from now). Lisa, Eric, and Miles, Mike and Eve, and Carolyn were all there, as well as the Pous and Washams on day two. Also, much to Pene's delight, she finally got to meet her cousin Travis (Lisa and Eric's big yellow lab) and they played and played. Pene has been passed out on our loveseat ever since we got home - she's exhausted! The highlight of the weekend was probably Carolyn's Better than Sex cake (the superior Hall family version, made of two layers of yellow cake with vanilla pudding, homemade whipped cream, pineapple, and coconut).
Other than that, things have been going along uneventfully. We're preparing to head out to Colorado at the end of the week. Miss Pen will be spending the time with her grandparents and Mike Shannon. Matt is adjusting to his new position of manager at work, which he's handling with ease. He is getting a Blackberry sometime this week to enable him to keep up with work e-mail and client contacts as a manager, and it'll be fun to play with. I finished the Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey a few days ago, and it'll be nice to have that all beaten before going on vacation. I'll probably resume playing Final Fantasy III on my DS for my next gaming adventure (FF IV comes out for the DS later this month and looks very cool).
We're having dinner tonight with the Roberts at Gloria's - Em and Rick are in town this weekend looking for apartments and it will be great to see them.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
WALL-E
We saw WALL-E this afternoon at NorthPark with Luke. It was fabulous! We loved it. Two robotic thumbs up! The graphics were amazing, the whole movie was hilarious, the story was very engaging and well-written...and the emotions they conveyed through robots and with barely any words...awesome.
promised California post
Saturday, 6/14
We left for California on Saturday, June 14. Our Southwest flight occurred in three(!) stages - first to Tulsa, then Las Vegas, finally Oakland. The one benefit was that we didn't change planes and therefore moved to some really choice seats at the front for legs two and three. Providing entertainment on part II was a drunk and loud threesome heading to Vegas. If you ever saw an episode of the A&E show Airline which was a real-life drama about Southwest Airlines, you will appreciate the craziness of these passengers. We thought our flight attendant might have to sic the feds on the guy, who probably should have been denied boarding under the "no flying when drunk" policy. Katie did well on her first airplane ride ever, although it didn't exactly agree with her tummy. Everything was on time and we arrived in Oakland safe and sound to pick up our trusty rental car, a mocha-colored Nissan Murano complete with GPS. Katie promptly named the GPS "Gizelle" and it stuck.
We drove to Berkeley and got settled into our two room suite at the Hotel Durant, the same 1920s hotel that hosted us for Leslie's wedding. Leslie had left us a care package at the front desk with snackages and other goodies, and she came over after we got settled. She walked us through the Berkeley campus and to their apartment, where I got to meet Sous Chef for the first time. She's a very well behaved pup, although less excited about our visit than we were. I got to see her tricks, which included "nose," "sit," "stay," and play dead at the word "bang." Very impressive. Ultimately we set out for a picnic at a local park by a marina on the bay (it was formerly a landfill and has excellent kite-flying due to its constant breeze). We were slightly under dressed for the low-50s weather and did a lot of huddling for warmth. Bryan grilled us burgers and fresh corn and we toured the park with Sous (who stopped by the nearest group of people several times to clean up the food they'd spilled on the ground). It was nice to see that Sous still has some mischief despite her excellent training =P
Sunday, 6/15
On Sunday we picked up Leslie, who then drove us all into San Francisco. After driving around town a bit to show Katie and Lisa the sights (this being Katie's first visit to California and Lisa's first in over a decade), we went to Golden Gate Park and toured the Japanese Tea Garden. We ended the visit by taking tea (okay, Mom, Katie and I actually had hot chocolate). We needed the warm-up, since it was again in the fifties. During our tea time, we called Dad to wish him a happy Fathers Day. We returned to the car and Les gamely motored us around some more. We even drove down the famously curvy Lombard Street and saw the Painted Ladies houses. We walked around Chinatown and went into the only fortune cookie factory in America that still makes the cookies by hand. Then we went to the Ferry Plaza and had a late lunch. That wrapped up our time in San Fran, and Mom and I spent a quiet afternoon in the hotel room while Katie and Lisa visited Telegraph Avenue, home to all things funky in Berkeley. We all met Leslie and Bryan at Downtown, the restaurant which hosted their rehearsal dinner last year, for dinner. I had the best dinner by far of the group - braised pork shoulder with roasted strawberries, rhubarb, and greens. The strawberries sound weird, but they complimented the tender pork extremely well. We had dessert at L&B's favorite gelato place down the street.
Monday, 6/16
In the morning, Les had breakfast with us at La Note (fabulous French food, the site of Leslie's bridesmaids brunch last year). It was a perfect end to our time in Berkeley. It was hard to get Mom to leave, though. Whenever she leaves Berkeley, she always has the instinct to take Leslie with her =D I drove us the four hours or so from Berkeley to Yosemite. We tried to check into our room at the Yosemite Bug but our cabin wasn't quite ready, so we went ahead and drove into the park. The drive was amazing - all along the Merced River, which was roiling and tumbling down the valley. A huge rockslide had buried the road on one side, which slightly complicated things by forcing the traffic to share the one lane on the other side (there were flaggers). Inside the park, we eventually decided to do the short hike to the Yosemite Falls, an impressive waterfall we'd seen driving in. Katie and I had a blast getting off the trail and scrambling all over the rocks to the base of the falls. It gave us an opportunity to get away from the hordes of tourists as well. Then we all continued down the trail to visit the Ahwahnee Hotel. We took the shuttle back to the visitors center and had pizza for dinner (we were hungry).
When we returned to the Bug, our cabin was ready but unfortunately there was NO parking to be had except at the very top of the property. It was straight up a hill and by the time I got the car parked, it was pitch black save the light from a nearly full moon. The walk down wasn't too bad aside from the blackness, but the hike back up the 45 degree slope to the car the next morning left something to be desired. Our cabin was called Mono Lake, and Katie and I shared the left side while Mom and Lisa shared the right. Our room was decorated with an Asian theme and Katie and I were more than a little creeped out by the sumo wrestler in our bathroom. It was a very acceptable place to stay though, other than that. It's a neat place in general because it offers a variety of accommodations, from private rooms with their own bath, to canvas tents, to dorm-type hosteling options.
Tuesday, 6/17
In the morning we partook of the buffet breakfast at the bug and then Mom drove us to Monterey. Along the way we stopped at this great fruit and nut stand/house. They had fresh and dried fruit and all sorts of differently seasoned nuts. I ended up getting the orange honey almonds and some banana chips, and everyone else got some interesting choices as well. We immediately hit up the Monterey Bay Aquarium upon our arrival in Monterey. My favorite exhibits by far were the three different otter enclosures. Otters are so cute and fun to watch! We spent at least a couple hours there and then it was time to find a place to stay. We decided we didn't want to try too hard to find a bargain, so we returned to a place we'd seen on the main road to the aquarium, the Victorian Inn Best Western. Katie and I again roomed together while the moms shared a room. It was a very nice little hotel a block from the beach, and as soon as we were settled and had partaken of the free wine and cheese reception, we took a long stroll down the beach.
Our beach walk was very fun. I found a washed up starfish that was still alive and sent it back to sea. We saw another that we thought was just a husk, and Katie spent a good 5 minutes trying to get it out of the waves without getting soaked, only for us to discover that it was alive too (it was a different kind that mine). So she tossed it back in the water too, except she used it like a ninja star. We saw a ton of wild sea lions sunning on the rocks and even got within a few yards of a cute white one that Katie and I collectively named "Snowball John Smith." Another favorite sea lion: the ridiculously large "Augustus Gloop" aka "Gus" who looked like an overstuffed sausage. We ended up eating dinner at a seafood place on the Fishermen's Wharf (I had coconut shrimp). Then we headed back to the hotel and Katie and I did our normal round of reading before bed. I was still working my way through re-reads of Mercedes Lackey, and she had several books with her, including the first book in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. It was a little sad being in California for Matt and my third wedding anniversary, but we had a nice long chat on the phone.
Wednesday, 6/18
We wanted to make our last half-day in California count, so we drove south a bit to the Point Lobos State Reserve, a place we'd found in the activities guide at our hotel that was supposed to have "the greatest meeting of land and water in the world." We even got a discount on our admissions fee, when Lisa responded to the question of "do you have any seniors in the car?" with "do hot flashes count?". The lady park ranger thought that they should, so we got in for the senior price! We drove the length of the reserve's beach and took a walk down to their southern-most beach. We went down some precipitous stairs and frolicked along in the sand, looking for treasures. Then we returned to the car and drove back up to Sea Lion Point. It had an amazing pebble beach (the last one was regular sand) of worn-down granite. At the point, there is this really interesting rock that is like concrete with small rocks stuck in it. The sandy glue-like rock is called "Carmelo foundation" and the whole of it looks like something man-made. Apparently in earlier months you can see whales migrating off the point. There was a colony of sea lions there and we got to see some swimming less than fifteen feet from shore.
Finally it was time to leave to allow enough time to drive to Oakland, return the car, and get ready to fly. I drove us north and we had great luck in traffic which allowed us to stay on schedule. The flight home was another three-parter, only this time we had to change planes in LA. Then it was on to Albuquerque, and we arrived late enough in the day that the place was only a third full for our last leg to Dallas (yay for an aisle seat with no on in the middle!). We got in and retrieved our bags and Dad picked us up around 11:00 pm.
And that's that! It was a very fun trip. I got to see a lot of things that were new to me, ate a ton of great food, spent time with Leslie and Bryan, met Sous, got to spend lots of time talking with Katie...pretty fabulous! And I got to miss the 100-degree day in Dallas, drinking hot chocolate instead in Golden Gate Park. Not bad at all!
All pictures are now located on my web site: California album
We left for California on Saturday, June 14. Our Southwest flight occurred in three(!) stages - first to Tulsa, then Las Vegas, finally Oakland. The one benefit was that we didn't change planes and therefore moved to some really choice seats at the front for legs two and three. Providing entertainment on part II was a drunk and loud threesome heading to Vegas. If you ever saw an episode of the A&E show Airline which was a real-life drama about Southwest Airlines, you will appreciate the craziness of these passengers. We thought our flight attendant might have to sic the feds on the guy, who probably should have been denied boarding under the "no flying when drunk" policy. Katie did well on her first airplane ride ever, although it didn't exactly agree with her tummy. Everything was on time and we arrived in Oakland safe and sound to pick up our trusty rental car, a mocha-colored Nissan Murano complete with GPS. Katie promptly named the GPS "Gizelle" and it stuck.
We drove to Berkeley and got settled into our two room suite at the Hotel Durant, the same 1920s hotel that hosted us for Leslie's wedding. Leslie had left us a care package at the front desk with snackages and other goodies, and she came over after we got settled. She walked us through the Berkeley campus and to their apartment, where I got to meet Sous Chef for the first time. She's a very well behaved pup, although less excited about our visit than we were. I got to see her tricks, which included "nose," "sit," "stay," and play dead at the word "bang." Very impressive. Ultimately we set out for a picnic at a local park by a marina on the bay (it was formerly a landfill and has excellent kite-flying due to its constant breeze). We were slightly under dressed for the low-50s weather and did a lot of huddling for warmth. Bryan grilled us burgers and fresh corn and we toured the park with Sous (who stopped by the nearest group of people several times to clean up the food they'd spilled on the ground). It was nice to see that Sous still has some mischief despite her excellent training =P
Sunday, 6/15
On Sunday we picked up Leslie, who then drove us all into San Francisco. After driving around town a bit to show Katie and Lisa the sights (this being Katie's first visit to California and Lisa's first in over a decade), we went to Golden Gate Park and toured the Japanese Tea Garden. We ended the visit by taking tea (okay, Mom, Katie and I actually had hot chocolate). We needed the warm-up, since it was again in the fifties. During our tea time, we called Dad to wish him a happy Fathers Day. We returned to the car and Les gamely motored us around some more. We even drove down the famously curvy Lombard Street and saw the Painted Ladies houses. We walked around Chinatown and went into the only fortune cookie factory in America that still makes the cookies by hand. Then we went to the Ferry Plaza and had a late lunch. That wrapped up our time in San Fran, and Mom and I spent a quiet afternoon in the hotel room while Katie and Lisa visited Telegraph Avenue, home to all things funky in Berkeley. We all met Leslie and Bryan at Downtown, the restaurant which hosted their rehearsal dinner last year, for dinner. I had the best dinner by far of the group - braised pork shoulder with roasted strawberries, rhubarb, and greens. The strawberries sound weird, but they complimented the tender pork extremely well. We had dessert at L&B's favorite gelato place down the street.
Monday, 6/16
In the morning, Les had breakfast with us at La Note (fabulous French food, the site of Leslie's bridesmaids brunch last year). It was a perfect end to our time in Berkeley. It was hard to get Mom to leave, though. Whenever she leaves Berkeley, she always has the instinct to take Leslie with her =D I drove us the four hours or so from Berkeley to Yosemite. We tried to check into our room at the Yosemite Bug but our cabin wasn't quite ready, so we went ahead and drove into the park. The drive was amazing - all along the Merced River, which was roiling and tumbling down the valley. A huge rockslide had buried the road on one side, which slightly complicated things by forcing the traffic to share the one lane on the other side (there were flaggers). Inside the park, we eventually decided to do the short hike to the Yosemite Falls, an impressive waterfall we'd seen driving in. Katie and I had a blast getting off the trail and scrambling all over the rocks to the base of the falls. It gave us an opportunity to get away from the hordes of tourists as well. Then we all continued down the trail to visit the Ahwahnee Hotel. We took the shuttle back to the visitors center and had pizza for dinner (we were hungry).
When we returned to the Bug, our cabin was ready but unfortunately there was NO parking to be had except at the very top of the property. It was straight up a hill and by the time I got the car parked, it was pitch black save the light from a nearly full moon. The walk down wasn't too bad aside from the blackness, but the hike back up the 45 degree slope to the car the next morning left something to be desired. Our cabin was called Mono Lake, and Katie and I shared the left side while Mom and Lisa shared the right. Our room was decorated with an Asian theme and Katie and I were more than a little creeped out by the sumo wrestler in our bathroom. It was a very acceptable place to stay though, other than that. It's a neat place in general because it offers a variety of accommodations, from private rooms with their own bath, to canvas tents, to dorm-type hosteling options.
Tuesday, 6/17
In the morning we partook of the buffet breakfast at the bug and then Mom drove us to Monterey. Along the way we stopped at this great fruit and nut stand/house. They had fresh and dried fruit and all sorts of differently seasoned nuts. I ended up getting the orange honey almonds and some banana chips, and everyone else got some interesting choices as well. We immediately hit up the Monterey Bay Aquarium upon our arrival in Monterey. My favorite exhibits by far were the three different otter enclosures. Otters are so cute and fun to watch! We spent at least a couple hours there and then it was time to find a place to stay. We decided we didn't want to try too hard to find a bargain, so we returned to a place we'd seen on the main road to the aquarium, the Victorian Inn Best Western. Katie and I again roomed together while the moms shared a room. It was a very nice little hotel a block from the beach, and as soon as we were settled and had partaken of the free wine and cheese reception, we took a long stroll down the beach.
Our beach walk was very fun. I found a washed up starfish that was still alive and sent it back to sea. We saw another that we thought was just a husk, and Katie spent a good 5 minutes trying to get it out of the waves without getting soaked, only for us to discover that it was alive too (it was a different kind that mine). So she tossed it back in the water too, except she used it like a ninja star. We saw a ton of wild sea lions sunning on the rocks and even got within a few yards of a cute white one that Katie and I collectively named "Snowball John Smith." Another favorite sea lion: the ridiculously large "Augustus Gloop" aka "Gus" who looked like an overstuffed sausage. We ended up eating dinner at a seafood place on the Fishermen's Wharf (I had coconut shrimp). Then we headed back to the hotel and Katie and I did our normal round of reading before bed. I was still working my way through re-reads of Mercedes Lackey, and she had several books with her, including the first book in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. It was a little sad being in California for Matt and my third wedding anniversary, but we had a nice long chat on the phone.
Wednesday, 6/18
We wanted to make our last half-day in California count, so we drove south a bit to the Point Lobos State Reserve, a place we'd found in the activities guide at our hotel that was supposed to have "the greatest meeting of land and water in the world." We even got a discount on our admissions fee, when Lisa responded to the question of "do you have any seniors in the car?" with "do hot flashes count?". The lady park ranger thought that they should, so we got in for the senior price! We drove the length of the reserve's beach and took a walk down to their southern-most beach. We went down some precipitous stairs and frolicked along in the sand, looking for treasures. Then we returned to the car and drove back up to Sea Lion Point. It had an amazing pebble beach (the last one was regular sand) of worn-down granite. At the point, there is this really interesting rock that is like concrete with small rocks stuck in it. The sandy glue-like rock is called "Carmelo foundation" and the whole of it looks like something man-made. Apparently in earlier months you can see whales migrating off the point. There was a colony of sea lions there and we got to see some swimming less than fifteen feet from shore.
Finally it was time to leave to allow enough time to drive to Oakland, return the car, and get ready to fly. I drove us north and we had great luck in traffic which allowed us to stay on schedule. The flight home was another three-parter, only this time we had to change planes in LA. Then it was on to Albuquerque, and we arrived late enough in the day that the place was only a third full for our last leg to Dallas (yay for an aisle seat with no on in the middle!). We got in and retrieved our bags and Dad picked us up around 11:00 pm.
And that's that! It was a very fun trip. I got to see a lot of things that were new to me, ate a ton of great food, spent time with Leslie and Bryan, met Sous, got to spend lots of time talking with Katie...pretty fabulous! And I got to miss the 100-degree day in Dallas, drinking hot chocolate instead in Golden Gate Park. Not bad at all!
All pictures are now located on my web site: California album
Thursday, July 03, 2008
July 4 Weekend!
Happy 4th* of July!
We're off to the ranch for a fun-filled weekend with Mom and Dad, John and Susie, and Luke. There should be lots of lake activities and fireworks and good times. When I get back, maybe I'll even get serious about that California post.
*Yes, I'm a day early. Better than late, eh?
We're off to the ranch for a fun-filled weekend with Mom and Dad, John and Susie, and Luke. There should be lots of lake activities and fireworks and good times. When I get back, maybe I'll even get serious about that California post.
*Yes, I'm a day early. Better than late, eh?
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