Warning, there is an obscene number of pictures in this post. I will try and be semi-short and sweet about it; though that has never been my strong suit. :)
A few days after Martin and Debe left Daniel and I were airborne heading west to California for my cousin Brittni's wedding. We flew into LAX very late Friday night, but my parent's were there to pick us up and drive us back to my Grandma's house. We went to sleep pretty much immediately(after chatting briefly with the other family members that were there) and then caravaned down to San Diego with most of my Dad's family.
Lunch stop at In-N-Out.
We made it to San Diego (Alpine, specifically) with a bit of time to get ready before we had to be at the wedding location for family pictures! I think I curled my hair in record time. :)
The location was beautiful at my cousin's other Grandparent's house/ranch.
The bride coming down the aisle.
Wedding party.
A slightly out of focus kiss. :)
Even though the tent made my pictures a bit dark it was truly a life saver. It was SO HOT this day, and I can't imagine not having some shade around to relax and cool down under.
The wedding was lots of fun, and it was especially great to see and spend time with almost my whole family on my Dad's side. There was even a brunch the next morning (mostly for family) that we briefly stopped at so we could say good-bye to everyone before hitting the road with my Mom and Dad.
That is right, we turned a wedding trip into a little mini-vacation with a short but still lots of fun road trip up the coast of California.
After a brief stop at Starbucks we made our way to our first stop, the San Diego Chargers football stadium. As I know I have mentioned before, Daniel has a quest to visit as many football stadiums as possible, so we are always happy when we can cross more off the list. :)
After that, we mostly just drove, drove, drove up the coast until we came to Anderson's Pea Soup for dinner.
All of us ate pea soup of course. :)
Our next stop was at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
There are a million things to take pictures of here, but all I have is a picture Daniel took for me of the inside of the men's bathroom.
So, it is hard to tell, but this is the "urinal" and it has a little waterfall cascading down the rocks.
The whole hotel is quite over the top, but every single room has a different "theme". They are all pretty neat, so check it out on the link above!
We drove a little further to make it to Cambria, out pit stop for the evening.
Daniel woke up for an early morning run the next morning. I unfortunately did not remember to pack running clothes/shoes, but I still enjoyed a nice stroll with my Mom and Dad. Daniel did say though that it was the most beautiful run of his life, and you can probably see why from the pictures.
The central coast of California is SO beautiful. That is the biggest thing I took away from this trip I think. It is definitely an area Daniel and I want to come back to again and explore some more!
Momsy strolling along the boardwalks.
After Daniel returned from his run, and we all finished eating breakfast, we packed up and headed out to our next destination, Hearst Castle.
Hearst Castle is a National Historic Landmark that is actually kept as a historic national park. It used to be one of the homes of William Randolph Hearst, a millionaire who made it big in the newspaper industry around the turn of the 20th century. After he died his family donated it to the state of California. It is maintained by them (as a national historic park) and tours are available to the public.
The house itself is over-the-top ridiculous and extreme; but there is also a very large collection of fine art and artifacts.
The Neptune Pool.
Beautiful gardens.
Approaching the main house after touring one the the guest houses.
The living room.
Dining room.
Game room.
The Roman pool (indoor, underneath the tennis courts), made of venetian glass tiles and pure gold.
A close-up. :)
After our tour we headed into the central California wine country to visit my family's favorite winery. :)
You can probably tell why, but for those of you who don't know my Dad's name is in fact James Tobin. No relation, just a good name. :) We had a very nice time tasting many different wines, and then were on the road again until we arrived in Carmel, our pit stop for the night.
Carmel is where my Mom's family came to vacation most every summer (they were living in California), so it was so fun to finally be able to see. We found a very fun and yummy tapas restaurant for dinner that evening.
The next morning we stopped by the beach.
Drove around the adorable town (we saw the most adorable beach homes! Pictures to come in another post as this one is already picture heavy).
And got some coffee, pastry's, and a large salted soft pretzel for Daniel, before we embarked on the beautiful 17-mile drive (all around Pacific Grove and Pebble Peach).
Some sort of scenic look-out.
BEAUTIFUL beach.
Golf course...what a location, right? :)
Look at the birds, seals, and sea lions all over that rock!
Jenny on candid camera.
And then we came across the creepiest squirrel ever.
It seriously kept charging straight at us and then standing up in its back legs! Begging for food I am sure, but I have never seen such a gutsy little guy!
We were all laughing so hard we were crying by the time we made it back into the car.
Another golf course...
The lone Cyprus.
Pebble Beach golf course...
View of the 18th hole.
And this is the starting point, hole #1.
After we finished the 17-mile drive we headed north to Palo Alto (home of Stanford University). We were able to drive around the campus a bit, but the real purpose of the stop was because Daniel and I had a little dinner date with Daniel's grandma, Gammie and his Uncle Tom.
We had a wonderful dinner. It was so great to see Gammie again and catch up with her and Uncle Tom. Gammie was adorable and she just kept staring at Daniel all evening saying she couldn't believe how tall and handsome he was. :)
It had been at least 7 years, maybe more, since Daniel (and I) last saw Gammie, so we were really glad we were able to see her (and to be honest, she was the real driving force behind us deciding to make the trip up the coast, so Daniel could see her).
Daniel and I's flight was that evening, but we fortunately had a few hours to drive around San Fransisco and see some sights! Daniel went on a mission trip to San Fran (a week before our wedding actually) in 2006, but I had never been before, so I really wanted to see a few things!
We of course had to stop at the San Fransisco 49ers Stadium... :)
Unfortunately every entrance was closed (we drove around the whole thing!), so this was as close as he got. It's okay though, it still counts. :)
Alcatraz, in the distance from the mainland.
I really wanted to see a cable car as well; so imagine my excitement when we happened to park right near one heading for a stop! :)
Sun starting to set...
We drove through the Fisherman's Wharf area before we made a stop at Ghirardelli for some yummy ice cream/sundaes.
And then drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was extremely windy, but still a beautiful site to see. :)
After that we headed to the airport for an all-night flight back to Boston.
We flew on Jet Blue, and we just love them more and more every time we fly them. Daniel loves the extra legroom (and it is true, they have noticeably more legroom then other airlines in just their regular seats) I love the snacks, 1 free checked bag and for our all night flight we got this adorable little kit with earplugs and a sleeping mask!
The sleeping mask was awesome. Unfortunately, there was a good bit of turbulence during our flight (which is even more nerve-wracking when you are half-asleep/disoriented/wearing a sleeping mask. I could have sworn at one point we were plummeting toward the ground) but we made it safely back to Boston. And then I went straight to work. :) Since I was just a few weeks in at my new job I didn't want to take off too many days. Plus, I knew I wouldn't be that tired in the morning (it was true; once I am up I am pretty awake). Aside from feeling a little out of it all day, I was fine, though very happy to head home, un-pack, and call it an early night after watching a netflix movie on the couch. :)
It was a wonderful trip. We were able to see and spend time with lots of family we do not get to see very often. As well as see a part of the country we had not been to before, with my parent's as wonderful and experience tour guides. They grew up in SoCal and have taken many a trip (including their honeymoon!) up and down the California coast. Thanks again for everything Mom and Dad - we had a ball!
A few days after Martin and Debe left Daniel and I were airborne heading west to California for my cousin Brittni's wedding. We flew into LAX very late Friday night, but my parent's were there to pick us up and drive us back to my Grandma's house. We went to sleep pretty much immediately(after chatting briefly with the other family members that were there) and then caravaned down to San Diego with most of my Dad's family.
We made it to San Diego (Alpine, specifically) with a bit of time to get ready before we had to be at the wedding location for family pictures! I think I curled my hair in record time. :)
Even though the tent made my pictures a bit dark it was truly a life saver. It was SO HOT this day, and I can't imagine not having some shade around to relax and cool down under.
The wedding was lots of fun, and it was especially great to see and spend time with almost my whole family on my Dad's side. There was even a brunch the next morning (mostly for family) that we briefly stopped at so we could say good-bye to everyone before hitting the road with my Mom and Dad.
That is right, we turned a wedding trip into a little mini-vacation with a short but still lots of fun road trip up the coast of California.
Our next stop was at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
The whole hotel is quite over the top, but every single room has a different "theme". They are all pretty neat, so check it out on the link above!
We drove a little further to make it to Cambria, out pit stop for the evening.
Daniel woke up for an early morning run the next morning. I unfortunately did not remember to pack running clothes/shoes, but I still enjoyed a nice stroll with my Mom and Dad. Daniel did say though that it was the most beautiful run of his life, and you can probably see why from the pictures.
After our tour we headed into the central California wine country to visit my family's favorite winery. :)
Carmel is where my Mom's family came to vacation most every summer (they were living in California), so it was so fun to finally be able to see. We found a very fun and yummy tapas restaurant for dinner that evening.
After we finished the 17-mile drive we headed north to Palo Alto (home of Stanford University). We were able to drive around the campus a bit, but the real purpose of the stop was because Daniel and I had a little dinner date with Daniel's grandma, Gammie and his Uncle Tom.
It had been at least 7 years, maybe more, since Daniel (and I) last saw Gammie, so we were really glad we were able to see her (and to be honest, she was the real driving force behind us deciding to make the trip up the coast, so Daniel could see her).
Daniel and I's flight was that evening, but we fortunately had a few hours to drive around San Fransisco and see some sights! Daniel went on a mission trip to San Fran (a week before our wedding actually) in 2006, but I had never been before, so I really wanted to see a few things!
After that we headed to the airport for an all-night flight back to Boston.
We flew on Jet Blue, and we just love them more and more every time we fly them. Daniel loves the extra legroom (and it is true, they have noticeably more legroom then other airlines in just their regular seats) I love the snacks, 1 free checked bag and for our all night flight we got this adorable little kit with earplugs and a sleeping mask!
The sleeping mask was awesome. Unfortunately, there was a good bit of turbulence during our flight (which is even more nerve-wracking when you are half-asleep/disoriented/wearing a sleeping mask. I could have sworn at one point we were plummeting toward the ground) but we made it safely back to Boston. And then I went straight to work. :) Since I was just a few weeks in at my new job I didn't want to take off too many days. Plus, I knew I wouldn't be that tired in the morning (it was true; once I am up I am pretty awake). Aside from feeling a little out of it all day, I was fine, though very happy to head home, un-pack, and call it an early night after watching a netflix movie on the couch. :)
It was a wonderful trip. We were able to see and spend time with lots of family we do not get to see very often. As well as see a part of the country we had not been to before, with my parent's as wonderful and experience tour guides. They grew up in SoCal and have taken many a trip (including their honeymoon!) up and down the California coast. Thanks again for everything Mom and Dad - we had a ball!
2 comments:
omgoodness!!
First of all we were in san diego just after you... and last year we did the same trip up the coast and basically have the "same" photos ;)
crazy! miss you!!
You were right here in San luis? I wish we could have seen you! Looks like you had fun doing part of our honeymoon trip drive along the coast!
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