Yorba Linda (Scott)

After coming back from our trip to northern California, we checked into the five-star Casa de Riggins, a ranch-style hacienda in Yorba Linda. The accommodations are excellent, the location is choice, the food is extremely tasty, and snacks are abundant -- although some of our neighbors are a bit noisy, especially in the morning.

Speaking of noisy -- Steve has a 1960s Chevelle wagon that he likes to use on the weekends. He parks it backwards in the garage so that the rear bumper sits right against the opposite side of the wall where the headboard of our bed is. When he starts the dang thing, it feels like the world is ending -- the entire room shakes and there is a deafening roar. I think he likes it.

For the most part, we've just been lying low -- much to the chagrin of the girls who see us sitting on the couch watching television in the morning when they leave for school and who find us still in our pajamas in the exact same spots when they return from school. Hey, we're on vacation!

We did spend a day at Disneyland celebrating Mom Shari's birthday last week and I spent this past weekend in Havasu for Shawn's bachelor party -- I can't believe his wedding is a week away! Havasu was fun times: beers, boats, drinking games, excellent sandwiches, and about 4 hot dogs for dinner one night.

The highlight of the weekend was playing a game called "Buckets" -- it's actually something that Shawn and Brandon created using 2x4s and paint buckets. The game itself is sort of similar to horseshoes and we were playing in 2-man teams. To make the game a little more interesting, the losers had to dive into the frigid waters of the lake -- well, the water wasn't exactly frigid, but it was a little cold! My first time playing I was up against Shawn and Brandon. My teammate and I put up a valiant effort, but we lost so into the lake we went. Later in the afternoon, after I noticed that Shawn had a few more beers, I challenged him to another game but with a different teammate for me. Shawn, a little unsteady on his feet, didn't do so hot while my teammate and I were on fire! My team won and Shawn and Brandon were banished to the lake -- complete vindication for all the torment I suffered from their hands when I was 12. Well, maybe not complete vindication, but it was pretty cool to beat Shawn at something...that never happens.

We have another busy week ahead of us. Today is Dad Pool's birthday -- so we'll be meeting him at Disneyland this afternoon. Then we have some errands to run for the wedding, the rehearsal dinner is on Thursday, and the wedding itself is on Saturday. Oh yeah, I also promised Alyssa I'd help her prepare for the SAT, which she is set to take also on Saturday. Busy, busy, busy...

4/20/09 - Walnut, CA (Scott)

We made it home! We actually came back last night. After eating dinner in downtown Santa Barbara we were a bit knackered so we went back to our hotel room. I think I forgot to mention that the both of us have been a bit under the weather lately -- we each picked up one of the worst souvenirs ever in Big Sur: a cold.

So yeah -- there we were in our hostelesque hotel thinking, man, it would be nice to be back where everybody knows our names. You know when you're sick the only place you want to be is home. And in our case, home is where the mommies are.

Overall the trip was amazing. I say it ranks right up there with our honeymoon as the best I've ever taken. And I'm very proud of Hamish the Hyundai -- he was a champion on the highway...a true road warrior. Actually, the real champion is Ashlee -- she singlehandedly planned the entire trip down to the smallest details. Everything worked seamlessly and we had a wonderful time. Woo hoo!

4/19/09 - Santa Barbara, CA (Scott)

Ah, the last day of our trip! We checked out of the Travel Lodge in Santa Maria this morning around 9am. We hit the open road soon after, traveling south on the 101 towards Solvang.

I know what some of you are probably thinking: hey, Solvang's for old people! Well, Ashlee and I are old souls -- at least we've been told that. Actually, I wanted to come to Solvang because I went there once as a kid and have some very fond memories of the trip. Scratch that, I have one fond memory -- I don't recall what it looks like or where it is, but I sure as heck remember my family and I renting one of those four-person Flintstone-type bicycle cars. I think they are called surreys. Shawn and I sat in the back -- so naturally we didn't pedal. Instead we got to feel the wind in our faces as my parents drove us all over the city. Actually, I'm not completely sure my mom was pedalling either -- it may have just been my dad. Hmm, no wonder why we only went there once...

We made the drive to Solvang in about 30 minutes. We found that it's right in between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara right in the Santa Ynez Valley -- just next to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. It's just as the guidebook says: a small Danish village catering to tourists complete with faux windmills, tons of pastry shops, a motel called the Viking Inn (it had a longboat painted on the side of the lobby), cuckoo clock shops galore, and several statues and squares dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen.

Our first-stop in Danish Land was the year-round Christmas store. For two Christmas buffs like Ashlee and myself, it was wonderful. I mean, I think that this past year we put our decorations up two weeks before Thanksgiving. Needless to say, it was the type of shop even I could enjoy -- well, at least for the first 15 minutes. After that I had to push Ashlee on.

We checked out the local TI (that's Tourist Info booth for you non-Rick Steves folks) and got information on all the Solvang hot-spots. The friendly guy manning the booth told us about the pastry shops, the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, the exact replica of the Little Mermaid statue sitting in Copenhagen Harbor (except the one here is much smaller), and the windmills. Armed with this info, we set out.

I quickly realized that my childhood memories of Solvang were a bit romanticized -- after all, this time my dad wasn't here to pedal us around. Sure the buildings all looked really fun, some of the store workers had some funny costumes, that pastries all looked delicious, and the shoe store sold real wooden clogs, but I think that Solvang was more Ashlee's cup of tea. She certainly did shop it up -- at least in my opinion. I'm sure that she'd be quick to tell you that she barely scratched the surface.

Following my mom's advice, we were sure to take a breather in a little bakery and sample some of the deliciousness they had on display. Although I'm pretty sure it's not Danish, I choose a chocolate eclair. It was delicious. It was also impossible to eat and the second I tried to cut into it, all the cream and custard came out of the sides. Ashlee can't take me anywhere.

Did I mention yet how it was today? I didn't see a thermometer or the forecast, but it must have been in the 80s. I guess it doesn't sound that hot, but at certain points of the day I felt like I could have been in Havasu. Although I guess the reason we found it so hot was because we just spent two weeks in 50 degree weather and we weren't exactly outfitted for the warmth. Ashlee did, however, bring her Rainbows.

For lunch we stopped in nearby Buelton at famed Pea Soup Andersens, where their specialty is, yep, you guessed it: pea soup! It was fantastic! We ordered the pea soup meal which came with side salads and the thickest milkshakes you've ever seen (chocolate for Ashlee and vanilla for myself), which were brought out first. It was like having a bowl of ice cream as an appetizer -- I love the Danes! The pea soup itself was served in bread bowls with the toppings (bacon bits, ham, green onions, and cheese) on the side. Ashlee will probably want me to mention that the onion cheesebread croutons on our salads were particularly nice.

Our lunch even came complete with a show. Not to be too creepy, but Ashlee and I sometimes get a little distracted at restaurants with the conversation taking place at nearby tables -- no, it's not eavesdropping, it's simply being aware of our surroundings. Anyways, today at Pea Soup Andersen's we couldn't help but notice how extremely pushy the couple next to us was. We certainly felt for the poor waiter who had to explain that the restaurant stopped serving breakfast at 11:30 and the couple didn't sit down until 11:40. The lady wanted to speak with a manager -- until she realized that her watch was 10 minutes slow. She really needed to take a chill pill.

With our bellies full, we made the trip to Santa Barbara in about 45 minutes. We sailed all the way down the 101 and we didn't hit traffic until about a mile out from our exit. We are staying right in the downtown area about a block from the ocean. Our actual hotel reminds us of some of the nicer hostels we have stayed at in some of our European travels. From the crusty floral print quilt, to the loud train rattling by right outside our window, to the fact that we had to upgrade our room to get our own toilet (we still have a communal shower), we're pretty far from the Clement in Monterey. Oh well, it provides all we need it for.

After getting settled in, we spent the afternoon hanging out at the beach. After walking around the wharf, we found a nice shady spot under some palm trees and sat to read and enjoy the ocean view. We noticed that Santa Barbara is very much like Orange County -- we felt like we could have been in Huntington or Newport. There was plenty of blond hair and sun-tanned bodies. The water also looks like the lagoon surrounding Tom Sawyer's Island at Disneyland. We miss Northern California already...

We ate dinner downtown at a place called the Natural Cafe -- we had quite the spread. The daily special pasta was a bit of a disappointment and my beer was a little stale, but the location was very choice. After eating, we walked around a bit, grabbed dessert at Cold Stone, and then headed back to our initially stuffy but now kind of nice hotel room. Ashlee is flicking through the channels searching for Jon & Kate Plus 8, but I don't think she's having any luck. She'll manage...somehow.

We're planning on spending the morning here in Santa Barbara and then heading back to my parents' in Walnut. The drive should take just over two hours -- unless we hit traffic...ugh.

4/19/09 - Santa Maria, CA (Scott)

Those of you familiar with Santa Maria might be wondering what the heck we are doing here. I'll explain.

After catching lunch in Cambria (we decided on Mexican) we hit the road for an impromptu stop by Morro Bay to check for otters. Our hotel concierge gave us directions, but they seemed extremely vague to us. We were told to drive down Highway 1 about 20 miles until we saw a "big rock." Then we were told to drive as close to the rock as we could and we should be able to see otters swimming about. Ok...

The drive was, once again, beautiful. As we wound our way down the coast, we were amazed at how pretty the water was. It reminded me of the coastal waters of Mexico, the Caribbean, and pictures I have seen of Eriskay all at the same time. About 15 miles out of Cambria, we saw the "big rock" we were looking for. Big is an understatement. The thing was friggen huge. And it has a name: Morro Rock.

We exited Highway 1 once we hit the town of Morro Bay and made our way to the main street. Again we encountered tons of shops -- I had to keep a firm hand on Ashlee to prevent her from jumping out the car. We kept heading in the direction of the rock and drove right to its base at the mouth of the bay. The first thing I noticed (other than the sheer girth of the seemingly random rock) were the hordes of seagulls flitting about. They were everywhere! We parked Hamish (he did really well on the rough terrain) and made our way to the rocky shore. Right when we looked at the water, we immediately saw a small group of otters drifting just off-shore. They were so close!

There must have been five adults and two pups all together. They were floating in a small kelp bed and the babies were nestled on the chests of their mothers. They all had the furriest faces. Most of them were just laying there grooming themselves, but a couple of them were feeling a bit acrobatic as they engaged in underwater somersaults. We got tons of pictures. We wanted to just sit on the rocks and watch them, but we looked down and saw that the rocky shore was overrun with seagull poop and very pushy squirrels! These squirrels were everywhere and they were definitely not shy.

We snapped a few more pictures of our otter friends and then headed back into town for tea. We stopped a little cafe, and while waiting for our tea, we struck up a conversation with a local who was sitting close by. The lady told us how much she loves living here in Morro Bay and she gave us some good tips on sights to see.

After tea, we followed the lady's advice and took the scenic route out of town. We made our way to the adjoining city of Los Osos and from there to the Montanas de Oros state park, another coastal enclave where there is good otter-spotting. After driving on this small windy road for what felt like twenty minutes, we emerged on this wonderful beach cove ringed with cliffs. It was very picturesque. By this time it must have been 3:30pm and we had to get on to Santa Maria. We used our binoculars to scan the water, and satisfied there were no otters, we loaded back into Hamish and moved on.

Compared to our earlier stops on this roadtrip, Santa Maria is a podunk little town just outside of San Luis Obispo. The reason we are staying here is to catch a production of Les Miserables. Apparently in addition to an Olive Garden and Travel Lodge, Santa Maria has a thriving theater scene (go figure) and they're well-known for the plays they put on.

We ate dinner at Olive Garden (perhaps the busiest restaurant we've encountered on this entire trip other than the Burmese joint our SF Peace Corps friends took us to) and watched the play right after. It was awesome! I was a little nervous about whether I'd be able to follow along (sometimes musicals confuse me because I have a hard time understanding the words), but everything was wonderful. I guess it helps that I have recently read the book (which I really enjoyed!). Ashlee has seen this play once before in London, but she was equally impressed. Jean Valjean was amazing! Javert did an excellent job also, but I was a little distracted by how much spit came out of his mouth when he'd sing. We were sitting in the second row and when he came close to us, I was worried about catching some in my eyes.

All in all, yesterday was extremely pleasant and I was happy with our accommodations here at the Travel Lodge. We just ate breakfast in the lobby (another waffle maker!) and we're just about to head out. We're going to be making our way to Santa Barbara with a stop in Solvang along the way. Sadly, our trip ends tomorrow and we'll be headed back to Walnut -- we should be home by the early afternoon.

Adieu until then.

4/17/09 - Cambria, CA (Scott)

Three Reasons Why We Love Cambria:

1) Our Hotel

Like I said yesterday, the Fireside Inn is a small place sandwiched right between the beach and Highway 1. Although affiliated with Best Western, it is independently owned and operated. The staff at the front desk were very kind and extremely helpful -- not only did they direct us to the Tea Cozy yesterday, but they also gave us the tip that if we absolutely have to see otters today, we should stop at Morro Bay, a town about 20 miles down the highway.

Our actual hotel room was extremely nice. Through divine intervention (or maybe because we are such a disgustingly cute couple) we were upgraded to an oceanfront room. In addition to a fireplace (I was hoping the Fireside Inn would live up to its name) we had a private patio that we used to enjoy a gorgeous sunset yesterday, and then again this morning with our tea and coffee while we absorbed the stunning yet serene beauty of the rolling surf.

As a sidenote, we had an interesting run-in with a seagull yesterday. The setting was perfect. After a delicious dinner at JJ's Pizza, we picked up a bottle of sparkling wine and headed back to our hotel to enjoy the sunset on our patio. As we were sitting there in paradise, the moment was ruined by a squawking seagull that was bullying another bird -- if you guys know Ashlee, you probably know how much she hates seagulls. In her words, seagulls not only try to eat your food, but they also eat the food of other birds that you are trying to feed, and they poop on people. Well now she can add to the list the fact that they are incredibly rude. As the seagull flew overhead squawking, Ashlee politely asked it to be quiet and to get along with the other birds. In response, not only did the seagull continue with the squawks, but it dropped a big poo on the adjoining patio as it literally flew off into the sunset. Oh snap!

Actually, thinking about it now, Ashlee has quite the rapport with our avian friends. Just this morning we were sitting on the patio engaged in our daily caffeine ritual when a small bird walked right up to within 5 feet of her, looked her squarely in the eye, and started chattering away. We weren't sure if Ashlee had offended this bird in anyway, but it was clear that the bird was not happy. We tried to ignore it, but then it started getting louder and ruffling itself all up. Thinking the bird couldn't get any madder than it already was, we took a picture of it. What's up with the birds in Cambria?

2) The Coast

Newport Beach has nothing on California's Central Coast. Between the brilliant blue hue of the water, the roiling and foamy white surf as it crashes on the rocky shore, the abundant sea life just lazing about, and the mellow feel of the sleepy beach towns, it is beautiful.

I'll admit, however, that we have been fortunate on this trip with amazing weather and very few crowds. I'd be interested to see what this trip would be like during the summer months -- actually on second thought, I prefer it exactly like it is.

After breakfast at our hotel (they had a waffle maker!) we spent the morning walking along the footpaths that line the coast. Armed with our binoculars (one pair our own and the other provided by the hotel) we were hoping to catch sight of some otters. On the rocky tidepools just in front of our hotel we ran into some seals basking in the warm sunshine. It appeared that the large group was broken into several mother-pup pairs. The pups seemed really young as many of them struggled to pull their awkward bodies out of the water. You could almost hear them say "Momma! Momma!" as they flopped around on the slippery rocks.

Further along the coast we spotted several large kelp beds (the habitat of choice for otters) just off-shore. As we used our binoculars to scan the horizon we saw tons of seaweed, but none of our furry-faced otter friends. Oh well, there's always the promise of Morro Bay.

3) Downtown, Cambria

Downtown Cambria is a paradise for Ashlee. It is simply shops galore. Every one of them is slightly different and they're all selling antiques, knick knacks, and/or expensive pieces of art. Ashlee loved how each shop had its own architectural style and catchy name. We've already told you about the Tea Cozy yesterday -- it was really just an old house with British paraphenalia stuffed in every nook and cranny. There was also the Squibb House, a big yellow workshop and adjoining B&B specializing in Amish wooden furniture imported from Pennsylvania. The swivel rockers were amazing! We also enjoyed a little wine shop called Fermentations, whose $5 wine tasting provided a pleasant buzz before dinner last night.

At the moment, I'm sitting at a small cafe nursing a cappuchino while Ashlee is taking advantage of all the "shoppurtinities." The biggest concern on my mind is where we'll be eating lunch. Speaking of which, I'm getting hungry...

4/16/09 - Cambria, CA (Scott)

Man, nature is loud! Ashlee and I both had a fitful night of sleeping. We think it was a combination of the lumpy bed, paper-thin walls with noisy neighbors (shouldn't everyone go to bed at 9pm?), and some incredibly loud birds that decided to start chirping at 3am. It's ok -- that's what nature is all about.

We ate breakfast at our motel -- did I say that it was called the Fernwood Resort? I'm not sure what the exact definition of resort is, but it must be pretty loose. Sorry, before I get the eyeroll from Ashlee, I'll admit that the motel provided everything we needed. Wow, I think that one night at the Clement in Monterey really spoiled me. Breakfast consisted of coffee (they had a cappuccino machine!), tea for Ashlee, yogurt, and something called a "Big Sur Bar" -- it was delicious.

It was my turn to take the wheel today. We had about 60 miles to cover to make it to Hearst Castle in San Simeon and then another few miles to the cozy little town of Cambria where we are spending the night. Grandma and Jon, another sojourning couple, frequent Cambria whenever they get the chance, and for Christmas they bought us a night's accommodation at their favorite little hotel. We've been looking forward to it for months.

The weather was, once again, ideal: blue skies and sunshine. We seemed to have left the roaring winds back in Monterey. The superb weather was great since we had to tackle the rest of Big Sur today. Just as yesterday, the road hugged the coast as it twisted and turned up and around rocky crags. The deep blue ocean off to our right was gorgeous, but I was careful to keep my eyes on the road. The speed limit was generally 50mph, but there were numerous 35mph curves and quite a few 15mph switchbacks. We also hit a few patches of road work where the construction workers brought traffic to a complete stop as they operated a one-lane stretch. For the most part, the road was empty -- although we did notice a bit of traffic heading north. I wonder if they knew something we didn't? Also, I found that those cars that were heading in our direction did not seem to appreciate my err...cautious driving skills. I don't know if they were locals running late for work or just general speed-demons, but a few cars were so eager to get a move on it that they illegally -- not to mention dangerously -- passed me. Relax! There were also some parts of the road where the turns were so tight and the road so narrow that I didn't realize how tight I was gripping the wheel until I saw my white knuckles. All in all, though, the drive was wonderful and I'm incredibly glad we made it. At the same time, however, I kept wondering how people handle this drive at night or during nasty weather.

Perhaps my favorite part of the drive was taking advantage of the turnouts every mile or so. When I first saw a sign saying "Vista Point 1/4 Mile" I wanted to ask Ashlee to check the guidebook to see if it was worth stopping at. I soon realized that pretty much all the paved turnouts were called "Vista Point" and they are all worth stopping at. The views were amazing! When we did stop, we'd get out our binoculars for some good ol' otter spotting. Ashlee swears she saw some lying in a huge kelp bed at one point, but I just saw driftwood. At the last Vista Point we stopped at before we hit San Simeon we found a beach covered in driftwood -- when we got closer we realized that it was actually a beach full of elephant seals. They were somg big ol' boombalotties! For the most part they were just lazing it up in the sun using their flippers to toss sand onto their backs to keep cool. It was quite a scene. The funniest part was the all the noise they were making. We weren't sure if they were grunts, belches, or farts -- although the stench in the air led me to believe that gas of some sort was being passed.

When we were looking at the seals, it reminded me of the Mexican Riviera cruise we took with my parents a couple years ago. In one of the ports we stopped at, we took a cruise along the coast and the tour guide took us to "Seal Point." Three such boats full of tourists converged on this "Seal Point" -- which was basically a buoy with only one poor seal getting completely overwhelmed by the boats.

Our first major stop of the day was Hearst Castle. For those of you who don't know, William Randolph Hearst (or "the Chief") was a media mogul from the early 20th century who used his fortune to build an incredible estate on the bluffs overlooking San Simeon Bay. I think it took 20 years to finish construction, and when everything was done, he used the place to entertain all the major celebrities of the time.

After eating a surprisingly good lunch at the visitor's center, we got in line to board the bus to head up to the castle. Now, as some of you may know, Ashlee is not the best at waiting in line. To be honest, she gets a little antsy. Today was particularly rough as she didn't sleep very well last night, we were standing in the sun, and there were several young kids waiting with us. Now, for the most part, Ashlee has a very nurturing and motherly disposition, but I think these particular kids pushed her to the limit. A couple of them were actually 7-year-old twins who were playing this sort of hybrid game of pat-a-cake that was insanely loud. They kept saying "Pee-KA-chu!" over and over. Bottom line, they were a little annoying and we were thankful to finally board the bus.

The actual tour was awesome. Hearst Castle is now owned by the state and operated as a historical park. They actually operate 5 different tours. We took the introductory one and got to explore both pools, one of the guest houses, and the bottom floor of the main house. The estate was gorgeous. Apparently the Chief was quite the world traveler and art collector. He pulled inspiration from all over Europe and his home looks like a Mediterranean paradise. The weather was gorgeous and it felt like we were right back in Italy. I took tons of pictures. I realized that the reason why I liked W.R. Hearst so much was because he reminded me of perhaps my favorite literary character ever: the Count of Monte Cristo. Like Monte Cristo, Hearst was ridiculously wealthy and he used his money to get whatever he wanted -- down to paying thousands of dollars to move around 9-ton trees simply because he thought they were blocking his view.

When we finished up at the Castle, we headed about 5 miles down the road to Cambria where we are staying for the night. Grandma and Jon are right -- we love Cambria! It is this small incredibly pleasant town that straddles Highway 1. Our hotel sits right on the coast and our actual room has a patio that looks right onto the water. Our room is also outfitted with a fireplace, another jacuzzi tub, and a television for Ashlee. We're supposed to be out of here by 11am tomorrow, but I don't think we'll ever leave...

After getting settled, we jumped back into Hamish and headed to the downtown area. By this time it was late afternoon and first on our list of priorities was a caffeine infusion. The people at our hotel's front desk told us of an excellent teahouse called "The Tea Cozy." The place was difficult to find, but it was full of charm and well worth the search. It was definitely very British -- Ashlee loved it. We shared a pot of tea along with some crumpets and excellent lemon cream cake. To Ashlee's delight, there was an adjoining store where she bought a teapot.

Afterwards, we explored some more of downtown -- which basically consisted of her half-dragging me to every antique shop she could find. Conveniently I found that pretty much all of these stores have benches outside -- they might as well stick up a sign saying "Husbands Here." Needless to say, the afternoon passed quickly. Fortunately, this being a small town, pretty much everything closed at 5pm.

By then it was just a matter of finding dinner -- which was easy since Grandpa Jon already told us about one of his favorite dives, a pizza joint called JJ's Pizza. The place definitely didn't disappoint. After dinner we hit up the local liquor store, bought a bottle of champagne...er...sparkling wine ($5 for Yellowtail chardonnay!), and headed back to our hotel to sit on our private patio to enjoy the sunset. It was divine. What a perfect way to end the day.

Tomorrow we are planning to spend the day here in Cambria. There looks to be quite a few trails right outside our hotel that explore the coast. We'll take our binoculars to spot for otters. In the afternoon we need to travel to our next stop, the little town of Santa Maria, where we will be catching a production of Les Miserables.

4/15/09 - Big Sur, CA (Scott)

Another day down in our attempt to eat our way down the coast of the California.

We woke up early today and had to force our bodies out of the most comfortable bed ever created. We took the advice of our waitress from the Crown & Anchor last night and ate breakfast at a little diner called First Awakenings right in Cannery Row about three blocks from our hotel. We switched it up a bit and we actually ate something sort of healthy -- oatmeal with fresh fruit. It was incredibly satisfying.

After we were fed and watered, we briefly entertained the notion of wandering back through the Aquarium (our tickets were good for two days) but we instead decided to return to our room and enjoy the luxury for a little longer. We hit the road by 10am. In honor of Grandma Arlene, Ashlee guided Hamish north along the seafront to the tip of Monterey -- our guidebook named the area "Otter Point." Sadly, the wind was blowing so hard and the sea was so foamy, that we didn't spot any of our furry-faced friends. The view was gorgeous though. I've never seen water such a deep blue.

Our agenda for the day was to drive from Monterey to Big Sur, where we are staying for the night. Ashlee tackled the 40 miles or so of driving today, leaving me free to snap pictures of the big beautiful ocean every 10 seconds or so. If any of you have never driven down Highway 1 through Big Sur before, it is even better than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride -- it is spectacular. The highway hugs the ocean as it twists and turns through the lush green hills. The speed limit alternates between 40 and 50mph with many 20mph switchbacks mixed in. Every mile or so there is a turnout where gawkers can stop and admire the view without completely holding up traffic. We also passed several large houses that were perched very precariously on cliffs overlooking the ocean. If Ashlee and I are ever super-rich, which is highly unlikely, and we don't give all our money away, which would be highly likely if we had any, I'd like to own a home there.

Like I said, the scenery was simply breath-taking. It made me really nostalgic for the churning coasts of Ireland -- Cliffs of Moher, anyone? In fact, I wonder what I would have thought of Ireland if I had come here to Big Sur first.

Our first stop of the day was at Nepenthe Restaurant. Since I'm not exactly sure how to describe it other than saying that it was a restaurant high up overlooking the ocean, here's a description of it from their website:

Perched on the edge of the continent, high above the Pacific, watched over by the majestic Santa Lucia Mountains sits Nepenthe Restaurant. This Mecca of poets, artists, travelers and vagabonds has served guests for fifty years, opening for business on April 24, 1949.

Sitting on the terrace, enjoying a glass of wine, an Ambrosia Burger, or one of our exceptional homemade desserts is a quintessential California experience. The first time visitor to the Central Coast will not want to miss it. Once you have visited, you are destined to return.

The food was tasty (their daily special was a hot pastrami sandwich) and their desserts homemade, but you really come for the view. I can't really put it in words and I don't think the pictures we took will do it justice, but it was friggen amazing.

We got to the restaurant right at the beginning of the lunch rush. Unfortunately most of the good seats along the window overlooking the cliffs were taken, and the elderly host seemed a bit overwhelmed as he tried to seat us in the center of the restaurant. Ashlee, the intrepid traveler, spied a back patio that was completely devoid of guests. She curiously asked if we could sit out there. The host replied that the weather was too nasty for us to sit out there comfortably -- to which we replied that we could stick it out. Once seated on the choicest spot out there, we looked at one another and didn't know what the man was talking about. Sure there was some wind that would pick up every now and then, but we were all fleeced out and the space heaters were blasting away. We were happy as clams. Sure enough, once we took our seats, several clumps of other guests came out and sat with us. Ashlee, the trailblazer. No one tells her no.

After lunch, we headed back down Highway 1 to our motel. We got checked in and tossed our bags into our room. Then we strapped on our new REI cross-trainers and hit the trails. Before setting out, we asked the guy at the front desk (do motels have concierges?) if we could get a trail map. In response, he gave us a little slip of papers with these "directions":

In the south westerly corner of the campground you will discover a break in the fence. Pass on through and hang a right at the tangle of fallen trees, following the trail that climbs up the hill. This will lead you to a mysterious High Oak Meadow. Trek through the High Meadow, which leads to a redwood forest. Keep your eyes open. Shortly, there is a marked trailhead. Take that trail to the right. Soon after, you will come to a fork in the trail...if you head right (up the mountainside) you'll do the Buzzard's Roost Loop, a moderate-difficult hike which ascends to an overlook of the sea (approx 2 hrs).

What is this, we thought, a preschool scavenger map? Shortly after setting out, we discovered that forests contain tons of "tangles of fallen trees." Twenty minutes into our hike we realized that we were headed in completely the wrong direction. Eventually we sort of blazed our own trail -- there was a slight path -- up the side of the hill and we emerged into the "mysterious High Oak meadow." It was an extremely peaceful-looking glen. The long grass was undulating in the wind and the sun was shining generously, bringing out the color of the wildflowers. I asked Ashlee if she would take a picture of me lying in the sunlight and we could later superimpose into the picture shining flecks on my skin Edward Cullen-style. She said no.

Like I said, we eventually did find the path and we entered the redwood forest. Just like in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, we were completely overwhelmed by the natural beauty of nature -- a little redundant, I guess. These trees are just so humongous! My buddy Garrett told me that there's a similar redwood forest just north of San Francisco (John Muir Woods?) that George Lucas used to film the Endor Moon scenes of Return of the Jedi. I felt as small as an ewok navigating my way along the trail. All in all, I'd say that Ashlee and I covered just about 4 miles -- we must have been hiking for 3 hours. We didn't really intend to complete the Buzzard's Roost trail and make it to the view of the sea -- in fact at one point we were just about to turn back when we met a family coming down the trail and they assured us that we were "kinda almost" near the top. Ashlee and I muscled on -- and we are glad we did. There's nothing better than making it to the top of a large hill (mountain?) and admiring the view.

Needless to say, our little hike helped us work up an appetite. We made it back to our motel room, cleaned up a bit, and then headed to dinner at the little bar next to the front office. The bar food hit the spot and they had Newcastle on tap. Awesome.

We're back in our room at the moment. Unfortunately we don't have television in this place -- I guess that means we'll have to either read or -- gasp -- talk to each other tonight. Just kidding...we'll be fine.

Tomorrow we will be exploring Hearst Castle and then staying in Cambria for more otter-spotting. Adieu until then.

4/15/09 - Monterey, CA Continued (Scott)

PS - I take back everything I said about our hotel being too swanky. The huge king-size bed felt like sleeping on a cloud, the fireplace kept our room nice and toasty, the 40” HD flat-screen put our old 19” Magnavox to shame, and after the blustery walk home from dinner, soaking in the bath was divine. I guess I have more of my mom in me than I thought.

4/14/09 - Monterey, CA (Scott)

Well, it’s 9 days into our trip and we have found where all the tourists have been hiding: it seems that every visitor to the Central Coast has hunkered down in the Monterey Aquarium. The place was an absolute madhouse!

We were up by 8am this morning. After a delicious breakfast ($1 plate-sized banana pancakes) at a quirky Santa Cruz café complete with Bob Marley playing in the background and “rasta merchandise” on sale behind the counter, we hit the road. The drive to Monterey took less than an hour.

We were still blessed with blue skies and sunshine, but it was an incredibly blustery day. Poor Ashlee was freezing. We’ll have to make sure that we outfit her in large down jumpsuit for Mongolia. REI, here we come!

We are staying at an incredibly nice (and new!) hotel right on Cannery Row about a block from the aquarium. Ashlee tells me that our room usually runs close to $400 per night, but that due to the extremely slow tourist season, she got us a ridiculous discount. The place itself is very swanky – almost too swanky, in fact. I’m not quite used to valet parking and I’m perfectly able to carry my own bags to my room, thank you very much. Ashlee, on the other hand, is soaking it all right up. She is, after all, her mother’s daughter. And I guess that makes me my father’s son!

Oddly enough, while our current hotel is the fanciest we will be staying in on our entire trip, it is also the biggest nickel-and-dimer. Ashlee was careful to book hotels that provide wi-fi connection so we could maintain this blog. Every place so far has been great (well, except for the “secret garden” in Glen Ellen, but that was expected) but here at the Clement, wi-fi access costs $10 a day! Sheesh!

Anyways, after getting settled into our hotel, we set out for the Aquarium. Thinking ahead, Ashlee purchased our tickets from the hotel’s concierge so we got to sidestep the incredibly long and serpent-like ticket line. I swear, Ashlee would make the greatest travel agent ever. I know that she will forever be in charge of all my travel plans. She has definitely set the bar pretty high with this trip.

Back to the aquarium. If any of you have never been, it is positively the nicest facility to interact with and learn about wildlife. It occupies two floor with space both in- and outside. It has everything from fish to sharks to jellies to otters. The otters were clearly our favorite – they are just so darn cute! Sadly, we didn’t get to see any sea turtles. Apparently they have been moved to a special tank away from visitors because they have been eating the tiles in their usual tank. No bueno.

In addition to the otters, other highlights were the penguin exhibit, the huge two-story underwater kelp tank, and the deep-blue three-story aquarium. We must have attempted to take 15 photos of the elusive hammerhead shark. I think one may have turned out.

There was also a small tank displaying all the fish from Disney’s Finding Nemo (don’t worry, I found him). Ashlee swears that the display did not have a Disney link, but I’m sure it did, especially since it was near the kid’s section of the facility. Speaking of which, the Monterey Aquarium is the most kid-friendly museum/zoo that I have ever seen! There are so many different interactive displays that most of the kids were in complete ecstasy. Everywhere we went we were bombarded with shrieks of delight. At first, it was endearing, but after the first fifteen minutes, we were wondering, “Shouldn’t these kids be in school or something? Dumb Spring Break.” Yeah, we’re definitely way too selfish at the moment to start a family.

After the aquarium, Ashlee half-dragged me through approximately half of the bajillion shops lining Cannery Row. At one place I saw a sign I wanted to get for my parent’s river house. It said “A crab lives here along with the one who butters him up.” It’s all in good fun, Dad! Unfortunately before we could buy the sign, we got sidetracked by the delicious smell of cinnamon buns wafting in from the store next door. Of course we had to get one, which we enjoyed on the wharf from a bench overlooking the ocean. The view was gorgeous! It was all brilliant blue skies, billowing clouds, crashing surf, and mad whitecaps. I must have taken 20 pictures. I love it up here! In fact, I think I’m going to abandon all of my career goals to move to Monterey and get a job at the Aquarium. If my wife will let me, that is…

For dinner, we took a mile-and-a-half jaunt to the downtown area. During her research for this trip, Ashlee discovered an authentic English pub here in Monterey that is affiliated with one of our favorite places to eat back in Orange County, the Olde Ship. It’s called the Crown & Anchor. On the way to dinner, Ashlee got sidetracked by a two-story antique shop. I tried to keep up with her browsing the merchandise, but I quickly realized that I was just a ball-and-chain slowing her down, so I removed myself to the patio with my book. Well, that and Ashlee was not amused when I made the comment that the place was like an extremely expensive Home Goods.

Dinner was awesome. The pub was just like the Olde Ship. After a Guinness for me and cider for Ashlee, we were both glassy-eyed and giggly. We’re such lushes. The fish and chips were incredibly tasty, but the highlight of the meal was the sticky toffee pudding we had for dessert. I think Ashlee completely licked the bowl clean.

We just about froze to death on the walk back to our hotel. Even though we were both wearing long-sleeved shirts and fleeces, the wind found itself into every one of our nooks and crannies. But we’re tough and we made it back. Now we’re about to kick up our feet and watch “Dancing with the Stars” – thanks for getting us hooked, Dad!

4/13/09 - Santa Cruz, CA Continued (Scott)

This is the life. We spent the afternoon sitting on the patio of a cafe that opened right onto the beach. As I sat listening to the sound of the crashing waves while sipping my cappucino and sampling a delicious sticky bun (which we got for $1 because the store was closing!), I thought, "Life doesn't get better than this." Although, as a sort of a reality check, while I was admiring the ocean, Ashlee was paging through our Lonely Planet: Mongolia guidebook and giving me updates -- it's quite clear that adjusting to the Mongolian lifestyle will be difficult. However, for the moment, things are perfect.

Ashlee and I have been reflecting that this "California Trip" has been one of the best trips we have ever taken. I have found it to be a very refreshing experience. Until this point, most of the traveling I have done has been in Europe (I know, I'm a travel snob) so I have come to associate trips with expensive airfare, tight schedules, luggage restrictions, language barriers, and overall cultural faux pas. Although these generally generate the best travel stories, it has been a delight to vacation in our own backyard.

Moreover, taking a roadtrip has also had its numerous advantages. It has been awesome having Hamish at our beck and call. Not only has it allowed us to perfectly tailor our itinerary to our personal preferences and travel style, but it has also enabled us to be very flexible in our travels. We can stay longer at places we enjoy and scoot out early when we wish to leave. We can also take the advice of locals and visit places that are out of the way -- such as our experience at the Domain Chandon winery in Nappa.

All in all, the trip has been amazing so far and we can't wait to visit the rest of our destinations.

Here's a line-up of what we have coming up:

- Monterey
- Big Sur
- Cambria
- Hearst Castle
- Solvang
- Santa Barbara
and
- Les Miserables in Santa Maria

Woo hoo!

PS - After walking along the beach this evening, we decided that we were still too full from lunch to go out to dinner. Then on the quick drive back to the hotel, we stopped at Taco Bell (ack!). Ashlee got her favorite crunchwrap supreme (or cheesey deliciousness as she calls it) and I went for a grilled stuft burrito. Kind on the budget but hard on the bellies.

4/13/09 - Santa Cruz, CA (Scott)

Phew -- I'm exhausted. We just got back from spending the day in nearby Moss Landing, kayaking Elkhorn Slough and munching on fresh seafood at famed Phil's Fish Market & Eatery.

We set our alarm early this morning and were out of our hotel by 8am. Our first stop was at Aldo's, a local diner right on Santa Cruz harbor. Our buddy Garrett recommended it -- thanks, Garrett! The food was quite tasty and the setting was spectacular. Afterward we got to take a short walk to the end of the harbor and admire the city's relatively new lighthouse. The morning was pretty clear and we could see all the way to the Boardwalk.

It was a short 20-minute drive to Kayak Connection on Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, CA. After watching a 5-minute safety video, examining a map, and strapping on life vests and "water skirts," we found ourselves paddling a double kayak out of the marina. As many of you may know, neither Ashlee nor I have ever operated a kayak in our lives and we were a little worried about how we would fare. To be honest, after the initial difficulty of understanding the logistics of manuevring, things went very smoothly. Of course, kayaking in the slough is perfect for beginners. The water was extremely calm, there was no wind, and only a very mild current. It also helped that we were in a stable double kayak equipped with a rear rudder, which I got to operate in the second seat.

Kayaking on the slough was an incredible experience. Sorry I keep mentioning the word slough -- although I don't know exactly how to say it and I'm not sure what it means, it's my new favorite word. The second we paddled away from the dock, we found ourselves smack-dab in nature. Right on the shore less than 40 feet from us was a large group of harbor seals just lazing about. The guy we rented the kayak from told us that it is their birthing season, so we saw quite a few "pups." Most of them were just sunning themselves on the shore, but a few were also floating in the shallow water. Of those that were floating, all we were able to see were their flippers and their little snouts sticking out of the water. Ashlee said that their faces looked like little puppies without ears.

We also passed a large group of sea otters who were busy floating on their backs grooming themselves. Ashlee was so excited as we passed them, that I had to make sure to push hard on the rudder in the opposite direction from them to prevent her from trying to pet one of them.

As we made our way into the open slough, we allowed the slight current to carry us downstream as we admired the scenery. There were tons of birds of all different species -- sorry, but I forgot their individual names. For the most part, to me a bird is a bird, and other than pelicans and ducks, I'm not a big fan. Although it was really neat watching the different birds as they went gliding along the wind currents and zoomed right along the surface of the water. It was also really funny watching Ashlee get freaked out when a bird surfaced from an underwater dive just a few feet from her oar.

We allowed ourselves to float downstream for about 45 minutes and then spent an hour paddling our way back to the dock. Altogether, I think we covered about four miles -- and we took pictures along the entire way. We had such a great time. Thanks, Grandpa Jon, for suggesting this to us!

Back on dry land we returned the equipment (Ashlee was sad to part with her water skirt), and then we got back into Hamish and headed to lunch. Along with the kayaking idea, Grandpa Jon also told us about this amazing local restaurant called Phil's Fish Market & Eatery just off Highway 1. Phil, the restaurant's founder (duh), was actually recently featured on the Food Network's "Throw-Down w/ Bobby Flay." Phil's specialty is his cioppino, a sort of seafood stew with a tomato and garlic base complete with shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, salmon, and crab legs. I'm not going to lie, I've been looking forward to today's lunch for a couple of months now.

The food was fantastic! Ashlee went with a crab-salad sandwich and I, of course, got the "cioppino in a bun." It came to the table served in a large sourdough bread bowl and I knew I was in for a treat. It certainly did not disappoint. After lunch, we could barely walk to our car, but somehow we did it.

Now we are back in our hotel room resting for a bit. Ashlee just dozed off waiting for Oprah to come on at 4pm -- sorry, this blog is making Ashlee seem like quite the couch-potato. She does love her shows though.

Oops, she just woke up and now she wants to go get some tea and dessert. I guess I can do that. Let's see, tonight we don't have any plans other than soaking up some more of Santa Cruz. Perhaps we will just hang out near the beach tonight and grab a late (and light) dinner at another recommended restaurant, the Crow's Nest -- damn the budget!

I was also just reading that Amy Goodman, head of my favorite radio program Democracy Now!, is actually in town and making an appearance tonight to promote her new book. I think tickets may be sold out, but it would be really neat to see...

4/12/09 - Santa Cruz, CA

We had another wonderful day. Sorry Moms & Dads, but we are moving to Nor Cal at our earliest opportunity -- things up here just seem to fit us so much better. It's funny, as we travel from place to place we are constantly asking each other "How much are these houses?"

We left San Francisco early this morning, but before hitting the open highway we made a quick stop at Fort Point just below the Golden Gate Bridge for a photo opportunity. We were once again blessed with blue skies and sunshine, so we have a good feeling about the pictures. I wish I would have brought my USB cable for the camera -- that way I could have been posting pictures all along. Oh well, I guess if you're going to forget something, that's the thing to forget.

Our final destination for the day was the seaside town of Santa Cruz, but we actually spent most of the day just north of the city at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. More specifically, we visited Roaring Camp Railroads of Felton, CA -- I think it was a Grandpa Jon recommendation. Here's an excerpt from Roaring Camp's website on what we did today:

Travel over trestles, through towering redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain as conductors narrate the history of Roaring Camp, the railroad and the forest! One hour roundtrip.

While some may think it sounds a bit cheesy, it was actually really cool. Well, I guess Ashlee and I are a little biased because we love trains! Just as the website described, we sat in an open-air car and got tugged up a mountain by a giant steam engine. Our particular engine (#7) was originally built in 1907 and it's the biggest engine in Roaring Camp's fleet. The scenery was just breath-taking. It was our first time ever seeing the famed California redwoods. We just couldn't get over how huge those things are! Again it helped that it was a beautiful day. Also, Ashlee was happy that there weren't any bugs. We also had a delicious lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, corn-on-the-cob, and salad. To top it all off, we even got to roast marshmellows!

I guess the only catch to visiting Roaring Camp today was that it was Easter Sunday and the camp was hosting its annual Easter Egg Hunt for kids 9 and under. As a result, Ashlee and I were pretty much the only couple at the camp without little ones tugging us in every direction. Actually, I guess that's not totally true. On the train ride up the mountain, I did make a little friend. This little boy next to me must have been tuckered out enough to not care about personal space issues -- he felt comfortable enough to use my knee as a pillow. I think his parents were initially embarassed, but the poor kid wasn't hurting me any -- until I saw the maternal twinkle in Ashlee's eye and thought "Uh-oh, I hope she's not hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in her head..." Just kidding, we've already made it clear to each other that while we can't wait to have a family one day, we're a bit too selfish at the moment. After all, I don't think a toddler would like spending the day walking all over San Francisco visiting museums and taking tours.

After lunch, we explored a little bit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which sits just adjacent to Roaring Camp. As nature novices, we stuck to the self-guided .8 mile introductory loop. Again, we were completely astounded at how beautiful the scenery was. Unfortunately, none of the pictures will do the park justice -- the sheer size of the trees was impossible to capture with our little camera. After all, the tallest tree we saw was close to 270 feet tall and nearly 17 feet in diameter. We do, however, have a picture of me standing at its base. What an excellent way to spend an Easter Sunday!

Our next, and last, stop of the day was here in Santa Cruz. Ashlee booked us a room at the snug little Harbor Inn just outside of Downtown. After checking in and getting settled, we pumped the kind lady at the front desk for information, armed ourselves with a couple of maps, and headed into town. Really the only things we knew about Santa Cruz were: (1) it's a quirky town; (2) it's well-known for its Board Walk, which served as the setting of the classic 80s vampire flick Lost Boys; and (3) our good friend Garrett went to school here at the local UC and he seems to have really enjoyed it.

After spending the evening here, Ashlee and I can say that while Santa Cruz is definitely a little funky, it does have a certain charm. Perhaps the oddest thing we noticed about the city is that people walking by themselves along the street sure do like to talk to themselves. That, and after living in Orange County for so long, it's odd to feel like the conservative ones on the street.

We parked our car downtown, grabbed some caffeine, and headed by foot in the direction of the Boardwalk. When we reached it, we had a blast. We road the famed Big Dipper (the 85-year-old wooden roller coaster), the sky buckets, and the merry-go-round. The merry-go-round, perhaps Ashlee's favorite amusement park ride, had an interesting twist: if you sat on the outside of the ride, you could reach out at a certain point of the ride and grab these little metal rings from a dispenser which you then attempt to throw through the mouth of a clown against the wall. We must have made 7 revolutions, but I failed miserably each time in getting the ring through the hole...although I did get close a couple of times. Shawn would have been great at this. The guy in front of me actually made it twice -- I think he got a couple of stuffed animals.

The highlight of my experience at the Boardwalk, however, were the "Gilroy Garlic Fries" that we wolfed down as an appetizer before dinner. As the name implies, they were crisp golden brown fries absolutely covered in garlic. Delicious!

After finishing up at the Boardwalk, we headed back downtown and grabbed dinner at a little Mexican joint. We then took the scenic route back our hotel, scoping out the local scene. We found ourselves on a little bluff overlooking the Boardwalk. We tried to take a picture, but the sun was just setting behind the park, so I don't think the picture will turn out well. I did, however, get a good picture of the train overpass that was featured in Lost Boys -- I don't know if you can tell, but that was one of my favorite movies growing up.

We also passed a number of cute little houses -- I wonder how much they cost? Probably a bajillion dollars. Anyways, now we are back in our little hotel room just relaxing. Ashlee's watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She loves that show.

Tomorrow we are planning to spend most of the day in nearby Moss Landing. We will be kayaking in the morning and catching lunch at Phil's Fishmarket & Eatery. I can't believe that the trip is half-over.

PS - Janet, I've just started reading Three Cups of Tea!

Happy Easter!

We're leaving San Francisco and heading to Big Basin State Redwoods Park. We'll be staying in Santa Cruz tonight.

4/11/09 - San Francisco, CA (Scott)

Overall, the theme of the day could be distilled into one single sentence: I should listen to my wife. This was illustrated numerous times throughout the day.

1) ALWAYS EAT THE FREE BREAKFAST
Taking my parents' advice, we forsook our hotel's free continental breakfast and chose to dine at Lefty O'Doul's pub on Geary Street in Union Square. Although it's advertised as "the best deal on the Square!" and it was quite delicious, Ashlee was right -- now that we're unemployed, we need to mind the budget and the free breakfast is the way to go.

After breakfast, we had a nice leisurely day -- though we still managed to walk 6 miles. We hooked up with the SF City Guides again and we enjoyed a walking tour through China Town. We got to examine the different types of architecture used in the district and we explored some of the back alleys. We peeked into a traditional herbal medicine shop and gobbled down free samples at a fortune cookie factory. It was pretty neat.

2) MAKE SURE WE HAVE EVERYTHING BEFORE LEAVING THE HOTEL ROOM
When our walking tour ended, we had to get over to the Mission district to take a tour of it's world-renowned murals. Ashlee asked me to grab our itinerary with the directions from my backpack. Crap, I realized I forgot to bring it. No worries, said Ashlee, just grab the Let's Go! SF book because there are directions in there too. Double crap, I forgot that also. Doh! As a result, we had to trudge back to our hotel room to retrieve the forgotten items.

3) LET HER CARRY THE BART TICKETS
Since the Mission district is a bit far from our area of town, we decided to use the subway, named Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART. Using the kiosk we purchased one way tickets that you need to have scanned before you can cross through the turnstiles. You actually have to get your ticket scanned twice -- once when you enter the subway station and then again when you leave. This allows BART to charge tiered prices for different distances. Anyways, when Ashlee was buying the tickets I noticed a large sign on the wall telling passengers to keep their tickets away from magnets. Hmm, I thought, I wonder why they need to tell people that -- after all, it's not like people carry magnets in their pockets...

We got our tickets and used them to pass the turnstiles. Ashlee asked if I wanted her to hold my ticket. I can handle it, I replied, and I slipped the ticket into my front pocket. We boarded the subway and enjoyed the ride. We got off at the Mission stop. As we crossed the station to exit through the turnstiles, I saw another one of those signs warning passengers about having magnets near their tickets. Blarg! It occurred to me that I was one of the buffoons with a magnet in my pocket -- I've been using a money clip with a magnet to hold all of my dollars. Unfortunately, I was carrying my money clip in the same pocket that I deposited my ticket into. As a result, the turnstile couldn't read my ticket and I had to shamefacedly explain the situation to the nearby BART attendant. She shook her head and let me pass to the other side, where Ashlee was waiting for me with stifled laughter behind her smile.

4) THE 7" PHILLY CHEESESTEAK WILL SUFFICE
We made great timing in getting to the Mission district, and we had about an hour to kill before meeting for the tour -- just enough time for lunch. After exploring a bit, we decided on a place called "Phat Philly," which if you can't tell from the name, specializes in Philly cheesesteaks. We perused the menu and made our choices. Ashlee went first: the 7" steak hoagie with their signature cheddar beer sauce. I went for the "pizza steak," a cheesesteak sandwich smothered in garlic marinara sauce and provolone cheese. The burly guy taking our order asked me if I wanted the 7" or 12". The 12", I immediately answered, feeling good until I noticed Ashlee shaking her head. I attempted to reconsider, but the server razzed me a bit for changing my mind so I stuck with the larger size. Ashlee was right, it was way too much sandwich. Although, even she pointed out that I was sort of peer pressured into going for the bigger portion...

The rest of the afternoon we spent exploring the famed murals of the Mission district. According to Let's Go!, the Mission is the city's "most radical pocket, marked by left-wing bookstores, active labor associations, and bohemian bars and cafes filled with hipsters and hippies." The Mission is also home to a thriving arts scene whose artists literally paint their messages on the walls. The results are these beautiful and extremely colorful murals that cover virtually every open space along the main drag of the district.

I realized that what makes these murals so awesome is that they are the complete opposite of museum art. In a museum, you can definitely see beautiful works of art. But in the attempt to preserve and protect these pieces for all to see, museums often erect certain barriers between the pieces and the admirers. These barriers are both tangible (i.e. thick glass or cordoned-off zones) and more abstract, such as high admission prices.

Murals, on the other hand, operate on the completely opposite principle. Instead of getting people to come to the art, the muralists of the Mission have literally brought the art to the people of their community. They paint their masterpieces on the sides of buildings, in playgrounds, along alleys, and even on large commercial vehicles. People can walk right up to these murals and admire them, touch them, and even lean against them. You can't do that in a museum.

Many of the murals in the Mission are concentrated on one particular street called Balmy Alley. As the name implies it is simply an alley that branches off the main street of town. What makes the alley special is that artists from all over the world have flocked hear and have decorated ever nook and cranny with beautifully painted scenes. It doesn't matter if it's a garage door, a sidewalk, a picket fence, or the side of a house -- everything is a canvas. The results are these breathtaking portraits that really reach out to the admirer. Each piece is so full of passion and color that you can't help but be moved. It was also a funny feeling -- here we were standing in this alley that would be quite seedy if it weren't for the amazing murals and the locals kept reminding us that instead of meandering through a museum, we were actually in a functioning neighborhood. Numerous times we had to stand off to the side to let passing cars through and at least once we couldn't see a piece because the person who garage the piece was on had the door open.

As noted above, each mural we saw was full of passion. Our tour guide pointed out that many of the murals conveyed a politically-pointed message. These messages were universally left-of-center. As our guide also pointed out, "There's really no such thing as a conservative Republican mural."

I've realized that one of the things I've come to love about San Francisco is how welcoming and inclusive it is. During our stay, we've participated in a handful of tours. Each time our guide has been a non-native SF resident. Whether from Michigan, Florida, or NYC, these people have all made their way to San Francisco for different reasons and have made it their home. It gives me hope that Ashlee and I can one day find a place that we, too, can call home -- no offense to Walnut.

After finishing up with the Mission, we swung to the complete opposite side of the Spectrum. We took BART back to Union Square and we found ourselves at Westfield Plaza, which is perhaps the largest mall I have ever scene, complete with a 4-story Nordstrom. Whereas the Mission was historic in its originality and character warts and all, the Plaza is new and glitzy...sort of like a South Coast Plaza on steroids. Ashlee wanted to shop around for a bit so I found a quiet corner to finish my book.

While doing so, I realized that I have found myself in an Andy Warholian position -- trapped between the original and the artificial. On the one hand, I loved the character and the quirkiness of the Mission and many other districts of San Francisco. This is not to say, however, that these places don't have their detractions. After all, they can be a bit cramped, often dirty, and sometimes brimming with questionable people. As our Mission tour guide told us, everyday is Halloween on the #14 bus that services some of San Francisco's dodgier neighborhoods. The Plaza on the other hand, is all the bright and shiny artificialities that so attracted Andy Warhol. The bad news is that everything there is all about image, not substance. The good news is that everything is bright and clean and comforting.

I guess that is the beauty of living in a city like San Francisco -- you can get the best of both worlds.

Dx (Ashlee)

Andy Warhol = Asperger's Syndrome

4/10/09 - San Francisco, CA (Scott)

After a leisurely morning, we spent most of the day walking all over Golden Gate Park and the Haight. My pedometer shows that we logged 6.5 miles.

We caught the #5 bus from Union Square and took a 20-minute ride to Golden Gate Park. In addition to getting a taste of nature, we planned to visit the de Young Museum, the Japanese Tea Garden, and the new California Academy of Sciences, which is a combination of natural history museum, aquarium, and planetarium.

The de Young museum was hosting an exhibit of Andy Warhol pieces called "Warhol Live." It was awesome. Before today, I knew pretty much nothing about Andy Warhol, but the audio tour we took did an excellent job of introducing him and his idea of art. From the bit I understood, Warhol seemed to be a walking contradiction. He was at once enamored and yet repulsed by consumer society. He sought but avoided fame. He was interested in both the mundane and the extraordinary. He loved both the glitz (celebrities) and the dull (Campbell's soup and Brillo pads). I'm sure Ashlee would have some sort of psychological diagnosis for him, but I found his work fascinating.

One of my favorite parts of the exhibit were the different quotes of his that were peppered throughout the halls. Here are some that I jotted down:

• "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too."
• "Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes."
• "If you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning."
• "I like the artificial: anything bright and shiny.

I think I might need to learn more about Andy Warhol.

After walking through more of the de Young, we headed over to the Japanese Tea Garden. It's amazing how something like a garden can make you feel so tranquil. We sipped green tea and nibbled on rice crackers. We sat at a little bar overlooking a gurgling koi pond lined with gorgeous flowers. After tea we cracked our fortune cookies and here's what it's in store for us:

• Ashlee: "You will step on the soil of many countries."
• Scott" "All decisions you make today will be most fortunate."

Works for us.

After centering ourselves in the zen garden, we crossed the plaza to visit the Academy of Sciences. We were greeted with a line spilling out of the doors and around the corner. We asked how long the wait was and we were told the entire museum was completely sold out. Oh well, next time...

That left us with about four hours to kill and nothing to do. We decided to walk through the park and head in the general direction of the Haight. It was such a beautiful day! So far on this trip, Ashlee and I have totally lucked out with the weather. Today we were blessed with brilliant blue skies and big fluffy clouds. The vegetation of the park was a vibrant green. You can tell that the city takes a pretty hands-off approach to tending the park -- the trees and bushes all do whatever they want. We got to explore great stretches of footpaths and we forgot that we were in the middle of a large city! I guess that's the point of having such a park though.

When the park ended, we found ourselves in the Haight. While I'm an admitted liberal, I'll also admit that, for the most part, it has been in theory only. As a consequence, I'm not as versed in the history of the Haight as I'd like to be. Therefore I can only provide my topical impressions of the area.

Overall, the Haight, a district centered on the historial intersection of Haight and Ashbury, is a very quirky and yet mellow neighborhood that is home to a wide spectrum of people. All kinds of people were out and about: students, seniors, ex-hippies, current hippies, laid-back business types, vagrants, etc. On a philosophical level, it seemed that, for the most part, the people on the streets could be divided into two categories: (1) those who are in search of something and (2) those who have already found what they are looking for.

Ashlee and I spent half an hour or so walking the block. There were tons of shops (good for Ashlee) and many cafes (good for me). We grabbed lunch at a little Mexican food place -- delicious. We also took the obligatory photo at the Haight-Ashbury intersection. All in all, the Haight is a great place.

From the Haight, we had to walk back to the main bus line to catch a ride back to Union Square. We took a path that led down through Lower Haight past Alamo Square to Fulton. On the way, we passed through some of the most character-filled neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods in fact engendered our idea of the spirit of San Francisco. The homes were these beautiful yet dignified Victorian buildings, each one painted a different color. They all had unique entry ways and they were all crested with turret-looking attics. We could live here, we thought.

We made a brief stop at Alamo Square to see the "painted ladies," a set of these Victorian homes that are situated on a hill with the downtown skyline in the background. When we got there, we realized we had seen these homes before, and not just on the ubiqitous postcards that are sold on every corner. We are 90% sure the homes are featured in the introductory scene of the classic show "Full House." We might need to do some research to confirm this. Needless to say, it was a picturesque scene.

We caught the bus back towards our hotel. On the way we decided to stop at City Hall. It is this big beautiful building that looks perhaps even more ornate than the U.S. Capitol building in D.C.. In the SF spirit, we were allowed to walk right in and explore most of the building. The rotunda was amazing. Ashlee was thrilled to see a queue of couples lining up to get married. We snapped some pictures of a sculpture in honor of Harvey Milk along with those of Mayors Moscone and Feinstein. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of current Mayor Gavin Newsom, but settled with taking a picture in front of his office door. Pretty cool.

We made it back to our hotel room -- and took our last cable car ride on the way back. Tonight we had dinner plans with an attorney from my old firm and his wife. They were both Peace Corps volunteers in the early 90s, and in fact she worked closely with the Mongolia-China program in the D.C. headquarters. We ate at a terrific Burmese restaurant and we had a great time visiting with kindred spirits. Ashlee and I are so used to being the outliers that it's nice to chat with like-minded people. We also got some very practical advice on Peace Corps service. It was a fantastic evening.

Now we're back in room plotting our agenda for tomorrow. We'll see what we get up to next.

P.S. - Ashlee learned a new term today: "shopportunities." She loves it.

4/9/09 - San Francisco, CA (Scott)

Before I forget -- I wore my pedometer today. We walked 8.85 miles, and we even used the cable cars over the longer distances!

We woke up a little before 7am this morning. We had to make it down to the Wharf by 8:30 to board the ferry to Alcatraz Island. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel. Ashlee left me alone at the buffet line and I went a little carb-wild -- croissants, danishes, and muffins. Delicious!

We grabbed our first cable car right outside our hotel and rode it all the way down to Fisherman's Wharf. I know the cable cars are extremely touristy, but they're pretty awesome. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but later in the day we stopped by the cable car museum, so we got a good idea of how they work. Basically the city has 3 cable car lines and the cars themselves operate sort of like a ski lift. Other than small batteries to operate lights, the cars are not self-powered. Instead there is 57,300 feet of cable running under the city. To move forward, the cable car operator (technically termed "gripman") pulls a lever to latch onto the cable. When the gripman wants the car to stop, he pulls another lever to let the cable go. Another little random fact -- the cables running underneath the ground are coated in pine oil. That's why when you're riding the cable car, you can smell a tree scent.

So yeah, we made it down to Fisherman's Wharf by 8:30. Suprisingly there was a lot of people waiting to board the boat. Some of the people are worth describing. First we noticed a guy who looked like he just rolled out of bed -- he was wearing pajama pants, an oversized hooded sweatshirt and one of those Elmer Fudd-style hunting caps. To complete the ensemble, he was wearing socks with flip-flops. At first I thought he might have been a streetperson, but I realized that he was just a typical teenager (well, maybe not typical) on a family vacation with his parents. Next, was the large group of Welsh students whose accents again made Ashlee and I nostalgic for our time in Edinburgh. Along with the accents, the Welshies were also sporting track suits, mullets, and "shelltoe" Adidas. Ah, the good ol' days. Lastly, there was a family who seemed to be made of sterner stuff than pretty much everyone else waiting in line. The morning was a little chilly and there was a fine mist in the air. As a result, pretty much everyone was bundled up -- Ashlee and I were happy in our fleeces, caps, and North Face raincoats. Everyone else was similarly dressed. This particular family, on the other hand, were simply wearing t-shirts -- Alaskans, perhaps?

The boat ride to Alcatraz took 20 minutes. Like I said, the weather was a bit dreary -- which I think is fitting for a trip to the Rock. As Ashlee pointed out, it's a pretty depressing place. Visiting Alcatraz was a powerful experience. We got to tour large parts of the island with the help of an interesting audio guide narrated by former prisoners and guards. I'll relate what I can remember. Alcatraz itself functioned as a prison from roughly 1930 - 1963, when it was closed down by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The prison was meant to house the "worst of the worst." Among other notable inmates was Al Capone. The main part of the tour walked us around the three-story cellblock. Each individual cell was tiny -- maybe no more than 5 by 7 feet and very simply furnished with a bed, a sink, a toilet, and a stool. One of the most depressing aspects of being imprisoned on Alcatraz was its very close proximity to the city. In fact, the inmates said that late at night when the cellblock was quiet, sounds from the city would drift across the bay. They would hear the ring of the cable cars, laughter, and the voices of women -- all things that represented the freedom they did not have. Overall, Alcatraz is a very dreary place.

The end of the tour brought us to the bookshop, where we were introduced to a gentleman who is one of only five surviving Alcatraz inmates. Like I said, the prison was closed in 1963 -- the prison reform movement of the time was placing a larger emphasis on rehabilitation rather than retribution. That and the difficult climate of the prison really placed a lot of wear and tear on the structures of the prison. Anyways, this particular guy was an inmate for three years in the late 1950s. I think he was in for bank robbery. He must have been 80 years old. He was a nice guy and he wrote a book (that the bookshop was selling) about his experience in Alcatraz. I bought the book and had him sign it. As he was signing, I asked him what he thought about the Rock being a tourist attraction. He said he thinks Alcatraz is something that every young man should see as a deterrent.

One other thing about Alcatraz. I heard that when inmates were first brought to the island, they were told that there was a crazed great white shark missing a dorsal fin that circled the island day and night. That would have been enough to keep me from thinking about escaping. Well, that and the 45 degree water and impossible currents...

After we finished up on Alcatraz, we boarded the ferry back to the mainland. Then it was time for lunch. We decided to visit Mama's, a San Francisco establishment in North Beach on Washington Square. It's this little diner that serves excellent food. The only catch is that there is quite a wait to even get in the restaurant. When we got there, the line wrapped around the corner -- it took us 40 minutes. I've never been so hungry in my life. You stand there waiting in line looking in the windows at the delicious food that the customers inside are eating. Dad, this is not the place for you. When we finally got seated and placed our order, we discovered it was definitely worth the wait. The food was fantastic. I went for the shrimp benedict w/ avocado and Ashlee got the monte cristo sandwich.

With our bellies full, we headed to Nob Hill to catch a free walking tour run by a non-profit called SF City Guides. Basically enthusiastic San Francisco residents volunteer to show tourists around their favorite neighborhoods. Our particular guide was a retired physician who seemed quite active for being 80+ years old. He walked us around for about an hour and half relating to us this history of the barons of San Francisco.

After our tour, we took a trip down to Union Square to scope out the scene. Some people consider this area to be the heart of San Francisco. I found that I didn't care for it at all. Other than grabbing a pint at Lefty O'Douls on Geary Street I found the rest of Union Square crowded, commercialized, and over-rated. Well, I guess it's not as bad as Fisherman's Wharf. We also encountered our first casualty of the "recession." We had planned to eat dinner at an Indian food restaurant listed in our 2007 guide book. While Ashlee perused H&M, I went to scope out the menu. The restaurant was located on the border of Union Square and the Tenderloin, one of the dodgier SF districts. As I approached the address listed in the book, the crowds grew increasingly thinner and the buildings increasingly shabbier. Finally I stood at the spot where the restaurant should have been, but no restaurant was there. The second I pulled out my map to doublecheck, two different shady-looking people whistled at me and asked if I was lost. Nope! I met back with Ashlee and we found out that the restaurant was closed.

We ended up making the trek back to North Beach for pizza. We've decided that if we ever live in San Francisco, we want to stay in North Beach. It's a real fun and quirky neighborhood. We ate at North Beach Pizza. We ordered the Cable Car Special: creamy garlic sauce, chicken, bacon, and tomatoes. It was delicious.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel and called it a day.

Tomorrow we're planning on spending the day at Golden Gate Park and the Haight. That's all for now!

4/8/09 - San Francisco, CA (Scott)

We are big fans of Glen Ellen and the rest of Sonoma Valley. Everything here is just so lush and green. We love nature! I guess it helps that we came here in early Spring just near the end of their rainy season.

I've decided that what I like most is that it seems to be the exact opposite of the neatly manicured lawns of Orange County. Everything is gnarled, twisted, and covered in moss. If I were a writer, I'd want to live in place like Glen Ellen -- in fact I was reading in our guide book that Jack London (author of Call of the Wild and White Fang among others) lived here.

We ate breakfast in our cottage this morning. We sat in our little breakfast nook next to a crackling fire munching on delicious blueberry muffins and fresh fruit. Right outside the window was a gurgling brook lined with some of those gnarled trees I was talking about. A storm had passed during the night and everything looked particularly fresh and vibrant. It was a beautiful morning.

By 10am, we had Hamish all loaded up and were back on the road. Since we were headed to San Francisco, Ashlee was back behind the wheel -- she is much better with urban driving than I am. It took us an hour to get into the city.

We entered the city along the 101 which brought us over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a really neat experience. Those cables that run between the towers are huge! Poor Ashlee had to deal without a navigator because I was too busy frantically snapping pictures.

Once we crossed the bridge and paid the $6 toll, we were dumped right onto Lombard Street. Welcome to San Francisco! I took one look at the steep hill before us, and knowing that it would just be the first of many, I said a quick prayer for Hamish the Hyundai. I also suggested to Ashlee that she switch the overdrive off. With the help of the Lady (our nickname for our GPS unit) Ashlee navigated us through the city like a pro.

After a quick detour to drive town the crooked portion of Lombard Street (so cool!) we made it safely to our hotel -- Ashlee found a great deal on a nice place in Union Square. We lucked out and got to check in early. We stashed our stuff in our room and hit the streets.

After a quick tea & coffee break (Ashlee was getting a little grumpy -- maybe it's because she had to worry about the drive while I was too busy oogling the city), our first stop was China Town. Ashlee has told me time and again how much she loves China Town -- I finally discovered why: it's nothing but shops, shops, and more shops interspersed with restaurants and tea houses. She was in heaven. I was a good sport for the most part. At one shop I was admiring some jade figurines in a large display case when I got a little surprise. The front of the case had a whole range of buddhas and animal figurines and towards the back were some smaller pieces that I got a little closer to see. When I pushed my face up against the glass, I realized that they were little figures engaged in some very explicit kama sutra positions. They were anatomically correct enough to make me blush -- especially when the lady behind the counter gave me a wink. Just kidding about the wink...

We grabbed lunch in China Town at a Let's Go! recommended restaurant called the House of Nanking -- it was delicious. After lunch, I somehow convinced Ashlee to join me on a trip to the top of Coit Tower -- she only griped a mild amount. It took several hills, a dozen flights of stairs, a bottle of water, $10, and an elevator ride. The views from the top of the tower were impressive -- pretty much a 360 degree view of the entire city. It helped that it was a beautiful day.

After descending Coit Tower we headed to North Beach. We explored City Lights Book Store (I purchased Three Cups of Tea, a book recommended by Janet Rushton), grabbed some gelato, and then set off for Fisheman's Wharf -- where we found the tourist hordes.

We saw the cable cars, bought a 3-day MUNI pass to use the bus system, and went to Pier 39 so I could see the sea lions. They didn't disappoint. Next we walked around some of the shops, took a spin on the Venetian carrousel (I grabbed the dragon and was the envy of all the other little boys), and then walked over to Ghiardelli Square, where we were disappointed to discover that instead of a chocolate factory, there is just a chocolate shop. Lame-o.

Since we just had gelato, we weren't in the mood for chocolate. Instead we took afternoon tea at a little place called the Crown & Crumpet Tea Salon. The inside was a bit frilly for me, so I asked Ashlee if she was ok to sit on the patio. We had an impressive view of bay. Ashlee teased me relentlessly for stopping every 3 minutes to take a picture of Alcatraz. I'm really looking forward to going there tomorrow!

After tea, we jumped on a bus and headed to Little Italy for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called the Steps of Rome -- it was recommended to me two years ago by the Barnes & Noble employee who helped me find the Let's Go! San Francisco book. The food was delicious. I had homemade gnocche with pancetta and peas in a vodka sauce and Ashlee went for spinach and ricotta ravioli.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel and called it a day.

PS - Ashlee is happy because she found a television channel playing "John & Kate Plus Eight."

4/7/09 - Glen Ellen, CA (Scott)

Ah, another glorious day! We woke up this morning in Davis. After a quick breakfast and a look over our maps we said a heartfelt goodbye to the wonderful Rushton family and hit the road. Since Ashlee tackled the urban driving in Sacramento yesterday, it was my turn at the wheel today.

Just as in the past few days, the driving was smooth sailing all the way to Napa Valley. We did run into our first bit of nasty Nor Cal weather – it started raining just outside of Davis – but to be honest, it just made the day even prettier. Certain parts of the drive made Ashlee and I nostalgic for the rolling greens of Ireland. I was worried that I’d find portions of driving stressful on this road trip, but everything today was very leisurely and actually quite relaxing.
Our first stop of the day was at the Domain Chandon winery in Yountville, an upscale establishment specializing in sparkling wine. It was a Rushton recommendation -- Ashlee had mentioned that she has a penchant for champagne and they thought this would be right up her alley. They were right.

We each got a flight of four sparkling wine tastes, starting with a dry brute and working up to a sweet riche, and a large platter of cheese and salami along with a baguette. We were both in heaven – Ashlee loved the wine and I was all over the cheese tray. The winery itself was perched on the lip of a hill and we got to admire the beautiful scenery outside the large plate glass windows lining the bar as we indulged our inner vintners. It was a good thing that today was my turn to drive too, because Ashlee really enjoyed the wine. We finished up our tastes, hit the gift shop, picked up a bottle of our favorite taste to enjoy with my mom back home, and got back to Hamish.

By this time is was almost noon and we were ready for lunch. Just down the road from Chandon, we spied a Marie Callendar’s restaurant advertising a “souper special” (soup and sandwich) for $7. A perfect meal for a rainy day! And we only felt slightly bad that we were the only people in the restaurant under 70 years of age. On second thought, we actually fit right in -- people do always tell us that we are old souls. The food was good, the price was right, and it hit the spot.

After lunch, we were off to Sonoma Valley. After another beautiful hour-long drive, we found ourselves in the tiny paradise of Glen Ellen, where Ashlee had booked us a “cottage” at the Glen Ellen Inn. Before checking into our room, we decided to hit one more winery. Just around the corner from the Inn is the Benziger estate, a certified biodynamic winery. For $15 each, we got to go on a 45-minute tour of the estate along with a flight of four tastes in the wine shop. The tour itself was really neat. Ashlee and I sat in a sort of tram that was pulled by a large tractor. We were taken up through the vineyards, behind the scenes where the grapes are all de-stemmed, mashed, and turned to wine, and into the "cave" where the large barrels of wine are stored.

You might be wondering what the label "biodynamic" means. We were told by our guide that "biodynamic" is the highest level of organic that a business can be certified. The Benziger family wants their winery to have the smallest environmental footprint possible. Among other things: (1) they don't use pesticides in their fields -- instead they hired an entomologist to help them construct a habitat for "good bugs" to come and kill the "bad bugs" that prey on the grapes, and (2) they use "home-made" compost instead of manure. All this and their wine was nice too. Although I'll be honest and admit that I really haven't met a wine that I haven't liked.

The Glen Ellen Inn is a beautiful little establishment. Our room was top-notch – a small free-standing bungalow complete with a Jacuzzi tub, a fireplace, and a shower equipped with a sauna. Our cottage even has a little breakfast nook (stocked with muffins and fresh fruit) with a window that looks right out into a little creek. So pretty much the opposite of where we’ll be living in Mongolia…

For dinner we ate at the Inn’s award-winning restaurant. Simply put, the food was divine. We started with martinis (Ashlee’s featured pineapple juice and champagne while mine was espresso, Baileys, and cream) moved onto salads and finished with fresh pasta garnished with shrimp and large chunks of filet mignon in a parmesan garlic sauce. Hands down it was one of the top five meals I have ever had. Sadly, we were too stuffed to have dessert.

After dinner, we took a stroll around town and then returned to our cottage for a nice dip in the Jacuzzi tub. Ashlee was excited that we had a television. She loves television.

Tomorrow, San Francisco!