Day 7- Pismo Beach

Well Jen has been battling some kind of sickness for the past couple of days now and between that and exhaustion, it seems that it finally caught up to her. We went to get our continental breakfast (can't miss that) and then she went back to sleep. Luckily we didn't have anything special to do today, just explore Pismo Beach and relax. She slept all morning which worked out because it allowed me to work on our blog some and keep us updated. Around lunch time we ate our leftovers and got ready to head out.
For awhile now we have been seeing feathers in peoples hair like Nikki has and have been trying to figure out how to get one. We asked the lady at our hotel who acted like she really didn't know what we were talking about but we could check a hair salon. Of course she didn't provide any help as to where to find a salon, that would have been to easy. But we set off and as luck would have it, the first place we stopped in had a girl who could do them. We picked out our feathers and agreed to come back in about an hour to have her put them in.
Did we mention that today was finally sunny?! We put our convertible top down, went to 7-11 where they actually had a working coke slurpee machine (yahooo! all the ones at home seem to neverrr be working), and started our cruise through town. We drove around Oceano beach (sketchy) and our little area of Shell beach while feeling the sun on our face and the breeze in our hair--it was glorious!!
We arrived back to the salon and about 10 minutes later emerged with our new feathers!! :) We love them! Jen's tends to hide alot so we named hers Waldo so when looking for them we could just say "Where's Waldo??" (yes we know we are cool!)
We then went back to our hotel and took a walk down to the beach, which is actually not Pismo beach but is Shell beach which we quickly understood the name since there was no sand, just pebbles and broken up shells. We put our footsies in though (the water was quite cold) and had a good time!
We then chilled a bit on our balcony just staring at the ocean and the sun beginning to go down. Then got ready and headed to Avila beach for dinner.  We got there at about 8pm and basically everything was closed but one restaurant was open and we got some appetizers and then headed over to the bar next door (which the restaurant actually owned also). It was dead. We walked in and were about to walk right back out because no one was there but we decided to have a drink and see if things picked up. It was karaoke night (which we secretly knew but of course pretended that we didn't). When the karaoke started at about 9:20pm though things began to pick up and of course by the end of the night we sang: Trick Pony's "Just what I need on a night like this".

Optimism Column:
-Do front desk people at the hotel not live in this town??
-Who knew it would be so difficult to get something to eat after 7pm
-even when you explain that you are trying not to be- it is in fact creepy to offer the people you are waiting on for dinner your number in case we get bored
-it is also creepy for people who are 20+ years older than us to repeatedly try to hit on us

Tootsies in the Pacific Ocean

Shell Beach -no sand

Shadows :)

Day 6- 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, Hearst Castle, Pismo Beach

We woke up this morning with a slow start. We got bagels and headed to 17 Mile drive, a scenic route that has little land marks along the way that a map that explains them. Mostly the stops are outlook areas of the view or golf courses. We were running a bit late so we didn't stop at them all but we did stop at a couple outlooks and bird rock--a big rock with birds all over it and we know there were sea lions somewhere because we could hear them but we couldn't see them. It was really fun to have the top of the car down while we drove through the 17 miles. We then drove through Carmel which has adorable shops!
We then began which we didn't realize would be the longest part of our day--driving to Hearst Castle. We again were on route 1 and once again Jen gets a big gold star for her driving today. We had no idea how long it takes to drive on route 1. Between the constant curves causing you to need to slow down to about 20MPH or less and all the tourists who are driving unbelievably slow even in the straight areas of the road (come on people how many pictures of the same view can you take?) it takes forever! We had already called and moved our tour of the castle back an hour but still that time came and went and we were still on route 1. About 3 miles from where we were supposed to turn off to arrive, I saw all these people standing on the side of the road and figured it was more of the same but peaked over anyway to see and yelled "pull over!" They were looking at elephant seals, lots of them! We parked and walked over to the other people, the elephant seals were only about 30 feet away and there were probably about 40 of them. Now I don't know if it was because we had been driving for so long or if they were really that funny but these animals cracked us up!! We giggled and laughed the entire time we watched them!! They were so funny looking and they would kick sand up on themselves with their little fins. The boy seals..ok they were called seals but looked more like walrus'..anyway the boy ones would stand up tall and let out this noise that kind of sounded like a long burp. They would squiggle around to move about and oh they had these noses that just looked obscene. They were exactly what we needed to laugh off some pent up stress of driving on the scary/long/crowded/exhausting road. We stood there for as long as we could without freezing (about 5 minutes, we were in shorts and it was cooold) and then continued on to the castle.
The GPS had said it would take about an hour and a half from the 17 mile drive to get there but we left at 12pm and arrived at Hearst castle at 4:15pm. Our tour time was at 3:40pm. We went into the visitor center to see what they would say, thinking we probably missed our chance to see the castle but the lady said a bus is leaving in a couple minutes, go ahead and we will sqeeze you in. PHEW. We ran to the bathroom and boarded our bus where we listened to Alex Trebec start our tour by telling us about Willy Hearst as a boy and the mountain we were traveling up to get to the castle which Hearst had owned and where he used to have the largest privately owned zoo filled with giraffs and polar bears and all kinds of animals. We soon arrived at the castle which was very pretty and started our tour of the Grand rooms. The tour guide had obviously been doing this job for a veryy long time (26 years he later told us) and seemed more like an actor very enthusiastically leading us through the main floor. He told some interesting stories about how Hearst was married but his wife lived somewhere else and how his girlfriend, Marion Davies, is who he spent his time with and then it got complicated about how he borrowed money from her at one point when he went in debt but when he died he left her all his money and estate but she gave it back to his family with the condition that her name be on it as well..I don't know it was complex but it was a pretty neat love story..well except for the wife who really was barely talked about, her name is Millicent (yikes) is all I remember. In the dining room we learned about some of the famous people that came to his parties but I couldn't hear it all because of this screaming 3 year old next to us..finally a security person showed the father and child to the exit, phew. At the end of the tour we watched this little video from back when Hearst was alive of clips of him at his parties and Marion and their guests and such, it was neat to be able to put faces to the names. We were able to look around outside then. There was this huge outdoor pool which the tour guide said that the people who worked there actually still were allowed to use. They had just had this huge party for a retiring coworker at the pool and around it.
We then headed back, loaded up and headed an hour to Pismo Beach. We passed the Madonna Inn but were both too exhausted to stop today. We arrived at our hotel which is very pretty and right on the beach. We then headed out in search of dinner, we drove all around this neat area which we will have to explore tomorrow and ended up at Marie Calendar's restaurant. We don't know if the restaurant came first or the frozen meals..chicken and egg situation to us but it was very good! We were practically falling asleep in our food though so we ended up with alot of leftovers and headed back to sleeeeep!

Side Note:
it is extraordinarily difficult to be on a trip where you don't just sleep on the long car rides, pay only for souvenirs, and complain about being hungry until you are fed. We would like to just say holy moly Dad, how did you do all this with 2 kids?? This trip has been AWESOME so far but very exhausting and stressful at times also. Thank you for all the work and time you put into making our family trips so flawless and fun!

Optimismss:
-it's amazing what you are willing to eat when you've spent as much as we have on food so far..we were actually looking for a McDonald's for dinner
-not only is it cold so far in Pismo beach but it is also really foggy and kind of misty
-why is there not an elevator to our floor?? we are down 2 flights of outdoor stairs which we had to lug all our stuff down
-while it is a pretty view..we're basically over route 1
-why are there instuctions about staying safe while in the area as well as siren information displayed?

Bird Rock

Driving on Route 1

Elephant Seals

These pictures do not do them justice to show how funny they looked!

Hearst Castle

Dining Room- Hearst always sat right in the middle of the table and Marion always sat right across from him. They had guests such as young JFK, the president at the time, presidents of other countries, Amelia Earhart, comedians, actors, pretty much everyone famous at the time.

Room for after dinner drinks.

Awesome outdoor pool that they people who work at the castle got to have a party at the week before.

View from the castle.

Day 5- San Francisco and Monterey

Goodmorning :)
Today we woke up refreshed and ready to explore San Francisco. We went over to Walgreens which was right across from our hotel and then had a picnic breakfast in our hotel room to save alittle money this morning.
We got ready and headed to the cable cars. We waited for about 10 minutes..we had to work on our aggressiveness to hop on because everyone just ran for the cable car when it pulled up, trampling anyone in their way. We ended up on the inside part of a packed cable car..yikes! It was kind of stinky with all those people crammed in and when I say crammed, I mean people all pressed against eachother and pressing even closer when the car suddenly came to a stop or started again. YUCK. We were very relieved when we arrived at our stop- Fisherman's Warf. We had lots of fun at fisherman's warf! We escaped from Alcatraz penitentiary, worked in the factory with Rosie the Riveter, had some delicious clam chowder in bread bowls at the sourdough bakery restaurant, explored, and even got to see some sea lions. We then headed to Lombard Street, the most crookedest street. We had to hike up what felt like the steepest street to get there but it was pretty neat to see cars try to maneuver down lombard street. We then waited for a cable car to take us back to our hotel and THIS time was got to stand on the very outside of the car and hold onto the rails. It was soo fun to glide through the up and down streets of San Francisco with the wind in our hair and the cute little baby sitting behind us yelling "choo choo". We arrived back at our hotel and headed on the road for Monterey.
We finally arrived and had the coolest hotel room with a fireplace in it and vaulted ceilings. We made it just in time for the tail end of the complimentary wine and cheese hour. We then got ready and headed for Cannery Row. We went to a really cute restaurant for dinner where we got to sit outside on the deck right on the water. They had these huuge margaritas which of course we had to have and awesome food. The only downside was the huuuge seagulls, I mean like at least twice the size as the ones we have in Ocean City, which would land like right on the other side of the little partition around the deck. It was pretty terrifying (if Patti had been there we definately would have had to move tables) and we let out a few shrieks when they plopped down really close. We then walked around Cannery Row which was really cute and listened to a live blues band.

Optimism Column:
-figuring out how to drive out of San Francisco is stressful..especially when you end up on the section where the cable cars ride..yikes.
-apparently seagulls in Monterey take steroids
-it is STILL cold in Monterey

Escape from Alcatraz

Clam Chowder

Lombard Street

Ride on Cable Car



Big Marg at dinner in Monterey

 



Day 4- Muir Woods, Sausalito, and San Francisco

We woke up kind of groggy this morning after a long night in the Travelodge. We had a delicious breakfast and then drove to Castello di Amorosa which is a winery but it's a huge castle. It was so neat!! We didn't get to go inside because you had to pay $17 to just enter. We walked around the outside though and it was awesome! Around back there was a little barn area with chickens and a big peacock. It had its feathers all fluffed and was so pretty! When we turned around though, a big black chicken was right next to us- scared the crap out of us which entertained the other family watching the animals.
We then headed to Muir Woods. The GPS took us the most terrifying way possible, up this really steep road that was basically the most winding road in the world, it definately gave Lombard Street (most crooked road) a run for its money. Anyway the road was not only narrow, steep, and windy with cars parked on each side, it was also filled with tons of bikers who of course were not far enough on the side of the road so we were afraid to pass them but if you didn't pass them, the cars behind you would start honking. Oh and did we mention that since it was so steep and wacky, you couldn't see if cars were going to come around a bend going the opposite way and hit you if you're passing a bike. Not a fun experience. At one point we had to pull over just to regroup...and for Jen to do alittle stress relieving screaming in the car. We took a couple pictures of what we believe to have been Muir Woods, without being able to find any signs, visitors center, or hiking maps, we can only use our best judgement that we were in fact in Muir Woods.
After that lovely experience, we headed to Sausalito. At this point we hadn't eaten since about 9am so we were very ready for lunch. The ride to Saulsalito was our first experience on Route 1. This was basically the exact same as the ridiculous road to Muir woods except now we were on the edge of a cliff. Sweet. There was alot of construction going on so the traffic was pretty heavy but luckily on Rt 1 there are "pull off" areas every little bit so you can just pull over and let a car pass if its on your butt. We finally arrived in Sausalito and after driving around a bit to figure our where to park we headed to Le Garage- a restaurant Patti had seen online and we thought looked cute. It was also the only restaurant we could even find in the area of Sausalito we were in so we headed there. It was really crowded but as we approached the hostess, we were informed that the kitchen closed at 2:30..it was about 2:40. Damn. The area was very pretty though, you could see all these houses like built into the mountain and at the marina there was tons of adorable house boats.
We hungrily loaded back up in our car and headed for San Francisco. Jen conquered the Golden Gate bridge like a pro--we were alittle worried about that one because of all the traffic going into the city--but we made it over and soon we arrived at our Kimpton hotel. It was really nice and our room was adorable but we needed to eat asap. The concierge told us about 2 places to eat and we headed out. San Francisco was (much like the other places we've been in CA) pretty chilly, plus here it was very windy! We huddled together and began our journey. We walked down a ways to where the gay pride parade had taken place earlier in the day and took some pictures and then headed to the restaurants which were wayyy out of our price range. We ended up at this little pizza place called Bellini's which was delicious! We then basically ran back to our hotel because we were so cold.

Optimismmm:
-route 1 is terrifying
-the shoes Joanna bought for L.A. are nothing compared to the heels we saw this guy (who was obviously there for the parade) wearing, they were at least 5 inches tall
-any time you think you face adversity in your life, think about the couple we saw- not only were they gay but one was white and one was black
-putting signs up was apparently skipped in Muir Woods
-if you want to eat in Sausalito-arrive early
-don't rely on the concierge to actually tell you places that are cheap when you ask for them
-we have mentioned this many times before but California is COLD
-dog-friendly hotels are nice except when your neighbors dog won't stop yapping
-I guess those AAA stars know what they're talking about: going from the Travelodge to the Kimpton was like night and day

PS. A special shout out to Jen who did an excellent job driving today!!! :)

Castello di Amorosa

Muir Woods

After so much scary driving, Jen's foot began to hurt and she had to add more support



Cute house boat in Sausalito



About to go over Golden Gate bridge

Stress relieving drink after finally arriving in San Fran

























Day 3- Napa Valley

Hello Hello-
It is pretty early (7:30am) and we need to go soon go get our continental breakfast. But we wanted to start catching up alittle first.
On Saturday we headed to Napa Valley, excited to spend the day in winey country. First we went to Beringer Vineyards, where we had a tour at 10:30am. The property was so pretty- there was a big mansion and then the winery part, all surrounded by beautiful flowers. Unfortunately the nice hospitality ended there. We went in to check in and were greeted by a man who was not happy to see us. He first made it clear that all tours were already sold out (not listening to us when we tried to explain that we already had reservations) and that you have to be 21 in order to go on the tours. After repeating it like 3 times, he finally checked us in and sent us where to wait. We were now feeling awful about the tour and basically just wanted to leave because everyone around us was about 30 years older than us and looking down their noses at us. But we stuck it out obviously because we had already paid and hoped the tour would turn around our feelings about the place.
We Were Very Wrong.  We began the tour with about 15 other people and Scott our tour guide who was probably in his sixties and of course only carded 2 people- us. He first looked at Jen's and then mine and then proclaimed, "what are you guys like twins?" Assuming he was joking because he had just looked at both the date AND year of our birthdays I answer "well I mean 2 and a half years apart." Apparently this was hilarious and he then felt the need to repeat that to everyone in the group describing what we said while he was "checking to see if we were underage." SO now everyone was staring at us and chuckling. Great.
Then the tour started and we learned something very important about wine....wine tours are extemely boring!!!! We took lots of pictures throughout the tour to entertain ourselves but holy moly was it a long and dull tour. We then finally went to the tasting part of the tour and went to a table that had 3 glasses of baby amounts of wine as well as a little plate with about 3 potato chips, a little piece of cheese, and a chocolate. I must say I was more excited about the food but of course that was soon squelched also. The chips were delicious and were paired with a red wine that..was not quite as delicious. The cheese had been sitting out for a bit and didn't taste great but was paired with an $115 red wine that tasted exactly like the first one which was $40. Then it was time for the waay to sweet dessert wine but I didn't even care because I was so excited for the chocolate. WELL the chocolate (which I took a big bite of) had gross orange fruit in the middle. YUCK. And that concluded the tour of Beringer.
We then headed to our next tour which was at Chandon, the champagne place. On the way, we stopped at Sutter Home Winery which turned out to be our most favorite winery. They had a complimentary wine tasting of 4 wines and we then bought a delicious $5 bottle and were on our way, smiles back in place. We were now at an awkward time-needing to eat lunch but needing to be at our tour in 45 minutes. We decided to skip lunch and head to the tour where we first had a glass of champagne and dreamt of eating the food that kept passing by us to tables outside (the cheese plate was $15 so needless to say we were not eating there). Finally it was time for our champagne tour which was much more interesting than the wine one but still kind of dull.
We then headed to our hotel in downtown Napa, the Travelodge-dun dun dun. From the moment we pulled in, we were less than impressed. Our impressions didn't get better as we entered our room, but at least the bathroom was clean. Weell things went from bad to worse when I walked across the room and step on something gooey and black and hairy!!!!!! AHHHHH! That took about 30 minutes to recover from.
Downtown Napa was very cute though! The area was pretty small and didn't have much of a night life- ergo there were 3 bachelorette parties taking place at the small, not really fun bar that we went to for a drink. But we walked around in the morning and had a great breakfast outside!

Things we learned about wine:
-for white wine, the grapes are gently squished to get the juice out but leaving the skin behind
-the skin of grapes is what adds the tannen-the more bitter taste in red wines
-for red wine, the grapes and skins are squished up together
-bubbles in champagne are made from carbon dioxide and each bottle has about 40 million bubbles

Optimism Column:
-Joanna sucks at taking pictures out the window while Jen is driving
-flip flops are necessary at all times at a Travelodge..as well as ear plugs when your noisy neighbors are "jumping on the bed"
-bachelorette parties are kind of lame in Napa
-it is cold here..apparently just bringing bathing suits and flip flops was not the best plan



It's hard to see Jen's face in this picture but it is not happy.



Example of Joanna's picture taking :) whoops!



More posts coming soooon

Hi everyone-
Unfortunately the past two hotels we have stayed in didn't have free Internet so we haven't been able to update our blog. We have not forgotten though and more posts will come hopefully tonight! We have had a crazy couple of days and have much to tell! :)

Day 2- White Water Rafting

Hello Hello-
Last night we went to downtown Auburn for dinner. Cute little town with lots of old fashioned stores.
This morning we woke up early and headed to our white water rafting trip. We were rafting the South Fork American River which was class 2 and 3 rapids. On the way we took the most windy road, which was really neat, but kinda scary to drive on. So we show up in our tanks and flip flops and find out they had snow here a couple weeks ago. Yikes! After the orientation we get all suited up and paired with the only other people not a part of this huge wedding group that was also there. They were great! We then find out (from our adorable rafting guide) to get into the boat we had to swim to it and then lift ourselves into the raft. Took a little convincing, buuuut we survived and tackled that river. Had chips and salsa (with a block of cream cheese under the salsa- delicious easy appetizer!) fresh fruit, and basically everything one would need to make a sandwich. Delicious picnic! Feeling confident we tackle the next set of rapids. Soar through the first one, piece of cake, aaaand then we get to satans cesspool... and slam right into a giant rock. We all managed to stay in though. Very fun day! And only a little sunburn, which for us is impressive! We were told about some local places with live music by the rafting place, which we may check out later, but driving that winding road afterwards may not be the best idea. So the actual plans for tonight haven't been made yet, but we have some cute shoes that are dying to get out. Tomorrow we head for Nappa.

Ever Optimistic Notes:
-Only wimps needed those wool socks that were recomended- we were plenty warm in our wetsuits
- There was a rattle snake in one porta-pot and a hornets nest in another- fortunately we were not the ones to find those little presents
- The children in our rafting group sucked at rowing! They could not stay with the group and they were not little! Come on guys! One let go of his T grip and hit Joanna in the cheek(only lightly but still!)
- The mom of the family in our group got into an argument with one of those wedding women about cheese- who knew people were so passionate about cheese??