My Mystery Trip

We snuck out of town one weekend last month and ended up here:

A view from an elevator.

A pit stop for pizza.

Toby tries out the camera phone.

We rode on interesting public transportation.

We played in the park.

We saw a ship in the harbor. And behind that ship, a prison.

We saw a very long bridge.

We stayed up late reading among the city lights.

We stayed just long enough to get a good taste of a wonderful city. We'll be back, I'm sure.

My Intro to Wine Country Weekend

We finally did it -- we experienced the smallest sliver of California wine country. And we got to tag along with some wonderful friends, Chris and Katie, and their dog too!

We traveled to Sonoma and stayed in a house on a hill.
Beautiful views (which helped to erase the memory of the hour-long traffic delay we had on our drive up) and gorgeous weather for the whole weekend made for a relaxing, wonderful time.
We spent Friday night through Sunday afternoon in wine country, with the kids in tow, and we just played the whole time. We went to 4 vineyards on Saturday and two on Sunday. We had coupons for the tastings that we split with our friends and so we ended up trying a little bit of all kinds of wine. (The kiddos either played outside with Chris and the dog, Nevis, or they stayed inside and played on our phones. One time they stayed at the house with Chris and Nevis while we went with Katie to other wineries a bit out of town.)
It was so much fun to feel like we were on a real vacation, not just visiting a place on our way across the country (like when we saw the arch in St. Louis or driving through Yosemite last summer). Actually, we packed so much in our car Norah started asking questions like, "Are we moving?" and "Will it take days and days to get there?"
We ate in every meal except one, and we even had the owners of the rental house over for dinner on Saturday night.*
The favorite part of the trip for the kids? Definitely the hot tub! The Philosopher and I really enjoyed experiencing a different area of our new home, and we feel like we only just broke the surface of the exciting places that are just an afternoon's drive away.

The cheese tasting was more memorable than some of the wineries!

Strawberries and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

This kiddo wanted to eat his weight in cinnamon rolls. He had to settle for waffles.

A pool with a view!

A picnic at a winery -- with built-in pets for the kids! (There were lizards in the rocks.)

*So, our friend Chris is from small town Iowa. The owner of the rental house was from small town Iowa. It turns out Chris' aunt married a guy named Denny who is cousins with the owner. Small world! We invited them over for dinner with us on Saturday night (the Chef made roast tenderloin, potatoes, and broccolini) and enjoyed hearing about the locals' view of Sonoma.

My SoCal Sunset

The sunset at Mission Beach. Complete with a surfer running out to catch the waves.
The locals pulled out all the stops to give us a perfect Southern California weekend.
Great weather, friendly folks, and great food.
:o)

My Saturday Morning Jog

On Saturday I went for a jog in sunny San Diego. So beautiful!
I was planning on taking it easy since I tweaked my knee on Thursday, but I fell in with a bunch of people training for a marathon and it made the jog that much more fun. And running along the beach was just awesome.

I did encounter a pedestrian that reminded me so much of my Dad that I actually started to cry. If I hadn't been 2 miles from the hotel I would have stopped and walked. Instead I pushed on and finished the last 2 miles in record time -- and resolved to buy some good sport sunglasses so no one could see me cry. (I'm not sure, but I think seeing someone that looked like my Dad in California made me suddenly mournful of the fact that he'll never see us in our new life in Monterey.)
I'd really like to push myself to try a half marathon in memory of my Dad. It's definitely something that won't be easy, but he wasn't one to shy away from a challenge.

My San Diego View

We were in San Diego over the weekend. Holy cow it was beautiful and warm and great!
I am so thankful that my in-laws were willing to watch the kids (after their own California trip).

Morning view of the Pacific from Mission Beach.

Palm trees at the airport.

La Jolla