Vacation in California

For my graduation present, Sam planned a trip for us to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a fabulous, beautiful vacation. We started out in southern Cali, just southwest of LA, where we visited Uncle Kealoha, Aunty Linda, cousin Rosie and cousin Raquel. They are such wonderful, fun people. We hope we get to see them again soon. We drove up to Venice Beach http://westland.net/beachcam/ and Santa Monica Beach http://www.santamonica.com/, where we got to see all sorts of people, and yes....we stopped at Muscle Beach where Sam fit right in!

The next day we visited Huntington Beach http://www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/, which is where Uncle surfs when the waves are just right. Sam wanted a lesson in surfing, but the conditions weren't favorable. I guess that means we have to go back soon!

We then traveled to the Cambria/San Simeon area http://www.slostateparks.com/san_simeon/default.asp, where Hearst Castle is located, http://www.hearstcastle.com/. Hearst Castle is a must see, even though it is not well known to Americans. I was in awe, but have to admit Sam went along to be a good sport. The place was unbelievable. We then watched the sunset at the beach. It was amazing, but the wind was really cold!! The next morning, on our way north we got to see the elephant seals sunning at the beach. Sam said that was the highlight of the trip for him in that area. The majority of this day we traveled north stopping at different beaches along the way. In the Big Sur http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/ area, we could see where the fire had consumed parts of the forest, earlier this summer, but the majestic cliffs at the blue waters edge kept our focus more! We can definitely see why people live out there!! We stopped at Carmel http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/ and enjoyed the beach and a little shopping. We saw the edge of Pebble Beach where golfers were golfing. We then enjoyed a picnic dinner in Monterrey http://www.monterey.org/ where we watched the sun set again. After that, we headed up to the Sacramento area to visit with my cousin, Daniel and his wife, Beth.

From Sacramento, we were able to get to San Francisco fairly easily. In San Francisco, we saw the usual visitor sites--Golden Gate Bridge, Swensen's Ice Cream Shop, the Wharf, Lombard Street. We tried to do the cable car thing but the line was way to long. We also saw Alcatraz from afar, as we had run out of time. We ate dinner in Little Italy and saw China Town, too.

We enjoyed it so much and would love to go back. The only downer was at the end of the trip, I realized I was going back to work in a week! What a bummer!!

Vacation to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I just got back from a beautiful, fun, and yet relaxing vacation in San Miguel. It is a picturesque, relaxing, fun, and culturally rich place. Rachel and I were there for 5 days visiting Jennifer. Jennifer has stayed for the month taking Spanish language classes and MaryEllen has joined her for the last 2 weeks of the vacation. We got to do some shopping in the market area, hike up to the scenic look out, enjoy the outdoor film festival. It was so cool--the film festival was showing a Bollywood type film with English captions. We also visited the botanical garden and a hot springs. The botanical garden was absolutely beautiful, but the hot springs were disappointing. We also toured the city and enjoyed the nightlife. The nightlife was so different (or I am just getting older), but they bar didn't start swinging until about 12:00 am. I learned to salsa, merengue, norteno, and even do a Mexican line dance (which was hilarious it was so easy!), but the best was learning the cumbia. It was hard but I finally got it. It was great....the bar asked us to join them again on Saturday, where they reserved a table for us and even dedicated the night to the "ladies from Texas." I got some major shopping deals while I was there. There was so much I wanted I couldn't decide what to buy, but I am happy with my purchases. It was frustrating figuring out how I was going to get it all home, but luckily I did with barely any damages! The best thing I got was a finger leash for Sam. Now he has to go where ever I pull him. Every wife needs one for their husband!

I had to leave Sam at home for this one since he had to work, and I am sure he feels like he missed out....maybe next year! Jennifer is planning to go back. I'll start saving my money.