California Road Trip July 29 - Aug 6, 2022

Friday: This year James said he would be able to come with us on our family trip under one condition, there was warmth and beach. We decided to do the California Coast driving up Hwy 1, starting in San Diego and ending in San Francisco. We flew out of O'Hare on a Friday night. We fortunately had a direct flight. Once to San Diego we hoped in our car and arrived to our condo around 11pm. We all crashed, that is after we were let in. Our owner wasn't answering his phone!

Saturday: This morning Matt joined me on my morning run along the beach boardwalk. Our condo was in Mission beach. James recommended it having been in San Diego for his training. After our run we walked to try and locate a grocery store. We only found a convience store for me to stock up on some cold brews and teas. Matt found a cute street side coffee bar on our way home. Once back Matt and I drove to the grocery store to stock up for the week. Afterwards we headed out for our first adventure. James drove to us the military base. With his ID we were able to explore all over. We hit the stores, drove by the Seals Physical training course, saw where he stayed and all the ships. Afterwards we drove to Coronado for lunch. We walked around the Coronado hotel and then made our way back to our condo. This evening we walked to the boardwalk for a late dinner. We played endless games of would you rather and all walked back to our condo, minus James. He found a friend from the academy who happened to be here in San Diego and did what 20 year olds do. Go to church and pray. LOL. Whatever he did…we don't know. I did get a 1:30am phone call to let him in our condo. I guess at that hour who is going to remember the door code? His buddy ended up spending the night at our place.

Sunday:

This morning I ran the opposite way, along the bay. The views were much more clean, with less pot, urine, and vomit smell. The condos along the way were real cute. I made it to the first bridge and turned around. Once back to our condo Matt had cinnamon rolls baking for all. Noelle joined me on a bicycle ride around the bay while Matt took James' friend back to the base. We then decided to head to do some cliff diving and hit La Jolla. James had done cliff jumping here before. We all braved it and jumped…of course on video. Matt was most freaked out about the algae. Next we hit La Jolla for a quick ice cream stop. We didn't do the snorkeling we intended on, the beaches were pretty packed. Once back to our condo Greta and I had surf board races on our belly's at the nearby bay. For dinner Noelle, dad, and I hit a Taco place near the beach while brain storming colleges for Noelle. Matt has given her an Aug 1st deadline to have picked out 5 colleges. A margarita for Noelle helped out a bit for our brainstorming session. On our way home to our condo Noelle and I each found cute bathing suits. Once back we all chilled…Noelle face timed her boyfriend Will, Greta watched endless shows of Sims tips (including how to get a mom pregnant), and dad and James watched a movie.

Monday:

This morning I ran along the bay again. Once back to our condo Greta and I decided to give standing paddle boarding a try. First it was on two boards, then we tried one board, pulling one behind the other, then back to two boards, then we switched paddles…finally dad showed up after his Schwin bike ride to take our photos. Oh…adventures with Fuzzy are always busy! We then showered up and decided to go to Torrey pines for beach swimming and hiking. Okay…the truth is only hiking for Jill and dad. After we got our fill of sea water wave jumping we ventured our way back to our condos to shower up. Dad and James headed to Torrey pines for their 18 hole golf outing. They were paired with two fun young guys. Meanwhile, Noelle, Fuzzy, and I walked a mile along the beach boardwalk to the coconut restaurant. Greta wasn't to thrilled with her spicy pork sandwich. I on the other hand loved my Thai chicken with jicima slaw and coconut water served in a coconut. Afterwards we hit the beach for sunset photos and ice cream. Dad and James returned from their golf outing burnt and spent. They had hit Qudoba on their way home. We all crashed soon thereafter.

Tuesday: I enjoyed my final San Diego run, again going along the bay. Once back we packed up our things and checked out. Our next stop was San Luis Obispo. We started our adventure along coastal Hwy 1. We stopped in Santa Barbara for our lunch at an outside deli. I completely embarrassed myself as I called our waiter a miss then it was a mister. Whoops! How would I know when he had a ponytail and earrings? As we drove out of Los Angles we were quite entertained by the he/she skateboarder dressed only in a swimsuit, and the angry homeless African American woman with only a few teeth hitting poles on the highway and screaming at the drivers. Good thing we were in a locked car. The next several hours in our ride, James entertained us all with hilarious drawings of each of us. Greta drew James. By the way, Will thinks mine is most accurate. LOL. We also enjoyed our blaring music with all windows down in our pot mobile. It actually is a white Mini van with license plate from Texas. The scent of pot and the floor panels having been lifted and incorrectly put back down makes James believe this vehicle was once used to smuggle pot. So we officially labeled it the pot mobile. Once to our Embassy suites in San Luis Obispo we were pretty hungry so we hit the nearby Chipotle. Afterwards I hit the health food store to stock up on spirulina gum and Matt hit REI to gauck at gear for his upcoming Elk hunting trip with Erik Christenson this upcoming Labor Day weekend. James, Noelle, and Fuzzy swam at the hotel pool. We all crashed rather early. James unfortunately had the pull out couch with literally no mattress!!

Wednesday:

This morning I ventured out on my run not sure what I find. Fortunately there were nearby foot hill with trails. It was a challenging up and down with only two fence jumps. Once back we hit the hotel breakfast and packed up our car for more scenic views of coastline Hwy 1. Our grab and go lunch was a deli along the way. The highlight there…seeing two gay guys kiss. Maybe not really a highlight, but rather a odd sight. We stopped a few times for quick photos, mainly by Big Sur. The stop to view the elephant lions was entertaining. James wished he had their life….just mouth fighting with other lions and flipping sand on oneself while basking in the sun along the shoreline. I wouldn't have been able to handle their smell!! One longer stop we did get the kids to do was a 1.5 mile round trip hike to Partington Cove. It went through lush forest, a 50 foot wooden tunnel and ended at a cove with crystal blue waters and high waves. The views were well worth the hike. Even Greta admitted it. Once to Aptos we indulged in ice cream before finding our tree house. Good thing James and Noelle can help us old geizers out with our directions! The tree house is so cool!! It is up on stilts, has an uneven ground, sways in the breeze, several patios, one of which has a hammock, a spiral staircase, and lush trees all around. Dad and Jill then went for a neighborhood walk. James decided to start shaping up before his departure to Germany in less than 3 weeks by doing a little hill work, a run up and down Haas road, the road to our tree house. We then hit the local grocery store to stock up for a nice home cooked chicken and potato dinner. Soon thereafter we crashed. Noelle actually made it out on the patio hammock until 5:30AM!

Thursday:

This morning I ran through town and into a park with mountain bike trails along a creek. After my 5 mile out and back I had breakfast and then joined Matt on a 2 mile walk through the forest near our treehouse. Entering the forest there was a sign stating, beware of Mountain Lions. Fortunately no sightings. Once the kids were up we decided to head to Monterey. We stopped along the way for fresh fruit, gummy worms, and dark chocolate covered almonds. Once to Monterey it was still a little cool so rather than beaching it today we did the 17 mile drive around pebble beach. It houses famous mansions, golf courses, and the Lone Siprus Tree. We then found a Mexican restaurant for lunch. James was in Heaven with his lime, cilantro, coconut chicken wings. We found a Plato's closet for much needed clothing and sunglasses and headed back to our condo for R&R. I did yoga while Noelle and dad walked the 2 mile trail loop while Greta face timed Lucy. Noelle made dinner tonight…Mac N Cheese and pizza. Movie night for us tonight.

Friday:

This morning I decided to take the day off from running. I made my morning smoothie in our coffee grinder, ate my oats and did yoga on the back porch. After yoga and meditation I decided to drive to the town's health food store. I found an amazing Cacao coffee nut and seed power chew. After the kids had some breakfast and dad did his morning hike we hoped in the car and headed north to Shark Fin Cove. It was a steep descent but do-able. We only stayed for a short while, enough time to get our photos and move on. We next went to Natural Bridges state park to wade in the water and get a little sunbathing. James won the prize of getting the most sun. The beach wasn't as pretty at Torrey Pines. Afterwards we hit a BBQ for lunch. We all agreed, today's lunch was the best so far. My portabelllo mushroom, avocado sandwich on sourdough with a spicy slaw was pretty yummy. Afterwards we decided to get pedicures. Yup…all 5 of us. Once back to our tree house, Matt and I went on a walk around the loop in the woods and James went on a fast run. For dinner tonight we cooked up pancakes and sausage. Greta loved her sausage bacon pancakes made like a smiley face. Mr. Peabody was our evening entertainment.

Saturday:

This morning for my run I went the opposite direction once down Haas road. After my out and back run we all ate our breakfast, showered & packed up. We headed toward San Francisco to views the sights from our car. We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge and had lunch in Saucilito. We hit a Barnes and Noble and headed to the airport. Fortunately we were able to switch to an earlier flight! Thank you Matt Hanson for that!

Our trip was success. No broken bones, no COVID exposures, no stollen possessions. All kids agreed they will travel with us again. I do have to say Matt and I have really scaled back on our hiking…but hay…maybe someday they will ask for a few more hikes when their metabolism slows. Our next Summer trip may be Alaska! Unless we don't rent our vehicle in time. Until next time.

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