Travels: Part Deux

To continue....

Day 3: Up bright and early (that's a common theme; H was up and bouncing at 0530 each day) and we packed into the car for the trip to Santa Cruz. It was good we got there when we did as by midday there was no parking. Anyway, parked and then headed to the beach where H was more than happy to just lay on her stomach and revel in the sand. Steve put together the kite and we took turns flying it, then we walked out a the pier and watched sea lions sun themselves (they're scary huge with sharp teeth). We had lunch at an old Italian restaurant and spent the afternoon walking the boardwalk and playing some carnival games. They had a pirate themed room and Henri was seriously freaked by the pirate skeleton (don't blame her). That evening we went over to some friends of Steve's and met their parents and two adorable girls and had the most delicious meat buns foisted upon us. I can't say "no" to a meat (or bean curd) bun and a homemade one straight from the steamer? Yeah, you can't end an evening in a better manner. To bed early again because the next morning....

Day 4: We were out of the house by 0600 as that's when Krispy Creme opened. We watched the little donuts meander along their path and turn into delicious hot treats...and then we stuffed our faces!!!!!!! My favorite was the sour cream donuts, and Henri was thrilled I'd bought her 24 holes (of which she got to eat 3). And then we drove. And drove. And drove. Until we got to Yosemite. And then we drove some more up insanely steep twisty roads. Until we were greeted by the most spectacular rock mountains....much more impressive from the ground than the airplane. There was a jaunt to the falls which were not running and then to the look out to see Half Dome. Steve spent the next two evenings watching rock climbing videos and has decided that's going to be his next adventure. Hopefully he sticks to using a harness. We ate a picnic lunch overlooking a meadow and half hoping/half dreading to see a bear (we didn't, sadly) and then another very long drive home. I think the fact that we were all (civilly) speaking to each other by the end is testament to the good friendship we all share, and I think the Honey Nut Cheerios we had for supper helped a lot as well. Needless to say, bed as soon as we got home.

Day 5: Last full day :( David went to work, Kelsea stayed home to make the apartment look even more fabulous, and Steve, Henri and I went to the zoo. Smaller than some, it was the perfect size for us. H loved it, very excited to see all the animals, and you can get very very very close to all of them. We saw the grizzlies getting fed and I saw my first hippo. We ate lunch at In-and-Out then home to pick up Kelsea and meet David at Stanford for the grand tour. We drove down Palm Tree Way (beautiful) and then checked out the bell tower and got a great view of the whole campus, along with a history of the bells from the guide. Sadly the Arts Museum was closed but we did see some statuary as well as an amazing chapel. Then home for a feast. Let me not be remiss in mentioning how well we ate this vacation. Kelsea is truly proficient in Pinterest, David wields a mean grill tong, and we were more than happy to be recipients of their talents. I won't list all our menus for fear of making you jealous, but know such things as avocado mousse, grilled ribs, and apple blueberry cobbler might have been eaten. Also, I learned the secret of how to make the best chicken you will ever eat (sorry, can't share, it's a secret).  We rounded out the evening loading apps onto our phones and Face-timing each other.

And then we went home the next day. Well, actually we got to the airport and gave ourselves 1.5 hours to get settled in, wander the airport, buy Ghiradelli chocolate.....and then the flight got delayed 4 hours. But we got home safely (HUGE thank you to Matt for staying up till 0130 to get us) and once again H was great on the plane and, despite being a full flight, we got a whole row so she could stretch out.
So, that's the vacation. Thank you, David and Kelsea, for letting us stay with you and for treating us so royally. Can't wait to see you both again!

Steve has decided to steal my thunder and post picts on facebook, but for those that haven't seen them yet, more pictures!! :)

She loves her oceans

Awwww

What's a trip without the couple self portrait?

Carnival atmosphere, quite different from East Coast Ogunquit, haha

We had a blast deciding what they were saying to each other

I wouldn't call them crispy, but the sugar rush certainly woke us all up

New seat assignments

The roads we drove. Note the 1' "guardrails"

The views were totally worth the drive

I think it's a requirement to shoot in B+W while here, right?

Dry falls

Half Dome

Burning off energy

Her favorite animals? The rabbits and chicks

Palm trees as far as you can see

One view from the tower

There are five more of these....

We are happy we got to go, and we're happy to be home. No plans to vacation again any time soon, but it's good to know that if we decide to roam Henri travels well :)