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Jan. 18th, 2007 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoweeOkay, more than just vacation news. We'll get that out of the way first.
babysitting
Since I was going to be gone for so long, my niece started looking at daycares for that time. Well, she's found one that the little one seems to like and has decided to start sending him there. I'll still have him if he's too sick and on holidays when the daycare is closed.
novel writing
I've been working on a new novel when I can, but it's been hard with the babysitting hours increasing and the vacation planning on the horizon. Now, of course we can see why writing is such a big deal. I'll actually get to FOCUS! YAY!
And now,
OMG!! It was legend -
wait for it -
DARY!
Wednesday
drive. drive. drive.
fill up with gas.
drive some more.
We see a rest stop which warns there isn't another for 114 miles. We've got a 5 year old, don't want to take our chances, right? Well, it turns out to be an outhouse. OMG! The distinct frigid breeze coming from below was NOT my friend.
Thursday
We actually stayed in Tiburon which is a little town just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco so the first thing we really saw in a "landmark tour" sort of way was the Bridge. I took too many pictures of the buildings in SF as they're beautiful.
Our first real destination, however was Mission Dolores. I love missions, but side-note here is that Hitchcock did some filming of Vertigo at this particular mission. Beautiful Batista, incredible cemetery.
After that, we drove to Fisherman's Wharf. We ate at a restaurant where Toria sampled clams, squid, and abalone. She then had her favourite food - shrimp - and ordered sole for her lunch. I couldn't believe how much seafood she ate.
Once fed, we used our energy for a walk along the wharf to Pier 39 where we watched seas lions laze around on the docks. (At this point I'll say yes there are LOTS more pictures. I should be able to start scanning and posting select ones on Friday)
Anyway, we shopped a bit until dark, then drove back to Tiburon where my sister made the joke that SF is so good you have to pay to get in. (You pay a toll crossing the bridge into the city, but they do let you leave for free. {smile})
Friday
In the morning we went to wine country. We drove mostly through Sonoma which runs parallel to Napa Valley. They were pruning and preparing for the next harvest, so mostly we saw fields of sticks, but it was pretty. We talked about where to stop for wine tastings, then ran across a little place owned by 5 vineyards who do wine tastings so that you can get a variety rather than just one vineyard.
We picked up two bottles of nice wine which we'll be sharing with friends soon.
When we got home, sister's son was sleeping on my bed so I bagged my nap (I had felt my hubby's cold hitting me; hoped to nip it in the bud with naps and herbal loading, but it was too late) and we went shopping to buy souvenirs. When we got back from that I did nap because I felt so worn down.
That night we had a birthday dinner for sister's son.
Saturday
HUGE day and the worst of my cold. A horrible, dry, painful chest cough. Everything wore me out..
First we drove just over an hour to San Jose and toured the Winchester Mansion.
For those who don't know about this bizarre architectural phenomena; Sarah Winchester was the widow of the Winchester rifle fortune. A superstitious woman, she had intense fear that the spirits of those who had been killed by her husband's rifles were trying to get her. She believe they could be appeased if she never stopped building so her house was in constant construction.
She had it built with doors that opened onto walls or from second levels opening on foyers below. Sarah was 4'10" and arthritic so most of the steps were easy-risers meaning they went up about 2 inches and were about 3 feet deep. This meant that we walked 100 feet and the staircase took 7 turns (with 44 steps) to get us 9 feet up to the second floor.
It felt like a fun-house or a haunted house where you walk around through funny passageways and short rooms. I half expected to come around a corner only to be greeted by someone in a hockey mask.
Well, after that we had to drive another hour to Monterey Bay. There we went through the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was just amazing. Jellyfish, sharks, otters and tanks so high you felt like you were under water with them.
We drove home just over 2 hours up the coast. I bet it would have been beautiful if it hadn't already been pitch black when we left Monterey. Ah well! We had been told about "Devil's Slide" being on a cliff edge and winding, but what we later learned is that it's a part of the coastline where the cliff constantly slides into the ocean and the highway repair comes in and digs into the cliff wall on the other side to move the freeway in. YIKES!
There was a little town called Half Moon Bay. Don't you love it? I mean, how wonderful would it be to have your address be "blah blah Half Moon Bay, CA"?
Sunday
Mostly a lazy day. We did our laundry did very little until the early afternoon. At that point we went to the beach. Being so far north, you can't really swim there. Aside from serious riptides, the water comes down from Alaska so it's quite an arctic temperature. We let Toria collect shells and sand-dollars, then "dip" her toes in the water... but she wasn't listening and tried to run after a retreating wave. I didn't catch up to her before the next wave knocked her over. She was ice cold and covered in sand so we left early. We got her back and into a warm tub as quick as we could.
So, we scrapped further plans for the day and did nothing until dinner.
Monday - Tuesday
After driving all day last Wednesday we realized we couldn't make it home in one trip. By the time Monday came we were thinking we wanted a little time after our trip before getting back to the daily grind plus we had hit the real highlights we wanted to hit so we decided to leave for home.
First we went to a park where there is a big horse statue so the kids could run around. We drove and drove and managed to make it to Winnemucca before getting a hotel. We got a really nice room for 1/2 because we checked in after 10pm. That was a bonus. We slept like we hadn't slept for a week - dead to the world - and just managed to get out before the checkout deadline. When we got back home, it was late again and we were pretty tired, but we managed to unpack the truck and get ourselves straightened out before bed.
Today it seemed surreal - going back to our every day. Toria went to school and I couldn't stop thinking about all the cool stuff we saw and did.
summary, it was another fabulous trip. I had a great time. I'm going to try to catch up on my flist, but... if something happened you think I'd be interested in, please guide me to your entry or email me.
babysitting
Since I was going to be gone for so long, my niece started looking at daycares for that time. Well, she's found one that the little one seems to like and has decided to start sending him there. I'll still have him if he's too sick and on holidays when the daycare is closed.
novel writing
I've been working on a new novel when I can, but it's been hard with the babysitting hours increasing and the vacation planning on the horizon. Now, of course we can see why writing is such a big deal. I'll actually get to FOCUS! YAY!
And now,
OMG!! It was legend -
wait for it -
DARY!
Wednesday
drive. drive. drive.
fill up with gas.
drive some more.
We see a rest stop which warns there isn't another for 114 miles. We've got a 5 year old, don't want to take our chances, right? Well, it turns out to be an outhouse. OMG! The distinct frigid breeze coming from below was NOT my friend.
Thursday
We actually stayed in Tiburon which is a little town just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco so the first thing we really saw in a "landmark tour" sort of way was the Bridge. I took too many pictures of the buildings in SF as they're beautiful.
Our first real destination, however was Mission Dolores. I love missions, but side-note here is that Hitchcock did some filming of Vertigo at this particular mission. Beautiful Batista, incredible cemetery.
After that, we drove to Fisherman's Wharf. We ate at a restaurant where Toria sampled clams, squid, and abalone. She then had her favourite food - shrimp - and ordered sole for her lunch. I couldn't believe how much seafood she ate.
Once fed, we used our energy for a walk along the wharf to Pier 39 where we watched seas lions laze around on the docks. (At this point I'll say yes there are LOTS more pictures. I should be able to start scanning and posting select ones on Friday)
Anyway, we shopped a bit until dark, then drove back to Tiburon where my sister made the joke that SF is so good you have to pay to get in. (You pay a toll crossing the bridge into the city, but they do let you leave for free. {smile})
Friday
In the morning we went to wine country. We drove mostly through Sonoma which runs parallel to Napa Valley. They were pruning and preparing for the next harvest, so mostly we saw fields of sticks, but it was pretty. We talked about where to stop for wine tastings, then ran across a little place owned by 5 vineyards who do wine tastings so that you can get a variety rather than just one vineyard.
We picked up two bottles of nice wine which we'll be sharing with friends soon.
When we got home, sister's son was sleeping on my bed so I bagged my nap (I had felt my hubby's cold hitting me; hoped to nip it in the bud with naps and herbal loading, but it was too late) and we went shopping to buy souvenirs. When we got back from that I did nap because I felt so worn down.
That night we had a birthday dinner for sister's son.
Saturday
HUGE day and the worst of my cold. A horrible, dry, painful chest cough. Everything wore me out..
First we drove just over an hour to San Jose and toured the Winchester Mansion.
For those who don't know about this bizarre architectural phenomena; Sarah Winchester was the widow of the Winchester rifle fortune. A superstitious woman, she had intense fear that the spirits of those who had been killed by her husband's rifles were trying to get her. She believe they could be appeased if she never stopped building so her house was in constant construction.
She had it built with doors that opened onto walls or from second levels opening on foyers below. Sarah was 4'10" and arthritic so most of the steps were easy-risers meaning they went up about 2 inches and were about 3 feet deep. This meant that we walked 100 feet and the staircase took 7 turns (with 44 steps) to get us 9 feet up to the second floor.
It felt like a fun-house or a haunted house where you walk around through funny passageways and short rooms. I half expected to come around a corner only to be greeted by someone in a hockey mask.
Well, after that we had to drive another hour to Monterey Bay. There we went through the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was just amazing. Jellyfish, sharks, otters and tanks so high you felt like you were under water with them.
We drove home just over 2 hours up the coast. I bet it would have been beautiful if it hadn't already been pitch black when we left Monterey. Ah well! We had been told about "Devil's Slide" being on a cliff edge and winding, but what we later learned is that it's a part of the coastline where the cliff constantly slides into the ocean and the highway repair comes in and digs into the cliff wall on the other side to move the freeway in. YIKES!
There was a little town called Half Moon Bay. Don't you love it? I mean, how wonderful would it be to have your address be "blah blah Half Moon Bay, CA"?
Sunday
Mostly a lazy day. We did our laundry did very little until the early afternoon. At that point we went to the beach. Being so far north, you can't really swim there. Aside from serious riptides, the water comes down from Alaska so it's quite an arctic temperature. We let Toria collect shells and sand-dollars, then "dip" her toes in the water... but she wasn't listening and tried to run after a retreating wave. I didn't catch up to her before the next wave knocked her over. She was ice cold and covered in sand so we left early. We got her back and into a warm tub as quick as we could.
So, we scrapped further plans for the day and did nothing until dinner.
Monday - Tuesday
After driving all day last Wednesday we realized we couldn't make it home in one trip. By the time Monday came we were thinking we wanted a little time after our trip before getting back to the daily grind plus we had hit the real highlights we wanted to hit so we decided to leave for home.
First we went to a park where there is a big horse statue so the kids could run around. We drove and drove and managed to make it to Winnemucca before getting a hotel. We got a really nice room for 1/2 because we checked in after 10pm. That was a bonus. We slept like we hadn't slept for a week - dead to the world - and just managed to get out before the checkout deadline. When we got back home, it was late again and we were pretty tired, but we managed to unpack the truck and get ourselves straightened out before bed.
Today it seemed surreal - going back to our every day. Toria went to school and I couldn't stop thinking about all the cool stuff we saw and did.
summary, it was another fabulous trip. I had a great time. I'm going to try to catch up on my flist, but... if something happened you think I'd be interested in, please guide me to your entry or email me.
