We decided to take a big vacation to California to have one last hoo-rah before the arrival of our little one. We started our trip by driving to Scott and Beth's in North Carolina, who graciously agreed to drop us off and pick us up from the airport.
On Saturday, April 25 we flew out of Raleigh-Durham Airport bound headed for Los Angeles, California. We arrived at LAX that afternoon picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel - the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. After a short rest we drove to Marina Del Rey for dinner at
The Warehouse Restaurant - famous for its great seafood as well as being the location of a scene from the movie "Meet the Fockers."
Sunday, April 26 we spent the day in Hollywood. We took a double-decker bus ride/tour around the city and learned lots of facts and history about the city and got to see all the major attractions - Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, etc. The highlight for me was our lunch at Pink's - a famous hot dog stand. In the afternoon we drove to the Griffith Park Observatory to see the famous Hollywood sign up close and a great view overlooking the city.
Monday morning we began our trip north up the coast on CA Route 1. On the way out of LA we stopped at Venice Beach to see the famous boardwalk and Jennifer wanted to see the bodybuilders. Unfortunately since it was early on a Monday there wasn't much going on - only one bodybuilder and the boardwalk was pretty much deserted.
Driving up the coast we stopped at the Malibu pier and many other points of interest along the road. It was a very pretty drive - huge green hills on our right, the ocean to our left and the open road in between. We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and a short stroll through the town, which a week later would be devastated by wildfires. We stopped for the night in the very small town of San Simeon and ate at a great little restaurant, Lynn's, which is famous for its Olallieberry jam, in the neighboring town of Cambria. The hotel we stayed at wasn't anything fancy, but very nice with fire pits out on the beach and even a fireplace in our room.
Tuesday morning we continued north on Rt. 1. Just a short distance from our hotel was an elephant seal reserve - we saw hundreds seals, which come ashore each spring to have their babies. This second day of driving was even more gorgeous than the first - the road starts to climb upwards among the rocky cliffs providing amazing views of the Pacific coast. We stopped in Carmel for lunch just before going on the 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach. By that evening we were driving across the Golden Gate Bridge to stay in Sausalito for the night.
Wednesday we started the day by visiting Muir Woods National Monument (Park) home of the giant redwood trees. Later that afternoon we headed back across the Golden Gate into San Francisco to drop off our rental car and check-in to our hotel - the Mark Hopkins San Francisco. The hills in this city are unbelievable. We explored the city a little that afternoon - mostly by way of trying to find ourselves a jacket (very chilly here almost year-round), which we finally found at the three-story Old Navy. That evening we experienced our first cable car ride down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner followed by a Ghiradelli chocolate sundae at Ghiradelli Square.
Thursday we spent the entire day exploring the city by another double-decker bus tour as well as by foot, which in San Francisco is no easy task. We ended the trip on Friday with a trip to Alcatraz Island - if any place in the world is haunted this would be it - very spooky, yet pretty with all sort of pretty flowers growing all over the island.
Saturday was a day of travel as we flew from San Francisco back to RDU. We had a great time and enjoyed just a portion of what California has to offer.
Last week Ryan's cousin Charity along with her husband Chad and their daughter Avery were in from Arizona. Thursday night we had them over for dinner. It was so good to see them and we had a great visit! Avery just turned two in November and she is quite a pistol. She certainly kept us entertained! We wish they lived closer so we could see them more often, but we're very grateful to have been able to spend an evening together.
On Sunday, Dec. 7th I broke the news about my pregnancy to the youth. I had Carlinda Todd (one of my youth parents) take a group picture for us. Once everyone was together, she said "okay, on the count of three everyone say 'Jennifer's Pregnant!'" It was a priceless moment! At first there was dead silence... then the whole restaurant (we were at Franco's in Harrisonburg) erupted in squeals and laughter. Within 10 seconds, everyone was on their cellphones calling their family and friends to share the news. I'll never forget this night-- I love these kids!