California

Nathan and I were pretty excited for our trip to CA together!

Wednesday, January13
After getting Dorian and Levi off to school and getting Mom settled in to watch the boys for 5 days, we were ready to depart.  I knew they were in good hands.

Our first flight was on time!

Not the next 2 flights however.  But I found that waiting in the airport really isn't so bad when you are sitting with a good book, a vanilla latte from Starbucks and your husband!

And before I knew it, I was already on chapter 7!

I was relieved to find out that even with the delay we were still going to arrive the same night.  Love traveling with Nathan since he takes care of all of the details!

San Luis Obispo, California!  We've arrived.

Thursday, January 14
Check out our amazing views right from our hotel room!  What a beautiful morning!

This is the unzoomed view from our hotel.  :)  I guess remodeling during the off season is good from the hotel's perspective.

The smallest rental car in the parking lot....that was ours!  We were exited to head out and begin exploring.

Our first excursion was whale watching!
We had beautiful views of Morro Rock (a historic landmark)!

I was so excited to have close up views of the seals!

And also close up views of the otters swimming in the water!

It was neat to watch the huge waves crash up against the rocks.

There is a gray whale!  We spotted quite a few of them and even got to see them jump out of the water twice!  Our tour guide said that if this was our first time whale watching we should consider ourselves spoiled because this kind of whale typically doesn't jump out of the water.  It was so cool to see them spray, brush the top of the water, and be so close to them!

The water looks so calm, but we were still in 8 to 9 foot swells!  So thankful that we didn't get motion sickness since we were out on the boat for about 3 hours all together.  What a fun experience!

So, in reality, I didn't get a picture of the whale I saw jump out of the water.  If you thought the previous pictures of whales jumping out of the water were real, so did our children and friends.  :)

Nathan found a great spot for lunch with only outdoor seating at Giovanni's with views of Morro Rock.

After lunch we drove to a couple of other scenic spots nearby.

It just doesn't get boring watching ocean waves coming in.

And then we ended up going on a hike on the Valencia Peak Trail! 1,347 feet and 2.3 miles up.

We made it!  Nathan was never uncertain that we would, but I can't say I felt the same way.

The views were pretty amazing!

It was perfect timing to watch the sunset as we hiked down.

It was pretty cool to spot 3 deer on the trail as we were nearing the end of our hike.

We ate supper at an authentic Japanese Restaurant.  I think we were the only ones who asked for silverware along with our chopsticks...  Oh well.

Friday, January 15
Nathan worked from about 8:30 to 2:30.  I took my time getting ready, ate breakfast, found flowers blooming (in January!), talked with my friend Kristin who happened to call, and then decided to try and catch a bus to an outlet mall.  Turns out, the information we received wasn't correct about the bus schedule so I changed up my plans and finished reading the rest of my book while soaking up the sun on the deck of our hotel room.

When Nathan came back we drove to the Pismo Beach Pier.  It must have been quite obvious as we were walking along, that we were looking for a place to eat because someone informed us that the Splash Cafe had the best Clam Chowder.  After noticing that it was the only restaurant that was busy, we decided we had to give it a try.  It was delicious!  And we found out that they even sell their famous chowder to all the Costco stores so I may have to check that out sometime!

The Pier was so picturesque.  Another day of 60 degree and sunny weather!

I loved watching all the different kinds of birds.

We could see our hotel in the distance from the pier!

The pelicans were my favorite!

Here we are, watching the waves again.  :)

We read about a group of sea lions and seals that live at another pier so we set off to see if we could find it.  Another great spot!  It was a huge pier that you could drive down (which we did!) and at the end was a restaurant and fish market.  There were hardly any people there, but being determined to see more sea lions and seals, I asked someone and found out where they were.

Off to the side was a flight of stairs that you could walk down and there was no fence in between us and a large family of seals!  It was a little nerve wracking but I think that added to the excitement!

The sign said "Warning: Sea Lions and Seals will bite  BE AWARE"

It was amusing to watch a couple of them swim in the water right in front of us!

They saw that we were there, but didn't seem to care too much.

Then we found some men who were catching these disgusting snake-like creatures and had to look up what they were---Hagfish, they make slime, which some people eat!

We left at dusk and ate supper at an authentic Italian restaurant for supper.

Saturday, January 16
I was thrilled with my fruit, oatmeal and coffee for breakfast.

Nathan was thrilled once our day was planned out and had some time to read outside.  :)

Our first adventure was to rent ATV's at Oceano Dunes. We were able to ride on the beach and over the dunes!  Crazy!  I have to admit I was pretty nervous after our safety instructions and after knowing that some of the dunes have 50 foot drops.  But I was thankful once we got out there to know that you could quite easily stop and turn if you found yourself on a dune that was too steep.

We were surprised to see that tons of people camp right on the beach!  But the area that we could ride on was massive so it didn't feel at all crowded.

Kind of fun to see a speed limit sign on the beach!

What a cool ocean crab shell.  I found some rocks and shells to take home for the boys!

There were literally at least a thousand ATV's to rent there.  I think it was a good thing that this is their off season.

On our way to lunch, we stopped off at the Butterfly Grove to see where a large group of monarchs migrate every year.

The trees were loaded with them!

Yup, another 60 degree day! (Which felt even more amazing when we found out that the wind chills were negative 30 back home!!!)

Another outdoor lunch overlooking the water.

Wine tasting was on our list of things to do since this area is known as a wine valley.  I can't say I loved any of the wine, but I loved the scenery!

With another couple of hours before sunset, we drove to find Piedras Blancas Rookery to see Elephant Seals!  When we were nearly there we passed the famous Hearst castle which had zebras grazing in the fields!

Seeing miles (6 to be exact) of elephant seals and their newborn babies was quite a sight!

We found out that the males weigh around 5,000 pounds and lose a couple thousand pounds when they are on the beach during the months of January and February since they don't eat during that time.

The sun was setting while we were there!

Absolutely stunning!

After striking out at the first restaurant Nathan wanted to go to (the wait was nearly 3 hours) we found outdoor seating (under a heater!) at another wonderful place with immediate seating and listened to the ocean waves in the background while we ate.

Our trip was a perfect mix of relaxation and adventure!

So thankful for the opportunity and that everyone stayed healthy and safe!

I traveled back on Sunday and Nathan came back the following Wednesday.

An entire post without any pictures of our boys.  :)  The sheer number of photos is a good indication that we had fun!