A week long trip back home to California was a welcome way to spend Thanksgiving.
It was late Friday night when we arrived in Burbank. The 3 hour drive to Pismo was not making either one of us happy - but the shiny red convertible that Hertz so kindly upgraded us too definitely made the drive a little better. I was OK until about 2.5 hours into it - at that point I just wanted to be at the hotel. MomO was right, there was patchy fog driving up the coast it made the drive a little slower than anticipated. At least there was no traffic.
It was late Friday night when we arrived in Burbank. The 3 hour drive to Pismo was not making either one of us happy - but the shiny red convertible that Hertz so kindly upgraded us too definitely made the drive a little better. I was OK until about 2.5 hours into it - at that point I just wanted to be at the hotel. MomO was right, there was patchy fog driving up the coast it made the drive a little slower than anticipated. At least there was no traffic.
We were staying at the Sea Crest Hotel. We could hear the ocean from our room, but it wasn't until the morning that we saw our 180 degree ocean view! White water and palm trees painted the perfect picture off of our balcony. The Sea Crest is a real bargain, ocean view rooms with a large balcony were just over $100/night off season and about $20 more during peak season. The photo is the view from our room - imagine waking up to that every morning, it was hard to check-out.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In Pismo we ate plenty of Mexican food (Californian type Mexican food is very hard to find in NYC), enjoyed Mo's bar-be-que, and stuffed ourselves at F. McClintocks. F. McClintocks is a local steakhouse that features large portions and an amazing array of side dishes with every meal. The ranch potatoes are the best! Michael generously paid for dinner for everyone.
Aside from eating, we also enjoyed a wedding...some sunset photos from the wedding:
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Michael and KO, notice Michael's tie - he really wanted to be at the game. He was so happy when USC won!
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Jenn and Chris, Michael's sister and her boyfriend. His dad is a vet - I wish I lived closer to them! Chris is one of those rare people who enjoys his job and likes going to work everyday....hmmm. (Anyone from IOM reading this - of course I love my job and going to work everyday, I mean who doesn't?!)
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KO and Michael's family.
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Right up the road from Pismo, in Shell Beach, we visited the most bountiful tide pools I have ever seen in nature (Sea World tide pools don't count). The tide pools were filled with star fish in every shape and color, brilliant sea anemones, little crabs, and tons of barnacles.
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Can you see all of the starfish on the rocks?
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This sea anemone was bright, bright purple and green.
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Wide view of the tide pools, the tide was way out - so we had lots of places to look for tide pool creatures.
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More starfish, they almost look like fall leaves.
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KO and MW at the tide pools.
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Our last night in Pismo we watching a spectaular sunset. I rate it one of my top 3 sunsets ever. The sky was filled with color, pinks and purples and gold with the ocean reflecting all of the colors. Dophins decided to put on a show for us - they were jumping out of the water and playing right in the middle of it all.
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The sky was really this beautiful and this colorful.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Michael and his dad.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Michael's parents.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leaving Pismo we made a quick stop in Solvang - I needed my Dutch pastry fix. I loaded up on butter cookies and my favorite pastry the Dutch waffle. The Dutch waffle is two long pieces of flaky sugar coated pastry filled with whip cream and raspberry jam. One bite and you are hooked.
The rest of vacation was spent with the O family in San Bernardino. We had a huge home made Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. The weather was sunny and warm. Friday morning Mom and I managed to find a few great deals shopping.
As always vacation is too short - but it's always nice to be home. Now I feel like I am going home no matter which way I fly.
