We started out our trip driving down Pacific 1 Highway. It was BEAUTIFUL! I kept trying to capture the amazing coast, but it's hard to get in a moving car. 
We stopped for lunch San Louis Obispo just so we could visit this charming tourist attraction: Bubble gum Alley. That's right, all of the goop you see on those walls is gum. Old sticky gum. 
I proudly added to this great piece of art. I was just a little nervous about touching it, though. 
Our next stop was:
It was a little bit out of the way, but definitely worth the extra time in the car.
I guess I can add another food to my 'foods I'd never eaten before' list. 
In the evening we arrived at our destination for our first mini-vacation, Oxnard. My parents rented a house a block away from the beach. It was quick to walk (and even quicker to longboard) to enjoy the very beautiful sandy shore. I love, love, love the ocean!
While there we visited the Regan library. Here I am with the 40th president.
I thought it was funny that the gift shop sold 'Leninade'. The bottle says it's "surprisingly satisfying simple soviet style soda".
On the car ride to the library, my sister Carrie and I discovered how to use the color-swap setting on my camera. It made her a little depressed while it made me feel sick.
Every night Christian would take Kate to see the sunset on the beach. She loved watching the waves.
She especially loved the sand.
Among other things, we also visited Paramount ranch (where they used to film old westerns and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), 
went to Cafe Rio (please note the awesome Oxnard t-shirts my dad found at the pharmacy next door),
how to fish,
and how to sport a sombrero, 
We also toured the city in a surrey (my nephew Gabe kept calling it a Missouri). Don't worry, we didn't let these two drive it alone.
We stopped for lunch San Louis Obispo just so we could visit this charming tourist attraction: Bubble gum Alley. That's right, all of the goop you see on those walls is gum. Old sticky gum. 
I proudly added to this great piece of art. I was just a little nervous about touching it, though. 
Our next stop was: It was a little bit out of the way, but definitely worth the extra time in the car. I guess I can add another food to my 'foods I'd never eaten before' list. In the evening we arrived at our destination for our first mini-vacation, Oxnard. My parents rented a house a block away from the beach. It was quick to walk (and even quicker to longboard) to enjoy the very beautiful sandy shore. I love, love, love the ocean!
While there we visited the Regan library. Here I am with the 40th president.
I thought it was funny that the gift shop sold 'Leninade'. The bottle says it's "surprisingly satisfying simple soviet style soda".On the car ride to the library, my sister Carrie and I discovered how to use the color-swap setting on my camera. It made her a little depressed while it made me feel sick.
Every night Christian would take Kate to see the sunset on the beach. She loved watching the waves.
She especially loved the sand.
Among other things, we also visited Paramount ranch (where they used to film old westerns and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), went to Cafe Rio (please note the awesome Oxnard t-shirts my dad found at the pharmacy next door),and went to an amazing children's museum where Kate learned to drive,
how to fish,
and how to sport a sombrero, 
We also toured the city in a surrey (my nephew Gabe kept calling it a Missouri). Don't worry, we didn't let these two drive it alone.
Oh! I almost forgot! I checked two more goals off my list.
#3 is to go surfing and #16 is swim in the ocean. I'd done both before, but I wanted to do them again. My awesome brother-in-law took me surfing and I checked both off the list. Only 21 left to go.
After several days in Oxnard, it was off to Disneyland. There we met up with Christian's dad and his brother and sister, Michael and Kayla. They were there for a Karate tournament where they won lots of medals! Way to go guys!
Kate loved the carousel. When we walked past it, she would lean toward it with her hand reached out and say, "ma ma!". Once we put her on her seat she would start to bounce with excitement. There was one time she saw the carousel through the window in the line for the Pinocchio ride and started reaching for it.
Kate had a lot of fun with her uncle, aunt, and grandpa.
After that, it was on to mini-vacation number 3 where we met up with Christian's mom. My sister-in-law Katie works for Disney and so she got free passes and a sweet discount on food and merchandise for all of us. Here we are with everyone: Joe, Katie, Jennifer, Ken, and Cassie.
We spent one day in Universal Studios where Kate got eaten by a shark and I got to visit the Simpson Kwik-e-mart.
On our last day of the trip, Christian got to ride two rides he'd never ridden before, the canoes and the sailing ship. Every time we've to Disneyland they're either closed or we haven't made it in time before they shut down for the day (they stop sailing around 4). 
Kate had to wear a life jacket in the canoe. She liked it a lot more that I thought she would. She looks good in orange! 
Our final event was an Angels/Rockies baseball game. Kate had a great time. She danced to the music, made friends with the people sitting behind us, and even got to take home a rally monkey.
#3 is to go surfing and #16 is swim in the ocean. I'd done both before, but I wanted to do them again. My awesome brother-in-law took me surfing and I checked both off the list. Only 21 left to go.
After several days in Oxnard, it was off to Disneyland. There we met up with Christian's dad and his brother and sister, Michael and Kayla. They were there for a Karate tournament where they won lots of medals! Way to go guys!
Kate loved the carousel. When we walked past it, she would lean toward it with her hand reached out and say, "ma ma!". Once we put her on her seat she would start to bounce with excitement. There was one time she saw the carousel through the window in the line for the Pinocchio ride and started reaching for it.
Kate had a lot of fun with her uncle, aunt, and grandpa.
After that, it was on to mini-vacation number 3 where we met up with Christian's mom. My sister-in-law Katie works for Disney and so she got free passes and a sweet discount on food and merchandise for all of us. Here we are with everyone: Joe, Katie, Jennifer, Ken, and Cassie.
We spent one day in Universal Studios where Kate got eaten by a shark and I got to visit the Simpson Kwik-e-mart.On our last day of the trip, Christian got to ride two rides he'd never ridden before, the canoes and the sailing ship. Every time we've to Disneyland they're either closed or we haven't made it in time before they shut down for the day (they stop sailing around 4). Kate had to wear a life jacket in the canoe. She liked it a lot more that I thought she would. She looks good in orange! 
Our final event was an Angels/Rockies baseball game. Kate had a great time. She danced to the music, made friends with the people sitting behind us, and even got to take home a rally monkey. 
Mom, Dad, Emmy, Carrie, Brad, Gabe, Betsy, Chris, Kayla, Michael, Jennifer, Ken, Cassie, Katie, and Joe, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful vacation. It was so fun to see all of you. Kate is a lucky little girl to have so many wonderful people in her life.
If you've made it to this point, congratulations! You just read my longest blog post ever.
How fun for all of you! FYI, K was casually looking at a teaching job in San Luis Obispo.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so fun! I loved seeing all the quirky places you went to- I'll have to keep them in mind for when we venture out to california.
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