2016 California Road Trip: Part 2

From San Francisco, our road trip continued down the beautiful California coast to Monterey Bay and through Cannery Row.

Happiness found at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Close encounters with friendly penguins,

No filter.

See ya later, Monterey!

We continued our drive down scenic Hwy 1 and enjoyed the rain and rainbows! 

Sleepyhead missing Big Sur.

Elephants seals on the side of the highway!

 

 Hello, San Simeon!

 View from our cheap lodging, not bad.

Next stop, Hearst Castle!

Due to the drought, the normally gorgeous "Neptune" pool was drained, too bad. 

Chilly and quite misty on the hilltop as well, which is rare for the usually sunny location.

Inside the Grand Rooms.

 

 Love the indoor "Roman" pool.

Z really wanted to jump in!

View from the bus heading back down the hill from the Castle. 

Following the castle tour, we continued our drive further south and hopped out of the car in Morro Bay to snag a picture of Morro Rock.

Also that same day, made a stop in Solvang, a cute Danish Village in Santa Barbara County.

Eating Danish treats at the local bakery, of course.

Several windmills around town, very cute.

After spending the night at the Navy Lodge in Port Hueneme near Ventura, we made a few touristy stops in L.A. before heading home. First stop, the Santa Monica Pier.

 Next up, the Natural History Museum of L.A. County next to USC and the Coliseum.

Dinosaur bones, Z's favorite!

 

 Finally, an impromptu stop at the Irvine Spectrum. Hello, Orange County!

Z wants to know when we're going on our next road trip!

Final destination: back home to Camp Pendleton! Thank you Lord for protecting us and sharing your beautiful creations with us!

2016 California Road Trip: Part 1

2016 started off with a bang! First, on New Year's Day, L and Z attended the famous Rose Parade in Pasadena to watch A march with the Marine Band again, his 4th time in the parade!

Front rank, as usual!

Our view on the parade route.

One of Z's favorite floats.

Proud of her daddy!

While in Pasadena, we even got to celebrate the 1st birthday of Z's adorable Greek 2nd cousin Yianni. Thanks to A's cousins for hosting us on New Year's Eve!

From Pasadena also on New Year's Day, we embarked on a little family vacation to Central California, and stayed two day with L's relatives in Oakdale. L and her Aunt Sara.

Z going for a ride with 2nd cousin Everett.

Also in Oakdale, we visited L's cousin and her hubby who own a lovely property with all sorts of animals! 

The guys feeding the goats.

 Walking through the nature preserve behind their property.

 

Loving on one of the kitties, who camouflaged with his coat.

Z loved Great Aunt Sara's foxy.

Thank you, Aunt Sara and Uncle Alan, for a great time and being such wonderful hosts! We can't wait to see you again!

Next, we drove to Burlingame and stayed with long-time family-friends, just outside of San Francisco. A big thanks to Greg and Lynne for hosting us and giving us an enjoyable time! 

Z with "Auntie Lynners." 

We made a whole day outing into San Francisco and it was a blast!

Beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands.

Discovered a fun park off of Haight-Ashbury. Also made sure to visit the Amoeba Records store.

Drove all over downtown, Chinatown, and Lombard Street, of course.

Visiting the National Cemetery in the Presidio.

 Strolling through Fisherman's Wharf.

 Classic cable car.

 

Loving the rain.

Z kept wanting to see the animals in the Rainforest Cafe in the Wharf area.

These seals smell better than the ones on Pier 39. 

 

We met up with L's cousin Leeann and her fiance Jed, who also live in the City. Yummy sourdough bread bowls for dinner at Boudin Bakery!

 Leeann's apartment, only two block away from Fisherman's Wharf!

What a fun day in San Francisco!

We took some many pictures that the rest of this trip will continue in the next post!