Trip to California

Ok folks, a lot has happened to our family in the last month.  As most of you already know, about 6 weeks ago Chris found out that his work was sending him to San Diego for the summer.  The ship he was working on in Washington was getting ready to go back out to sea, so he would need to continue his training down in San Diego for the time being.  We were shocked that he got those orders.  We knew there was a possibility for travel with this new job, but we just assumed it would be a couple years down the road and after he had completed his training before we traveled anywhere.  Wrong.  We were surprised, but we were also very excited.  Neither of us has been to San Diego before, and we've always liked to travel and have adventures.  So, we thought, "Yep, we're ready.  Bring it on!"  There were a few hiccups with the trip; first we were supposed to leave at the beginning of June, then that got postponed for a week.  And then that week turned into "we're not sure exactly when you're leaving," so we were just waiting and waiting.  And then we ended up losing the place we were going to rent to someone else, so we had to find another place, which was tough because we didn't even know when we were leaving.  Anyways, long story short, we finally got the ok to leave this last weekend and Chris's work ended up finding us another apartment.  So... here we are!

We've been in San Diego for 4 days, and so far so good.  There really isn't too much to report on yet.  We've just been busy unpacking, relaxing, getting a feel for the area, and enjoying being out of the car:)

The car trip down here was frustrating and tiring at times, but overall it was fun, gorgeous, and entertaining.  We decided to leave Friday night to get a few hours of the trip out of the way, since we wanted to have time to stop and see sites along the way.  So, somewhere near Portland, we decided to find a hotel to stay at for the night.  Um... every place we called and looked up online was booked solid.  Seriously?  Portland is a pretty big city, how could every hotel be booked?!!  Well, correction, the only places that were available were $1,200 a night!  A little steep for us, no matter how much we wanted a bed.  By about the 15th hotel we called, we asked why every place was booked; apparently there was a Jehovah Witness convention in town and they had claimed every hotel.  So, we had no choice but to press on... Haha, of course, before we could move on, I had to make an emergency bathroom stop (I tried to hold it until we arrived at our hotel, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, Lol).  We took one of the first exits off the highway, which had no gas stations in sight.  So we kept driving deeper and deeper into some sketchy neighborhood, until we finally found one of the only places that was open that late at night... it was a bar.  So, I ran into this bar (in my pajamas, since that's what I decided to wear on the late night car ride to be comfortable), past a drunk guy singing karaoke, and all the other drinking patrons.  Haha, at least they were drunk, so they didn't care what I was wearing or doing.  And for all you family shaking your head at this part of the story, have no fear.  It is over, we survived, and we are already laughing about it:)  Anyways, so back to our Friday night, which is pushing midnight at this point.  We decide to drive to the next town about an hour away, and I'm calling hotels along the way, and they are all also booked up!  So, we drive to the next town.  But same thing, they are all booked up.  Apparently, the track and field Olympic trials were in town, and we were told every hotel within a 100 mile radius was booked.  Ugh!!  Well, they lied.  It was actually a 150 mile radius (trust us, we called every hotel we could find in Oregon, along highway 5).  We finally pulled off at a rest stop right before 4 am, to get a little nap in.  And we weren't the only ones stuck without a hotel; the rest stop was packed with cars.  We got about an hour of shut eye, then decided to hit the road again.  From there we drove straight to San Jose, CA, where we found a hotel for the night and we crashed!!  (Crashed on the bed and fell asleep fast and hard, not "crashed" as in a car wreck.  Haha, there was no wreck besides our heads hitting our pillows).  After 12 hours of sleep, we hit the road again.  We drove to Monterey, CA (which is right on the coast and BEAUTIFUL!) where we stopped for lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp (so fun).  Then we hit highway 1, and drove all the way down the coast of California.  It was such a gorgeous drive!!  I highly recommend everyone do that drive at least once in your life.  We drove a little past Santa Barbara (which was actually pretty smokey because of a wild fire nearby) and stopped again for the night.  The next day, we finally arrived in San Diego!  The trip was fun, even with all the frustrating moments we had.  We built some wonderful memories and are very excited about this fun time in our lives.

Packing for our trip!  Haha, he was very upset when I made him get out so I could put clothes in the suitcase.

Beautiful mountains in southern Oregon.

Check out this pretty lake in the Oregon mountians!

Enjoying the view in Monterey, CA.  I wish we had more time to explore Monterey.  It was such a cute, beachy, adorable town.

Here is Mitchell mid jump.  Haha, I think he was excited to be out of the car and stretch his legs.

He did not want to leave the pier.

Eating lunch at Bubba Gump's.  Well, Duncan just ate his fingers, but the rest of us enjoyed our lunch:)

Haha, Mitchell was more impressed with the plate/boat his food came in than with the shrimp itself.  Lol!

Driving down the California coast on hwy 1 - so gorgeous!!

Hello Pacific!

I really mean it when I say pictures do not do these views justice.

So happy to be out of the car!

Because he had been so good on the trip so far, Mitchell was rewarded with a Star Wars watch.  He was so excited to show it off!

Haha, I think he liked looking at his new watch more than the great view behind him.

Driving over and through the cliffs.

My handsome boys, enjoying the sunshine.

I think California looks good on us:)

Who could complain about this fantastic view?!

We could almost just reach out and touch the water!

Water as far as the eye can see.

Ah, refreshing.

So pretty.

We had to stop and see the Elephant Seals laying on the beach.

Love his squinty, sunshiney smile!

Haha, still crazy excited about his new watch.  He deserved it, he was so great on the trip!  Even when we had to sleep in our car the first night, Lol!

As soon as we got into our apartment and unloaded our stuff, I told Mitchell he could now spread out and relax.  Haha, for some reason he decided to relax in Duncan's car seat.  I guess he was just so used to being in the car:)

Of course we didn't waste any time in trying out the Mexican food around here.  Holy Huge Batman!  And DELICIOUS!

At least someone enjoyed the packing process:)

Listening to the waves and watching the Elephant Seals fight play (we told Mitchell they were playing:).

I love watching them play together!  They both liked being out of the car for a night; stretching out on the bed and running around our hotel.  Love those giggles!

Just playing around in our new place on our first day.