Unexplored Territory

As we headed down to Monterey, we decided to check out the bustling town of Santa Cruz. There was a popular bookstore downtown that we wanted to check out since all our bookstores in our area closed down. It was such a nice town and we thoroughly enjoyed checking out the shops. I told Matthew that it reminded me of our college town area, Telegraph Ave, but it's definitely not as dingy and more upscale.

Great friends and travel companions, Shawna and her parents

Got some snacks here at this very popular deli

Dinner here

We stayed in this hotel in Pacific Grove. We never stayed in this city before. It was quite beautiful and quaint. Our traveling companions generously used their points to pay for it. It was comfortable but rustic. It reminded me of Mt Hermon campgrounds. It had keys to the rooms. Real keys... not the familiar sliding electronic key cards. Unfortunately, the hotel did not find our reservations and they were fully booked this long weekend.  They offered us the 'manager's room'. He actually left his office to vacate his room. The hotel frantically found another room for our friends at another hotel a few minutes away. It only had a king bed and no available rollaways so Willie had to sleep on the floor. I felt so bad for him. He wasn't feeling well on top of that either.

Our room with King and two rollaways.

We ventured to explore the coast so we stopped and checked out the Reserve near our hotel after we checked out. The water was rough but it was clear and gorgeous.

The girls climbed down to the rocks. Not me... bad knee remember?

Willie ventured out with the kids too.

The girls got caught when the tide rushed in and had to 'jump' over some water in between the rocks.

One of thing I noticed that if your view is the ocean, you sure need floor to ceiling windows. We saw tons of beautiful homes filled with humongous windows!

We indulged in some teppanyaki(one of Willie's favorite) for lunch.

I tried to catch it but it hit my nose instead.

After lunch, we walked it off on the beach at the Wharf.

Emily running away from her daddy taking pictures of her. She took (or told her Daddy to take) many pictures of her favorite things: birds.

I didn't know what this was.. until it came up for air.

Now does this look like a 'real' otter to you? We aren't sure if it is a real one, a fake one or just kelp/seaweed.

Brown Pelicans

We dropped by a Farmer's Market on the way home. Even got 4 avocados for $1; 5 artichokes for $1.. what a bargain!

Had to take a picture of this when I passed it. A dear reader lives here! You are a very lucky, my dear friend, to live in such a beautiful area! Serenity at it's best! Thought of you as we passed by!