California trip

So the last few weeks went by quickly. Things got so busy and hectic I forgot about posting anything! Well, here are the events of the last week...

Last Thursday school was released for the summer, the very next day Ally and I set out for California. We stopped in Highland for the night (I know, real far, huh?). Saturday morning we were up early and on the road, headin' for Templeton, CA. We reached our target place in just thirteen hours. Holy cow, that was a long drive. We did get to meet some friends for lunch in St. George, and we had a few fuel stops, but other than that we drove until we got there.

On Sunday we were able to attend church with our friend, Tammy. Then we drove out to Morro Bay. That was an interesting place, there we learned that the rock in Morro Bay is a monolith, meaning that the whole thing is one huge piece. We also got to see a seal there. At first we thought it was dead, but it moved. Poor thing, it was probably on it's way out.

Tuesday we started the four hour road trip to San Diego. Tammy drove us down the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped at Malibu State Beach and the Point Vincente Lighthouse, which helped us turn a four hour drive into something closer to six hours. We met some friends at our hotel that night and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Wednesday we ate breakfast with the same group. After a wonderful breakfast we set out to see San Diego. We checked out the downtown historic post office (I had to mail a package), and walked to the Gaslight District. Since that wasn't all that exciting we took a cab out to Harbor Drive and spent the afternoon touring the USS Midway, and aircraft carrier recently retired from the US Navy. It has been turned in a museum, with planes, helicopters, and tours and lectures given by vets, some of whom served on the Midway, and many who served in the Navy. It was fantastic! That night we saw Glenn Beck's stage show at Symphony Hall.

Thursday we slept in, and ate another great breakfast at the hotel. We went to the Cabrillo National Monument, which has the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in it (pic above). Ally was pretty happy. It was a beautiful place, and we were able to see lots of ocean, and a great view of San Diego. From there we went to the San Diego Temple. I got to do a session and Ally and Tammy wandered the temple grounds and talked to the missionaries. I love that temple! It has beautiful staircases, and I loved seeing the atrium in the middle of the building. Amazing. On the way home we stopped at a great Mexican restaurant somewhere in the LA area.

Friday we went to Avila beach, after sleeping in. We milled about there awhile, waded in the water, and checked out some tide pools. We also walked the pier, watched the pelicans, and bought some amazing strawberries at the farmer's market there. That night we ate Santa Maria barbecue, a smoke cooked tri-tip topped with salsa. Mmm!

Saturday we drove to Michele's house. Another really long drive. I am so glad that we chose to rent a car. We got a 2010 Toyota Camry. That made the drive much more comfortable and it was nice knowing that we didn't have to worry as much about car trouble. Some of the other drivers we saw were enough stress for us.

Well, we are home safe now, even though we both kinda wish we were still in California...