Hitting the open road!

Brody and I have been wanting to take a road trip up the coast for a long time now, and we finally got to do it this summer and it was such a blast!! Brody had some accounts along the way, so he made a few stops on the first day (which is fun for me, I like seeing where his accounts are), and the rest of the week was pure vacation time! We had allot of places we wanted to see, so we didn't book our next nights stay until the night before, in case we wanted to change plans and explore somewhere else. Because of the budget I set for our trip, Priceline and Hotwire became my best friends! I LOVE Hotwire! We used that for most of the trip and got some REALLY great deals!! I highly recommend it! =)

The trip ended up being all that we hoped it would be and so much more! We got to see Brody's cousin Cindy and her husband Brett. We all went out to dinner at this great BBQ restaurant called 'The Back Forty', it was sooo good---and it was really great to see them again!---and bond with their cute dog! =) Thank you again for a fun night!!

I ended up taking over 500 photos in our time away, and I just picked some at random to post (not necessarily the best ones). Here are a couple highlights of our trip. I realize it's a VERY long post (but at lest I didn't post all of our photos...because I love them all)! =)
We found this street sign in Ventura after leaving an account of Brody's
Santa Barbara: We stopped off to have lunch and go to the Peace Store. A really cute store that my sister introduced me to! =)

This is a restaurant by Pismo Beach that my family has gone to several times over the years. It is such a funky place, we just love it!

Some places give you some bread to start off with when you sit down...but not AJ's, they give you a big pot of stew...it is the best! I could go for some right now! =)
We got some BIG Shirley Temples....
A shot of the inside....it is complete with animal heads on the walls, antler lighting fixtures...the works! (As far as the type of restaurant...I guess you could call it a steak house.)

The first night we stayed in San luis Obispo, and came across the Mission, which was fun to see.



Brody reading up on the Mission bells
This was our motel for the first night. It looked pretty cool with the thick morning fog just starting to burn off.
At one of our "vista stops" along the drive---and our fearless Murano!
Hearst Castle:

We didn't feel like going on the almost two hour tour where they bus you up to the house and guide you through it...
...so we looked at it through this telescope, which for us, was just as good! =) (this photo was taken through the telescope)
The Elephant Seal Beach:
(the seal was alive, even though he sort of looks otherwise...we saw him breathing) =)
There was a lady telling us about the seals and how they are all males (the females and baby's were here about 3 weeks before us) here to shed there skin and then they will move on. They were all flicking sand up on them to stay cool, it was pretty funny! We have video of it. =)

It was pretty cold and really windy!
Pebble Beach:
Brody has been here for a golf tournament, and he was so excited to show me around. It was gorgeous, I loved it!! We are excited to go back some day and play it.

Spanish Bay:
He also showed me Spanish Bay another golf course just beyond Pebble. It was just as beautiful! We got here JUST in time to see the guy who comes out at 6pm to play the bagpipes! It was so neat to sit by the water at a beautiful golf course and listen to the music...and this huge deer came out on the course that had the biggest set of antlers I have seen. It was so cool.

Monterey:
This was my favorite place we stayed. It was a very cute little beach side motel.

We ended up being in Monterey the same time there was a big bike race going on. This was a line up out side the Denny's we ate at. Looks like what you would see out side a bike shop, huh?
The Monterey Aquarium!!
I think Otters are the cutest...so Brody took this, because I am "Wild about Otters" =)
A swimming Otter

This tank was huge!! It had diffrenet kinds of sharks and some schools of fish, it was so fun to stand there and watch them all.
Just outside the aquarium...(you will see that sometimes people were so nice and offered to take photos for us) =)

Brody and a really big fish! ...We had so much fun at the aquarium, we just love them!!
Lunch at Bubba Gump. I had to take this at a funny angle because they moved the bench back about 2 feet or so from the shoes---but it turned out pretty cool =)
Our drinks came with glasses that have flashing lights at the bottom---they gave us brand new ones at the end to take home.

Fishermans Wharf in Monterey
The fortune telling...thing, from the movie 'Big' with Tom Hanks. Good thing Brody didn't do the oposite and wake up 12yrs old or something! =)

We got to the wharf just in time to take a glass bottom boat tour of the bay.
And next to the boat was this REALLY cute otter that was munching on a crab! It was so fun to see. For the rest of the trip I ended up reffering to him as "the real otter", as opposed to the "fake" ones in the aqarium I guess =)
Getting on the boat

The view from the bottom of the boat

We saw a pack of seals swimming and jumping in the water by us. It was amazing to see all the wild life in action.

This guy looks pretty proud, huh? =)

Us with the wharf behind
Santa Cruz:
We ended up spending Saturday on the Santa Cruz board walk---were we spent some time on the beach, rides, the pier, and shopping!
Us on the Sky Glider (I think it was called). It took us from one end of the board walk to the other.
The Great Dipper. One of the oldest coasters, it was a little rough, but really fun to be on a coaster that is right on the beach!

These bumper cars were the best!! You could get spinning pretty fast and when you hit someone going at a good speed, they would bounce off your car pretty far. =) We went on them twice.

When it warmed up, we hit the beach!!



Santa Cruz was SO much fun, we loved it!! It made us excited to see what Santa Monica is like.

After a long hot day in the sun, there is nothing like a good ice cream cone from Mc.Donalds!
Half Moon Bay (Mavericks surf spot): After church on Sunday we went to Half Moon Bay, which at some points in the year is a pretty big surf spot! =) It was so pretty!
This is a "half moon" planter.

It was pretty flat, but it was still really fun to stop by!


Our Lama friend. Ears back means he likes us, right? ; )
This is a really cute fruit and vegi stand on our way out of Half Moon.
Pleasenton:
We were lucky enough to be able to see a couple from our ward, the Halls, who are in Northern CA for the summer---and go golfing! It was great to be out on the course again!! And it was great to spend some more time with them and contunie to get to know them better! We had a great time. (Brody and Mike Hall)
Mike



This course was so beautiful! We started at close to 6pm and played until after 8pm (I think), and got 9 holes in!
Mike and his Dad

Brody and Mike

On the 8th hole Brody, with out even trying, drove the green...and yes, that is where his ball landed after his first shot! It was so exciting!! (you can see it there just to the left of the flag) He played SO well that day, it was really fun!!

It's always golf time!! =)
It's hard not to post more photos and such. We had such an amazing time! It was so fun take our time and explore up the coast, it felt like a little honeymoon. It was a trip we will never forget!! =)
PS- Lot's more photos from the trip at Brodyandann.com