We Got More Bounce in California

aka, California Trip part 2
On the way to the coast, we drove through the vineyards of Paso Robles and decided we'd try our luck at a few wineries to see if they had any good grape juice. We picked a random winery based completely on its appearance.

Who knew you could combine beavers and a Tuscan setting? It worked, somehow.


Success! They did in fact have their own grape which came in a real wine bottle and was absolutely delicious. We drank it as we drove down the highway, and snickered at the idea of a cop pulling us over because he thought we were drinking and driving. (Sadly, it never happened.)

Picking some grapes...

We tried another winery. This one looked like an English fortress.

I found a temporary, new boyfriend.

Kurt found a flaming, golden hawk. We did not find any good grape juice.
That night we made it to Big Sur, where we camped among the redwoods. For dinner, we took some of those tuna meals on the go, and headed over to the beach to enjoy the sunset.


Kurt liked a little boy when he was walking around in the water. It was cute. :)

Everyone there was taking pictures. It was pretty funny. It was also a gorgeous, scenic beach, and we were no exception to the rule.
Kurt decided to play with his continuous shot feature on his camera:














Another picture of Kurt looking like a little boy.
The next day was spent in Moneterey and Santa Cruz, and for some reason I seem to be missing those pictures... that stinks, because I think they were my favorite part on the trip. I finally got to see Sea Lions! And I attempted to swim in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, it was a foggy, windy day and so I only made it in up to my thighs, but I have now been in the both of the oceans. Yes. We ventured in-land about an hour to camp at Big Basin, which is another redwood forest. It's where they filmed the Ewok part of Return of the Jedi, and it was absolutely gorgeous.
The next morning we woke up and headed for San Fran! We headed down to Fisherman's Wharf where we got the very appropriate meal of In 'n Out Burgers. :D I finally got some! I love that place. And don't even worry, because we ate there in Napa Valley, and on our way through Reno on the way home. :D We wandered around Fisherman's Wharf, including the really fun mechanical museum, and then decided to head over to Fremont, where we'd be staying with some more of Kurt's old investigators, the Barnes. On the way we stopped at the Oakland Temple, which does not have an Angel Moroni, and checked out some sculpture exhibit at the visitors' center. I'd never met the Barnes before, but they were awesome and we had a great time with them. They took us to an Indo-Pak restaurant where we all ordered WAY too much food and completely gorgoued ourselves. Then we played Guitar Hero until it was time to go to bed. The next morning we went to church and after, Kurt and I had to take off. We said goodbye to Jim, Bonnie, and the kids, and headed back over to San Fran, where the Irvine's had booked a night for us at their timeshare. The first thing we did when we got to the hotel was to watch a movie and veg out. It felt good to be by ourselves not in a tent... basically, the first time in over a month. Then we decided to wander over to China Town, which was only a block away.

The entrance to China Town. Ain't no thang.

There was a sweet festival going on, and so China Town was very lively. We got some sweet free t-shirts, and watched the Chinese vendors try and tempt the Americans to try moon cakes, which are a pastry with a fermented egg in the middle. Kurt got duped into one on his mission. Very gross.

We then decided to try and find Little Italy (of course!) and on the way we found this! For a low price, you could get your IQ and personality test!

We found Little Italy and we may or may not have broken the sabbath for some delectable Italian desserts...

Kurt thought this was funny.
The next morning we headed over to Sacramento, where we'd be staying with some of our BYU friends. On the way, we took a detour thorugh Napa Valley. People in Napa Valley take their wine and wineries very seriously, and I think they put as much effort into their buildings and appearance as they do into their wine. I mean, check it out:

And Napa Valley is gorgeous:

But Napa Valley also kinda sucks because everyone there is way stuck up, and no one does grape juice. We had to go to a store to find some. Oh well.
Once we were in Sacramento, we found the sweetest street sign ever:

And then we made it to the Redds! Heather and Stephen were in our ward last year at BYU and they just moved out to Sacramento for Stephen to go to law school. Stephen didn't get home until 10:30, hence why I am already in my pajamas at dinner time. I wanted to be comfy.


One last pic before we took off the next morning! Thanks Stephen and Heather for letting us stay! We then headed back home to Utah, and Kurt had time for one last artistic picture:

Yay for Utah sunsets. :D And that, my friends, is California in a week.