Chaff and Grain: Coastal Trip

The photographer in me wants to pull my favorite photos from our trip (there are more than 400 of them), edit them, and make them smaller for a blog/internet. But I then realized that no one will ever see them if I wait to do that cause it will never happen. So here's a few of our favorite:

First up was breakfast at Sambos in Santa Barbara, then a walk on the pier.

Then we found "Kid's World" - a playground nestled in suburban Santa Barbara - that was much more than a playground. I think dad had as much fun as the boy. We ran and played til baby crashed!

From there we drove to Pismo. Good memories on this beach from camping when I was a kid.

Last stop of the day, Avila Beach Pier. Cool site.

Spent the night at Apple Farm, our favorite San Luis Obisbo hotel. The next day, we drove to see the elephant seals near Hearst Castle. Not sure Audy got what we were seeing...he like the dogs people had more than the fat things on the beach, but we enjoyed seeing them again.

As we headed back to the 101, we saw all these cars stopped on the side of the road. Curious, we pulled off too...and found ZEBRAS grazing just next to the road. Random. Must be from Hearst's collection. Audric knew what these were and was impressed.

The drive back to the 101 was SO beautiful. We would do this one again. I think it's Hwy 46, but a friend told me it's called Lost Hills Road. Green, rolling hills with a view of Morro Bay and the ocean...my photos don't do it justice (I was too awestruck to reset my camera!)

Baby slept a good 2.5 hours before waking up screaming "all done!" So we found a park to run some energy off at.

Where? Who knows. It was fun until Jason said he felt like there were some "deals going down" so we jumped back in the car quickly. Baby was rejuvenated

Next stop was San Fran to see our friends Jenni and Steve. They have a gorgeous apartment, that Audy dutifully destroyed. The next day we headed to a park in Golden Gate Park and to Pier 39. So much fun.

We left San Fran that afternoon and headed north over the bridge (my first time!) to Napa.

We met our friends Brittnie and Rajeev there and they showed us around town, fed us delicious Indian food, and let us sleep in their enormous bed. The next day we went to a winery. Audric and I weren't as impressed as everyone else was (wineries aren't the same when you can't drink!), but the views were impressive and we enjoyed ourselves.

Then we went to Castle Amorosa. A wealthy man built a castle for his wife...an authentic castle. Here's Audy in the confession booth - obviously guilty!