Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
All in Vacation
Having had a few full days, we were ready for a less hectic one. We checked out this year's Downey entry to the Tournament of Roses Parade, then down to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The best way to end the day was with a New Year's Eve dinner.
An uneventful morning was just fine with us, as we checked out of the hostel and went to Griffith Park. At the end of the day it was time to celebrate my dad's birthday again at Dal Rae.
Monday started with a rude awakening, but most of the rest of the day was spent in Los Angeles at LACMA and the Farmers Market
Having finished making mochi, it was time to venture to other parts of Los Angeles to give Noël a taste of the surrounding area. First on the agenda was The Getty Museum, followed by Santa Monica.
Our usual New Year's trip to the Los Angeles area had a twist this year; Kellen and his fiancé Noël went along with us. Kellen had an opportunity to meet her family about a year ago, so turnabout is fair play.
On the day we traveled home, we had a couple extra hours to walk around the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens.
Our last full day in Santa Cruz, and we decided to take it more slowly than the previous days. We went to the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum in the morning, wandered around the downtown area for lunch and early afternoon, then walked down to the Boardwalk for the late afternoon.
After spending the previous afternoon along the ocean, it was time to head inland towards Felton to go to the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and the Roaring Camp Narrow-gauge Railroad.
After spending the morning in Saratoga and taking my mom to the airport, we drove down to Santa Cruz and walked around the water for the rest of the afternoon. It was a nice introduction to the city.
Melody and I are taking a quick trip to the Bay Area, in two parts. The first is in Santa Clara/San Jose where we met up with my mom for the first part so we could visit family and friends. After mom flew home, we started on the second part by driving down to Santa Cruz.
Melody and I took a quick day trip to Bainbridge Island last weekend. It was the first time I'd been there, and was a fun getaway.
Not only were we leaving Austin this day, we also left Texas. On the way to San Antonio, however, we went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to spend a couple hours.
Our only full day in Austin was spent around downtown Austin. We saw the Texas State Capitol and the LBJ Library in the morning, the University of Texas at Austin in the afternoon, and met a friend of Celeste's for dinner
Another travel day for us. We started by going to the top of Enchanted Rock and ended with a short walk in downtown Austin.
It was time to explore beyond San Antonio, so we went to Johnson City and Stonewall to visit the LBJ National Historical Park, as well as the LBJ ranch. Afterwards, we spent the night in Fredericksburg, a town which has a definite German influence.
Friday was Mission day. Having already visited The Alamo, we headed south to see more, then the San Antonio Museum of Art in the afternoon
Having had such as busy Wednesday, we only had a couple main destinations for Thursday: the San Antonio Botanical Garden and the McNay Art Museum.
Neither Melody nor I have been to Texas, so this year we took the opportunity to visit her sister Celeste in San Antonio. Later in the week we plan on driving to Fredericksburg and Austin. Melody's mom Jean came along, too.
Our last full day in Portland, and the rain finally caught up with us. Fortunately it was more of a sprinkle than anything else.
Another day in Portland. After breakfast, we double-checked the latest weather forecasts and made rough plans for the day.
