Cali Trip, Part One

Kenny and I returned to New Orleans just before 1am on Sunday morning, and as soon as we stepped off the plane, we wondered when we could go back to the MUCH nicer weather! It really was a great trip; we had so much fun hanging out with our 4 CA relatives. We had a quiet night at their house on Monday night, celebrating Paul's birthday with Indian take-out for dinner and carrot cake for dessert. Both were surprisingly good!

Happy Birthday, Paul!

The next day Ken and I took off on our own to explore Half Moon Bay, CA, which is about an hour's drive away from Berkeley. It's a cute, small beach town. We hiked along the coast near the gorgeous Ritz Carlton resort, then headed to Barbara's Fishtrap for a yummy lunch of fish and chips. And, lo and behold, right across the street from our lunch spot was Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. Perfect! The beer was pretty tasty, and there were lots of different kinds to try.

Gorgeous flowers in front of the Ritz

Hiking, lunch, and beers

We stopped at a roadside produce stand on our way back to the house to pick up some fresh mangos (my new addiction these days) and strawberries and fresh potatoes and asparagus to contribute to the salmon Debbie had planned to bake for dinner. Delicious!

Wednesday we visited the Marine Mammal Center in Marin, and I have decided that I could be very happy working there. It is such a cool facility, and I even got to see a live necropsy on a sea lion. Not the greatest thing to watch, but of course I was interested and had to drag myself away to catch up with everyone else!

The Marine Mammal Center

After the Center, we tried to walk up to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, but it turned out it's only open to the public on weekends. Bummer. Instead we found a place for a chilly picnic lunch, and then headed to the really cute town of Mill Valley to window shop. We were fairly tired after our long day out, so we decided to forgo cooking and opted to try another brewery for dinner. This one is in downtown Berkeley, called Jupiter. Great atmosphere, great pizza, and great beer! What more could we ask for? :)

Beautiful views of the coast, but no visible lighthouse!

Picnic lunch near Point Bonita

Walking around Mill Valley

I'll post more on our last few days another night. Time to make dinner!