Month: June 2007

This is a continuation of my “To California” series… click here to read ‘Dining’.

Months ago when we were planning this little adventure, Jess scoured the web looking for good vacation rentals. We saw places in Monterey, in Carmel, in Santa Cruz, and all places in between. She wanted to be right on the ocean… that was her main goal. Eventually we found the place we did. We were a bit worried because on the website where she booked it, there were no pictures of the interior of the place. They were all exterior shots. The description said it had been remodeled recently, but who knows what that means. But the pictures of the outside looked good, so, what the hell. We gave it a shot.

Here we were

Now… this is RIGHT on the ocean. We pulled up in the rental car and were amazed at it’s location. It sits on a cliff about 50 feet above the beach and about 100 total feet from high tide. When I say we were close to the ocean, it’s not an exaggeration. More on that in a moment.

Continue reading “To California – Accomodations (or “California Sleepin’”… thanks George)”

Instead of doing the usual old simple chronological “this is what we did then” method of telling the story, I’m gonna go a different route. I’m going to do different categories instead. So, first up, is our dining adventures, although this will in fact be chronological… go figure.

Pleasure Pizza – Santa Cruz
Jess was all geeked up to hit this place. It is her favorite pizza joint in the world, so it was our first stop. After getting to Santa Cruz, we discovered that the place was just right up the street from us. So, we popped in for a slice. Lemme tell ya… it is good pizza. Highly recommended. But then again, I think I am addicted to pizza, so it has to be pretty bad for me to not like it (Papa John’s, I’m looking at you). This was right at pleasure point, and has a serious surfing motif. Boards and pictures everywhere. Nice old school feel.

Margaritaville – Capitola
We popped into what one might think as one of Jimmy Buffet’s signature chain bars. Where it has the same name, this one is not actually part of that chain. Apparently they were grandfathered in. Anyway, this was right on the beach, and in fact had water right out the back of the bar. It was a nice little joint, and we ordered a couple mojitos and had some chips and salsa. It was the nice start to the vacation.

Continue reading “To California – Dining”

As you might have noticed, I didn’t end up posting anything from lovely California while I was here. Sorry to keep any of you on the string thinking there might be daily updates and pictures.

Basically, it boils down like this. a.) we had very limited web access here at the house. The signal was spotty at best. The last thing I wanted was to have a whole post done that I couldn’t save because the network was down again. 2.) we’ve been busy. We have gone somewhere and done something every single day. We simply didn’t spend a lot of time just relaxing at the house. And, IV.) I just didn’t feel the urge to make the time. Easy as that.

Now, I think I have a good enough memory to recall everything we did… which will probably end up in a gigantic post of about 8000 words. With all the accompanying pictures, of course.

Coming soon to a blog near you.

We head home tomorrow. Leaving the splendor of the beach and 70 degree days for the hell that is the 90+ oven of Boise. Ugh. Why can’t vacation last forever?

Hello all. Coming to you from our little house overlooking the pacific. Surfers below us and blue skies above. It is beautiful.

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it save and sound, and we’re now a mojito and 2 beers in. All is right with the world.

I’m on a hijacked open network with a horribly weak signal here, so who knows how long this connection will last. But, while it’s up, I’m here. I’ve already got some good stories.

Back to relaxing!

Here is where we are… click on Satellite to get the full view.

Queue up the LL Cool J, because I am, indeed, goin back to Cali.

Specifically, Santa Cruz California. Jess is turning the big 3-0 next week and she wanted to spend a week down in her favorite place to celebrate. So, thats what we’re doing. She rented a beach house on a cliff overlooking the big blue Pacific for the whole week. Gonna be VERY nice.

I have been to the bay area a few times in the past few years, but we only went to Oakland. (That’s where the ex-laws were from) We never actually made it over to the nice part of the bay. I haven’t been to the San Fran/Carmel/Monterey area for 18 years. Not since the infamous spring break family trip all those years ago. I’ll have to write about that soon.

Anyway, we’ve got some plans. Monterey aquarium. Spend a day in the city and hit Alcatraz (I’ve never been) and various other sights. We’re gonna do a little sea kayaking off of Pebble Beach. And we’re gonna do a lot of relaxing. I haven’t been on a proper, relaxation-inducing vacation in a long time. Most of the time I travel, it’s to do things (go to Boise State games, for example). This time, the main goal is to just chill out mostly. Vodka-tonic-as-the-sun-goes-down kind of chillin. And let me tell you, I cannot wait.

Even better, we’ll have the laptop with us, so providing I can find internet access, I’ll be able to blog and post pictures from down there. Check back for updates.

See you upon my return, all relaxed and loose, one week from tomorrow!