Wow, ok, I honestly intended to be better about blogging this trip as it happened, but who knew how rediculous it would be to find free wifi in SoCal?! Ahh well, live and learn... and then let go.
When I left off last time we were staying in Monterey. The next morning we went on a serious coffee hunt. Apparently all of the coffee houses listed on the quaint Monterey Bay didn't exist! But in our search, we did see some seals chilling on the rocks, a whale/dolphin/shark drifting in the surf, and discovered that the state now charges $10 per car before they allow you on 17 Mile Beach drive. Eventually we did discover the Carmel Valley Coffee Company in Carmel-by-the-Sea. After caffienating heavily, we headed on down the coast, fighting fog and road work. We did find this amazing little beach to take a walk on and play in the surf a bit.
Further down the coast we kept encountering what we first thought was driftwood all over the beaches. Soon we discover that they're seals! This time of year, elephant seals beach themselves for day-long naps and molting their winter coats. These things were huge! Hundreds, possibly a thousand pounds each, and the beaches were piled with hundreds of seals. They were also incredibly smelly and made the rudest noises you've ever heard from an animal! Mom was overwhelmed by how many fish must have been in that area to sustain all of them. Adam loved that they all made Nestle's "bitey face".
We finally made it to the guest house in Arcadia around 8. Adam and I got the chance to hang out with Josh & Kiera Voelker (friends of mine from college), we hadn't seen each other in at least a couple years, so it was wonderful to catch up. We went to the Yard House, which is indeed famous for serving yard tall beers. They no longer serve them, but Adam did get an 18 incher, you can't tell real well from the picture, but he was uber-pleased!
On Friday, we met up with Dad's fam, coffee, shopping, etc. We found a computer desk and a new nightstand at Ikea (oh how I love Ikea)! That night we had dinner with the grandparents, Carole, Phil & the kids. Phil taught me how to make his cinnamon rolls (although I'm still going to need the recipe b/c he went so fast!). Yesterday, after dropping Mom & Dad off at their orientation, Adam and I found coffee and then got lost several times while searching for our lunch spot (the Yard House again!). We met with Adam's dad's brother & wife, and his dad's sister's 2 boys. Once again, had a great time. Their whole family has a gift for making people feel welcome. After our 3 1/2 hour lunch we headed back to pick up Mom & Dad and then met up with some of the leadership from the Chinese team for dinner. Are you getting the picture that we did a lot of eating on this trip? 'Cause it's very true. Today, we had breakfast with the grandparents and headed back to Ely. The temp was well over 100 in Vegas, but other than that, it was very tolerable.
Now I'm waiting for laundry to finish while Adam's giving the dog some TLC. Tomorrow, we re-pack our clothing and road food and head north for Adam's interview in Seattle on Wednesday. We were both surprised and relieved to learn that the drive from Ely to Seattle is only 13 hours, totally doable since we're breaking it up over two days each direction. We'd appreciate any and all prayers and positive thoughts for this interview. Everything we know about this company and Seattle itself makes us believe that this would be a perfect opportunity for us.
The only down-side to the timing of the interview is that Cassie & Marly are arriving tomorrow. They start work in Boise next Monday, so what had originally been hanging out for a week with them, will now be a day or two. Unfortunate, but unavoidable.
Ok, so wow, that's life, for now. Christian out.
1 comment:
So I was going to blog about this... which would be a first since I'm horrible about doing such things... but Cori already beat me to it, and pretty much everything I would have said she did. So... I'll comment instead and attempt to write a blog of my own at some point in the future.
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