California Dreaming

So the end of August and first part of September, we flew to California for our second honeymoon.

In case you missed an earlier blog, we've been married 20 years.

We flew into San Diego and got a convertible mustang to drive up the coast.

I think this was the first true vacation that we took.  Something that was longer than a few days and Jim wasn't attached to a ship.  Over a week of just the two of us.

What bliss!

Of course we took the windy road up to see the Hollywood Sign.  You can't get too close.  And those sharp turns freaked me out.  Not Jim's driving, mind you, just the blind turns.

And we HAD to stop at the USS IOWA.  Years ago when we were in Rhode Island we came across the IOWA and were able to touch her hull.

I had never been to California, so I turned to all the Navy wives out there what to do.  I got a plethora of answers.  Some helpful.  Some not so much.  There's so much you can do in 7 days.

We went to Hearst Castle, because SO many people told me we should.  And it was AWESOME!  We did the basic tour.  Holy moly!  There were tons of other tours, but like I said we wanted to see other things as well.

I'm sure a few of the things I told Jim that I wanted to see surprised him, but he was a great sport.  We stopped at a Mission in Santa Barbara.  Just a quick peek around and a few pictures.

 We also visited the Winchester Mystery House.  Photography is not allowed inside so this one shot we got of the house will have to be all we take with us.

I think my favorite stop along the way was San Francisco.

We stayed in a fantastic hotel!  We rode the trolley cars (mark that off my bucket list), went to Fisherman's Wharf and had dinner there.  We also had the BEST Irish Coffee ever!  At a place called Buena Vista.  Would have never known about this if we hadn't struck up a conversation with a total stranger.  Now that was serendipity!

I honestly wish we'd had more time for San Francisco.

And I had to get a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.  What a foggy morning that was!

We also visited The Bay Model after we crossed the bridge.  Something we had both seen on Mythbusters and thought it would be cool to actually visit.  And it was!

We went to two wineries in Sonoma County and two wineries in Napa, but that is for another blog all together!

We headed up to the Yosemite National Park area, but due to the fires we were unable to go into the park.

We did stop at the Toiyabe Motel, which a friend recommended.  So very cool!  Even though I was freaked out a bit, because we were driving further and further into forested areas and it was getting dark.  At some point we lost cell coverage.  What an adventure!

We headed back to San Diego a few days before we were going to fly back home.  We thought it would be a good way to decompress and maybe wander a bit more.

We strolled past the Hotel Del.  Never went in though.  Ate yummy food.  And just drove around a lot.

All in all a great trip!

And I would so do it again!