Soaking in the California sun

Its about time I update you all on what we’ve been doing lately. The last week couple weekends have been so fun. We really try and get out on the weekends whenever we can because during the week we have to stick around Stockton in case any of Gabe’s techs need anything. Last weekend we were planning on driving out to Yosemite. Its been something that we’ve really been wanting to do, but the weather has not been very good, so once warm weather was in the forecast we jumped on the opportunity. We hopped in the car and typed the address into the GPS and we were set to go. Once we saw that it would take us over 3 hours to get there it didn’t seem so fun anymore so we ended up changing our plans. Gabe installed in a city called Sonora, which he said had a really pretty lake so we headed there. Sitting and dipping our feet sounded very relaxing!


The road trip was nice, we drove along the agriculture fields guessing which kind of tree was which, I was always wrong… Except I do have the grape vineyards down by now, they are EVERYWHERE! The town was pretty, it was in a more mountainous area of California and the overlook of the lake was nice, but there wasn’t anywhere that the public could walk down to it so we just pulled up to one of the docking areas and sat and looked at it for a while until we got bored. We drove into town where the historic old main street was and walked up and down the street. It went a little like this: antique store, antique store, clothing store, restaurant, antique store, saloon. Repeated over and over again. The folks of Sonora must really love their antiquing! I was really excited when I saw the first antique store, it was filled with little random trinkets, old card games, lots and lots of china, antique clothing (I would never ever ever buy an antique bra, but apparently some do), military memorabilia, doilies, collectable toys and the list goes on. The first couple antique stores were interesting, but then after so many, you start to get sick of the musty smell and all the sudden china isn’t so exciting anymore.

They were interesting people in Sonora. Because of all the saloons, there were a lot of drunkards. And older antiquing folk of course. There was a band playing in the park and although we tried to keep from looking too much, it was hard to miss the woman wobbling around in her baggy clothing pouring her water bottle over her head. Yep, she was there when we came out of the candy store so we booked it as she tried to call out to us for help. And… our time in Sonora quickly came to an end. We had a really really fun time though, despite of our experience, and I would do it over and over again. I LOVE the memories!!

Since our first lake experience failed, we wanted to go and find another lake. We drove out about 5 minutes and found one except there wasn’t any way for people to walk down to the edge of it so we stood on the bridge and took pictures anyways.
(sorry about the sideways pictures, I couldn't fix them so I'll attempt another time)

This last weekend we went out to Monterey and Carmel. I have heard a lot about the place and how beautiful it was so I’ve been itching to go there for a while now. People were right, it sure was beautiful! It was like a perfect balance between ocean/beach and camping/hiking. I cannot wait to get back out there again! Like are like a bazillion pictures to share with you, but I couldn’t resist posting them all because it was just so pretty.

This was the first beach that we visited and my personal favorite. We saw it on the way to where we were going and pulled over to the side of the road and found it. The sand was pretty rough and pebbly, and it made your feet hurt, but I liked it because there weren't very many people there and the waves were huge and the color of the water was beautiful. I could sit there all day and listen to the waves crash.

The beach is Gabe's happy place. He had such a big smile on his face when we first caught glimpse of it.

Below is where Im telling the ocean to "bring it on". Gabe told me that these waves were the kind that pull you into the ocean if you stand too far into it, so I was afraid to stick my feet in.

Next stop was Point Lobos Natural Reserve. It was a foresty park with lots of trails leading off to look offs and really pretty views. There was one trail that I knew I wanted to go on, the China Cove. It was supposedly a little secluded beach that lots of people had said was prettier than beaches they'd been to in the Carribean. Unfortunately the trail was closed for maintanance. We took off down the road and took one that led out to sea lions.

Can you see the blobs out on the rock? Sea lions. Such lazy creatures. On our way down the steps to the sea lions we saw this little guy. He was extremely friendly and wasn't afraid to come right up to us. Gabe thought is was the funniest thing, it made his day.

See the blobs again?

This was one of my favorite shots, I thought the colors were gorgeous!

Once our legs tired out, we drove back down to a different beach, Carmel beach. There was a lot more people at this beach, but the sand was much much softer on the feet! We sat and dug our toes in the sand and then walked along the shoreline. Gabe had fun skipping rocks and making his feet numb standing in the freezing cold water.

We found this very odd shaped peice of seaweed so we pretended it was tail. Doesn't it look like one?!

Bye Bye ocean, you will be missed. We will definately be back soon!