1/6/06
We got off to a late start but finally left town around noon. After a quick stop at Ikeda's for a tofu burger and some apple gummy candies we made it the rest of the way to Santa Cruz. We pulled into the New Brighton Beach after dark and put up our tent. It was weird to camp at a campground so close to the beach that you could hear the waves crash from our campsite yet only a few minutes from town. We went to dinner at a random Thai restaraunt that we found with help from the nav system.
1/7/06
After a long night of heavy rain, we headed down to the beach and rode our bikes from the Natural Bridges State Park down to the Boardwalk and back. The weather was great. It is such a shock for us to be comfortable in a t-shirt outside in January. After our ride we headed down the coast to Monterey. We first headed north, though to visit the Bonny Doone tasting room. It was the first time we had been to a tasting room. We liked a few of the wines and hated a few also. My favorite was the raspberry dessert wine served in an eadible dark chocolate cup. Megan didn't get to fully enjoy this since she promised herself that she wasn't eating chocolate on this trip. So I was forced to eat her cup as well :) Once we got to Monterey, we found a Comfort Inn to stay at since there were no campgrounds nearby. After microwave Thai food we went downtown to check out the nightlife.
1/8/06
My phone decided to not charge or turn on so it's out of commission for the rest of the trip. I guess that's not such a bad thing, though. After messing with that all morning we drove down to Cannery Row and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Megan's favorite things at the aquarium were the jelly fish and the sea turtle and the penguins. I liked the starfish.
After a lunch of fruit and peanut butter and honey sandwiches, we embarked on the 17 mile drive. There were some really pretty lookouts that I can't begin to describe. The houses along the drive were equally amazing. I really like the Monterey Cyprus trees. The are really cool looking with their crazy jagged branches. We saw the lone cyprus. The sun was starting to go down so we left Monterey and Carmel by the sea and headed down to Big Sur. We stopped past the second bridge to watch the sunset. Very romantic. We finally ended up at the Big Sur Campground where we had a gourmet dinner of cups of soup and crackers.
1/9/06
I wanted to get up early to run because I want to continue traing for the Wildflower triathlon while on vacation. I ended up gettin up around 8 and running down highway 1 towards Pfieffer State Park. I think that stretch of road is part of the Big Sur Marathon, which was pretty cool. After I got back, Megan and I headed down the road to the 2 Pfieffer State parks to see the waterfalls. On the drive down to Pismo Beach we stopped to see the Elephant Seals where a few had been born that day. I thought it was pretty strange that they only recently started going to that point to shed their skin and have their babies. The sign said they were first spotted in 1990 and the numbers continue to increase. Now you can see them year round there.
We drove through San Luis Obispo and ended up at Pismo Beach. We thought about beach camping but ended up at the campground about a block from the beach. Today was the first day that we got to the campground in time to set up the tent in daylight. We walked down through the dunes to the beach and tried to get lost on our way down to watch the sunset. It was the first time I saw a real pig on the beach.
1/10/06
After running on the beach in the morning we headed over to the dunes where we rented ATVs for 2 hours. We rented Honda 250EXs which had quite a bit of power. It was a blast. Megan surprised me with how daring she got. She even jumped it a few times. From there we headed down to LA. We got to Pasadena just before 6PM. After getting settled in Graham's apartment we went down to Old Pasadena where we ate at an Indian restaraunt. I think it was the first time either of us ate an an Indian restaraunt. The food was awesome. Megan even saved some of her curry for breakfast. The highlight for her night was her piece of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.
1/11/06
Graham and I got up early and went to the Rose Bowl and ran. They have an awesome aquatic facility. Now Megan and I are lying around, trying to get motivated to head down to Santa Monica where we'll meet up with Kelly.
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