California

Grant and I took a trip last week to Monterey, California. Grant served part of his mission there and he's always wanted to go back and take me. I surprised him with this trip for our anniversary, but we didn't end up going for a month. But we got there so it worked out. My Mom and John went so we could stay in their townhome which was very gracious of them.

We flew into San Francisco Thursday evening and went to dinner with my Mom, John, and Bill Murray(not the actor). We went to this Italian restaurant down some alley way. It was amazing. I've never been to San Fran and was totally blown away by it. Big cities like that are just amazing to me. The bridges are just outstanding to see when flying in.

While in Monterey we spent the weekend driving thru Grants entire mission minus Fremont. He had 5 apartments in 4 areas and we were able to go to 3 areas and see 3 apartments. Monterey, Hollister, and San Jose. He had 2 apartments in Fremont. We saw those 3 cities that he roamed the streets on which was really cool, but we also went to Santa Cruz and walked tho boardwalk and ate on the pier. There were a lot of surfers out that was fun to see.

One night we went to dinner in Carmel and went to a little cafe afterwards where there was live music. It was so fun. The musician was amazing. He was playing organ type keys with his feet, playing the guitar, singing, and playing the harmonica. I couldn't believe it. I had to get a picture with him. I was a little embarrassed by it, but it was cool.

The weather that we experienced there seemed to follow us home. It was cloudy the entire time, which I hear is normal there this time of year (which is why our plane was delayed 2 hours), but I was excited to come home to 80 degree weather which I didn't get today. Oh well. Maybe later.

I'm so glad that we were able to make this trip possible. We had such a fun time. Oh, I forgot to mention...Hudson stayed home. Our first time away from him for longer than one night. I didn't miss him until Sunday morning so I think that is good. We were both pretty anxious to get home on Monday though.

We saw the Golden Gate Bridge before we headed to the airport to leave. It was raining. Thank goodness for hats and raincoats.

This is San Jose. All the surfers in the water, but the boardwalk behind Grant was cool. It was like Lagoon, but right on the beach. There was a ton of beach volleyball going on. Very cool.

The amazing musician. He claimed he had a cold which was hard to believe. He sounded awesome.

The morning fog in Monterey. It was insane how foggy it got. It was really cool to see though. You don't see stuff like that everyday in Utah.

The Big Sur. This drive is so pretty. Highway 1 is right on the coast with a lot of view points. It was way pretty.

We found a deserted beach off of the Big Sur. We had to hike down to it and it was so cool. Grant was dying to play in the sand and water. It was too cold for me. There was a stream running through the sand to the ocean from the mountains. It was really cool.

This guy was at Fishermans warf when Grant was on his mission. He has a picture with him back than also. I wish I knew where it was so I could put them side by side to see the difference. He said fishermans warf hadn't changed at all. He was sure happy to see it again and relive those memories.
On our way out I made Grant drive into Pebble Beach so I could see the course. They were setting up for the US Open next month. There were white tents going up everywhere. It was pretty cool.