Blended Summer Vacation

Well, Jim and I took all of our kids on our first mini vacation together... Jim had the foresight to get a motor home for the trip and it was a fabulous idea! It made the trip a lot easier not being all crammed in a car together. The whole trip went very well and we had a lot of fun... only unfortunate thing was Cliff had a bit of the flu and didn't get to experience all of San Francisco... poor guy.. was a total trooper and headed out with us for a while but had to go back to sleep in the motor home a couple hours into the day... so thankful we had that option for him. I wouldn't have even gotten out of bed. I've posted some generic pictures, but will have to get some more from Nicky as she took tons of great pictures of the trip.

Our first stop was Hearst Castle... One of Jim's grandparents (or great-grandparent???) was married to a Hearst, so that made it extra exciting. It's an incredible place. My favorite things were the swimming pools and the amazing landscaping.

Next we headed off to San Francisco... Pier 39 (yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl), Golden Gate Bridge, a trolley car ride to Union Square.... and of course on of the highlights of the trip was the talking/self washing public potty... it was very new and exciting to the kids :) I remember being equally excited when I first discovered a similar potty in France many many years ago!

Then we headed off to Monterey so Jim and kids could meet my family and to celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday and partied into the wee hours of the morning. It was a very fun time an everyone loved Jim and his kids. We drove through Pebble Beach and stopped at the beach at my old place of work - The Inn at Spanish Bay.

Jim decided it would be a great idea to come home down the coast via Highway 1. I thought that was a frightening idea considering the 36' motor home and the little 2 lane highway right on the edge of the cliff!!!! Although my knuckles were whiter than white, of course it ended up being a great drive (a very very long drive, but nice time). We stopped for a hike down to the water in Big Sur, then again to watch some Sea Elephants on the beach further south and then we stopped in the oh so quaint lovely little town of Los Olivos to visit Michael Jackson's memorial site at Neverland Ranch. Its the cutest town ever... i soooo wanted to move there. Then we finished the long drive at Jim's mom's house and that was the end!