Best Partner of the Year!

Hi everyone! Joe just got home from a regional pharmacy meeting where
all the managers in the western region got together. He received an
award for being the best partner of the year! Here I am with his
award, which also happens to be a new friend of mine. Way to go, Joe!

Home!

We made it home safely...it snowed or rained almost the entire way!
Crazy weather for so much of California! As we were driving, Anne was
eating gummi dinosaur eggs and she came upon this odd shaped one.
Kinda looks like a bunny, don't you think? As you can tell I am quite
tired. Looking forward to a nice evening at home to rest. Great trip!

Richmond Bridge

Heading east now about to go over the Richmond Bridge. It isn't as
impressive as the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, but it is pretty long.
Unfortunately, it is another double decker and we are on the lower
level, but we don't have to pay going this way! I like bridges.

Golden Gate Bridge

Here we are on Sunday morning on our way home from San Francisco. We
stopped to try some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge again. We came
here last night around sunset, but it was rainy and super windy -
shaking the whole car! Still drizzlely now, but not too bad. Nice shot
of the bridge with the sun competing with the clouds and fog for
domination. I think the clouds are going to win. Off to finish up our
neat adventure.

Bay Bridge

We decided to drive across the Bay Bridge over to Oakland/Berkley
areas. The bridge is a double decker bridge - on the way back to San
Fran, we got to be on the top level. Here is a cool shot as we were
cruising across the bridge. It is very windy and rainy and you can see
my ears are being blown in two directions! Right behind me is downtown
San Fran. To the far right, in the water, you will see a tiny island -
that is Alcatraz. And in almost the very center of the picture, if you
look closely and zoom in, you will see the Golden Gate Bridge. Very
neat!

Lombard Street, part III

Looking up at the curvy part of Lombard Street from the bottom. I'm
surprised that cars aren't crashing into each other all over the place
around here. I wonder what it must be like to live here. Especially
for the city bunnies.

Lombard Street, part II

Near the top of the big hill, looking back down towards our hotel. So steep!

Lombard Street

Here we are going up Lombard Street so we can go down the curvy
part...I don't know how people can live/drive here! Check out how
steep the road is. It looks like the cars are going to slide down the
hill into each other! Crazy!

Kara's Cupcakes

Raining today...Joe and Anne got up this morning and went for a run
from the hotel, down to the oceanfront, then up and over the Golden
Gate Bridge and back - 8.6 miles. Afterwards, they went to Starbucks
and got some gourmet cupcakes at Kara's Cupcakes. Here I am with Orion
inspecting them. Anne and Joe said they are awesome! BP liked them so
much, he ate the cupcake paper! Now we are off to drive around in the
rain and check things out.

The Lone Cypress Tree

Here we are at the Lone Cypress tree at Pebble Beach. Very neat wooden
steps/deck lead down to the viewing platform we are on. Neat clouds
and I think it is just about to rain. I'm sure we will enjoy many days
like this in Wisconsin!

Tsunami Zone

I wonder if this area was affected with the recent tsunami? I am keeping all the people and creatures in my thoughts as the country is
recovering from the disaster last week...

Point Joe

So we got the iPad set up and have a great map for our sight-seeing
now. We are driving through Pebble Beach on the 17-mile trail on the
search for a cool lone tree. Stopped at "Point Joe" to take some
pictures. You can see Joe behind me. Very cold and windy, but very
neat day with the surf getting bigger by the moment! There is rain on
the way, but fortunately, it is still to the north of us.

Success!

Here I am in the apple store - you can see the iPad and the cool pink
cover behind me (pink like me, of course!). We got the last 32 GB 3G
model...I have a feeling today is going to go better than yesterday.
Neat!

iPad2?!?

Here we are in Monterey! We had a rough evening last night. While
driving up the coast highway 1, we found out that there was no access
to Monterey due to the landslide on the 1 - no other way around! We
had to drive back down the coast to Cambria and then backtrack up the
coast on the inland 101 highway. Made it to the hotel around 10 pm.

So this morning, we decided to check out the apple store Monterey to
see if they have any iPads...the lady from the store came out awhile
ago and said it looked promising! I'll keep you posted. Hopefully we
get an iPad in the next hour and then on to San Francisco!

Elephant Seal Beach

Here we are off the 1, stopped at the elephant seal viewing area.
There are so many of them, big and small, laying all over the beach!
They are sunning themselves, flicking dirt every once in awhile, and
generally being lazy. I think Orion is part elephant seal! Very neat
beach on a very neat day!

Pismo Beach

Here we are at Pismo Beach! As you can see, you can drive your car
right out on the beach! It is very windy here. It seems like it is
probably always windy here...there are some sand dune beaches just to
the south along the coast. There are also some kite-boarders out in
the ocean. Not my cup of tea, but the people that are here really dig
this place.

Purple Flowers

Here is a post for LT...beautiful purple flowers at the entrance to
Vandenberg AFB. Need I say more?

Vandenberg AFB

Hi all - driving up the coast and just went by Vandenberg Air Force
Base. Very nice day - 66 and partly cloudy. I wonder if grandpa Al
came here while he was in the air force?

Good Thing Joe Wasn't Driving!

Here I am on the 101 freeway just north of Santa Barbara. Joe is on an
important conference call for work, so Anne is driving. There is a lot
of yellow in the background - from the yellow mustard weeds to the
yellow speeding ticket! She just got pulled over by a CHP and got a
ticket! The roads are very curvy and bumpy and she doesn't think it is
even possible that we were going 78! I felt like 65 and I know she was
watching her speed. But there is no arguing with the cops...oh well,
at least Joe wasn't driving! It's ok - we are still having a great
trip!

Channel Islands - Santa Barbara

Here I am in Santa Barbara at the beach. Behind me are the Channel
Islands. There is also a surfer catching a wave if you look
closely...on the way to Monterey tonight. Can't wait for another road
trip adventure!

Box Springs Mountain Park

Hi everyone! Beautiful day here in riverside! Joe, Anne, and Astro are
going for a trail run in Box Springs Mountain Park this morning. Here
I am in Moreno Valley on the east side of the mountain. We've parked
one car here and are on our way back home to drop Joe off. He will run
from there/Riverside, up and over the mountain (which you can see
behind me), and down to the other side in Moreno Valley. Anne and
Astro will meet Joe at the top. Pretty neat stuff! I like observing in
the mountains.