California Vacation

So, we have been back for two weeks now and I am just getting around to posting our pictures. It has been a crazy month with our trip to California and then Thanksgiving.
We had the best time. Gretta did awesome flying out and back. She enjoyed Sea World and the Zoo in San Diego and Elijah and I really liked the Sequoias and Santa Barbara. I actually loved everything about the trip. We got to see so much. PLUS, we got to hang with our really good friends Carrie & Ryan who we haven’t seen in a while. We will definitely go back. I would love to retire someday in Santa Barbara the beaches are beautiful and the whole environment is just fabulous I can’t even describe it. I have been told that there is a Mini Marathon or Marathon there so maybe I will look into that. Either way I would love to go back there and stay a couple days, week, maybe a month, ha, ha…
Elijah’s favorite thing was the Sequoias. This probably won’t surprise anyone since he is so outdoorsy (if that is even a word). We got some really nice pictures there. We got see a few bears when we were driving up the mountain which was really cool. I love seeing wild animals like that, as long as they can’t get to me.
I think one of Gretta’s favorite things were the two cats and dog she got to live with for 9 days. Carrie & Ryan have a dog Jellybean, a cat Big Boy and another cat Berkley (aka: Mullet).
Okay, so here is a summary of everything we did Day 1 we hung out around Bakersfield (where Carrie & Ryan live), had lunch with Ryan which was tons of fun!! ; Day 2 Sequoias loved it! Plus we stopped to see Ryan’s big project-Waste Water Treatment Plant, Carrie & I could hardly pull ourselves away; Day 3 Drove to San Diego and went to Sea World; Day 4 San Diego Zoo, got kind of lost it was such a big place. Good thing we had to engineers with us…ha, ha…; Day 5 Drove back to Bakersfield; Day 6 Santa Barbara, Heaven on Earth; Day 7 Carrie & Ryan had to go back to work so Elijah explored in Bakersfield ended up at the mall; Day 8 Carrie & Ryan @ work Elijah, Gretta and I drove up to a mountain town called Kernville. Lots of old western movies had been filmed there several with John Wayne. Was a beautiful drive. Day 9 ha, ha..probably not the best, but oddly enough it was the thing that I was looking forward to the most, Hollywood. What a disappointment. It was dirty and scary. I was terrified that someone was going to kidnap Gretta. BUT we got to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen which is my new favorite place to eat. YUM! That night we said goodbye to our SUPER friends, Carrie & Ryan and we stayed at a hotel near the airport so we were ready to fly out Sunday. Day 10 we entered a chaotic LA Airport and it took us hours to get to our gate which is crazy. But we arrived home safely and that is what matters most!
We had such a great time and we really appreciate everything Carrie & Ryan did to make it soooo much fun!!