This past week was quite busy as my parents were in town. For Christmas I gave them each a Southwest giftcard with the hopes that they could come visit me on assignment, somewhere fun :) We had to wait until mom was done with school, and I had to make special arrangements at work to get a good 6-7 day stretch off so we could thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Mom and Dad left balmy OH where it was 87 degrees at 5am to land in San Fran at 2pm where it was just around 60 degrees. They, just like me a year ago, and so many others have disbelief as how "cool" California temps actually are! I'm excited that this will probably be my first and only summer that I won't have to endure the East Coast heat and humidity!
We did a lot, and saw a lot so I'll try to be brief and touch on the highlights day by day. Here goes!
Wednesday
-the 'rents arrived, surprisingly full of energy after an early morning and long day of travel
-first stop was to grab some food at In-N-Out burger, then drove down Lombard, then up to Coit tower for some city views, then on our way to the GG we swung a hard right on a whim and visited the Palace (which is gorgeous), then re-routed back to the GG where we parked it and actually walked out onto the bridge. we had great weather so we got some fab pics. next we drove across the bridge and stopped at a little vista point to get some great city shots. we did a quick drive through tour of Sausalito and before we knew it the time was 7 and we drove back to PA and grabbed some Chipotle for dinner.
Thursday
-got an early start and drove almost 4 hours south down "the" 101 to Central Coast, passing lots of vineyards and produce fields-we visited the Hearst Castle (truly spectacular) built by newspaper legend William Randolph Hearst (i highly recommend going here!)
-drove down to Morro Bay for a seaside dinner just in time for sunset, walked the dock and grabbed some dessert at Sun 'n Buns Bakery
-lodged at the Morgan Hotel, named after the Castle's architect Julia Morgan
Friday
-drove north to Monterey/Carmel for the day
-did 17 mile drive where we met a few sea lions, otters, and overly friendly squirrels
-visite Pebble Beach Golf Club and Dad had to help some men chip their ball out of the sandtrap (or at least that's what he's telling ppl based off of this pic)
-enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner at Pepe's (Italian of course) in Carmel by the Sea, so yummy!
-on the way home we stopped at a great farmer's market/fruit stand around Santa Cruz and got tons of cheap produce-we listened to a lot of 70's music per Dad's request while i drove and mom read a book in the backseat :)
Saturday
-slept in and had a wonderful homemade breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits with fresh strawberries
-it was rainy and we were lazy so we made the cutest sugar cookies and took them to work so mom and dad could see the PICU
-did a mini driving tour of Stanford Campus
-had to resupply some groceries, mom went into sticker shock at the high prices
-we made lunch at home then drove up to the city and strolled around Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square
-we met up with my Duke girls for sushi in San Fran (it was mom 'n dad's first time and they did great!)
-drove up to Twin Peaks (highest point in SF) and saw some great city lights from bridge to bridge (GG-Bay)
Sunday
-went to Grace Pres and introduced them to a few friends...mainly boys (the 'rents behaved themselves and didn't conduct any marriage interviews)
-drove up to SF and grabbed lunch in Chinatown, another first for mom 'n dad, they did great with Dim Sum and as always i ordered too much
-stolled through lots of fun shops and picked up a few souvenirs for the small cousins
-made our way down to Market/Union and did some window shopping + real shopping: found a gift for Pa, mom bought me a dress from GAP as a birthday present, and we also picked up a gift for Emma at Anthro (M- if you're reading this, you're gonna love it!), Dad was enthralled by the GG bridge they had on display made out of Rice-a-Roni boxes, and we found the building with old Singer sewing machines on display
-came home and made a late dinner & smoothies, watched wholesome family shows like "What would you do?" and "Undercover Boss"
Monday
-took our time in the morning since it was rainy/drizzly again-visited Muir Woods to see the Redwoods (they look so unimpressive in photos, but in person WOW!)
-drove across the GG for the last time together :(
-ran a few errands, then made dinner at home and subjected dad to watching "The Bachelorette" with me
Tuesday
-yucky morning weather again so we took our time with a late breakfast and packing up their suitcases
-had a tearful goodbye at the airport after a wonderful visit!
-i went home and took a nap, they wore me out ;)Overall, it was a fabulous time together! By the end I may have been taking showers that were longer than usual to get in some "me" time, and the couch didn't get any comfier, but I wouldn't trade any of that for the memories we made and quality time we shared! I'm so glad they came to visit and could enjoy my California lifestyle of cooler weather, fun destinations, and influential friendships. Until I see them again lots of love will be sent to OH via email/text/calls.
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