Day 6 - runing on the beach and 17 mile drive

Started the day with a chilly and windy run on the beach. It was fun to let Donkey off leash on the beach so she could play with other dogs. Did I mention that this town is super dog friendly? Yeah - really is...Then a quick breakfast and we headed to drive the Monterey 17-mile drive. The views were spectacular with many verdant scenes. We stopped frequently to look at the views.

One highlight was the Scottish style golf course. It is very rugged and not for the usual golfer. Now I don't golf but could see why this course might beckon...

The ocean views were spectacular and the very windy day added to the extreme beauty of the coast.


Once back in Carmel - we went to the Mission Carmel and toured the grounds. This is an expansive mission and is where Father Junipero Serra died in 1784. His remains are buried here.


Finally went for a late lunch and back to our inn to relax.

That night we had dinner in our hotel. As usual - other dogs hanging out in the hotel but we went early so not too crowded.

Day 5 - from the mountains, to the prairie, to the ocean...

Today we got up and had light breakfast of granola bars and juice... Then we packed up and hit the road. Kind of hated to leave as it was very serene and peaceful at the Narrow Gauge. Donkey never did remember which room was ours as they all looked alike.

Then we drove down from the mountains - through Madera California and across the state on Hwy's 152 and 156 through intermittent rain. We stopped at the mission at San Juan Bautista. It is a very cool mission.


Romped a bit outside before touring the mission grounds.

Ellen always tries to get a pic with the celebrities - in this case Father Junipero Serra

As usual with these missions - they are very basic, except for the chapels

Had great lunch at a Mexican restaurant - with a patio so Donkey could join.
Then we continued our drive - It was raining on and off most of the way

It was still raining when we finally ended up at our hotel in Carmel - the Cypress Inn. The inn is owned by Doris Day - a notorious dog lover. Dogs were all over the dining area - sitting with their owners. Donkey was very well behaved as we sauntered through.

But once we got to our room - it was very cozy

This is a dog friendly Inn - and they even give you a throw to cover the bed - or for your pet to sleep on. Most of the other dogs here are small (pekingese, maltese, etc) although we did meet a cool Newfoundland puppy. We had dinner at PortaBella - very dog friendly. The Maitre De had a Dane and welcomed us through the restaurant to their back covered patio - very nice on a rainy evening.


Then back to the hotel to relax and fortify for the next day.

Day 4 - deep snow and big trees

Today we hiked up to the Sequoias near the South entrance. It was a little over 2 miles each way but worth the scenery. The weather was in the high 30's to low 40's but plenty warm as we were hiking uphill. The Sequoias are really big...

On the way down Donkey got very excited about tree man freeclimbing up a small boulder...



After the hike - we went back to our room for a rest. Then on to Dinner at the historic Wawona Hotel in Yosemite (about a 25 minute drive). The Wawona began as a way station for travelers in 1856 and went through a number of iterations until it was seen as today. The dinner was great...


And after dinner - we stopped to do some stargazing in the pitch dark night.

Day 3 - Into the valley rode the three...

Woke up to 33 degree weather outside and blue skies. After the fabulous continental breakfast (continent of Von's we think) the hotel hung on our door...We made our way up highway 41 about 4 miles past familiar sounding meadow a to the entrance of Yosemite.








Found a great early morning sunny icy meadow with a hoary frost by the Wawona Inn and Donkey had a romp...

Then on into Yosemite Valley where it was one awesome view after another...






Then we visited the Ahwanee Lodge ...







Finally headed back to the hotel through an amazing tunnel...


Then saw Santa Clause chillin' before his big day...

Day 1 - Get out of town

This is the first post for our holiday trip. We started this trip with Greg's office party. All of the post-docs and research assistants and many significant others were there. Ellen and I had a great time and everyone else seemed to as well. After the party - we headed straight for Los Angeles (we packed the car before the party). We had a -thankfully - uneventful drive to LA and got to Ben's at about 10:30.

Day 2 - Sunshine, pollution, and - finally - clear skies

We watched the LA traffic reports until some of the road congestion cleared - looked like it wouldn't totally clear up so we started out around 10:30am... headed through downtown and north on the 5. Sunny skies and 75 degrees, then over the grapevine and a weird smoky, dusty, smog filled the sky...
Greg, Ellen, & Donkey listened to an interview with Meb Keflizighi, some tunes, and and watched the scenery



Then we saw an eco-friendly Hummer that runs on bio-diesel (check out the window sticker on the left) - only in California... - Willie Nelson would be proud...

It was nice when we finally started climbing out of the central valley toward Yosemite. We began to see more and more trees and snow on the mountain tops.



The highlight of the day was a biker bar that shared a building with a Chinese restaurant. Donkey was very excited. The biker bar was named... well, see the pics below.