Up the 1 - As They Say in California!

Well, better late than never. That's my motto on a busy day like this one. I have been anxious to share some of our vacation photos with you today. But when I looked at what I ended up with on my camera last night, I was quite disappointed. At what point do your kids stop making goofy faces every time you try to take a picture and start acting like nice human beings? They'll regret this someday when I pull these out at my convenience!



As you can see, Abby is beautiful and likes to do everything but smile pretty and Daniel would prefer for the world to think that he was angry the whole time. He wasn't. He really had a good time and was a happy camper, so to speak. It's just a phase. It's lasted for a number of years now, but it's just a phase. I keep telling myself this.


Well now that I have sufficiently paid my children back for loading my camera with shots like these, we can move on.

We'll start with the glitz and glamor of Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Bel Air!

We snapped this shot because our favorite "band," the one hit Wonders, stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel in That Thing You Do. We're weird that way.

Little Miss Shirley Temple had made these impressions at Grauman's Chinese Theatre exactly 75 years before our visit to the day.

This is the last time Abby hopes to be at the Kodak Theatre in anything besides Oscar de la Renta or Prada...

Now here is the way Californians spend a Sunday afternoon at Venice Beach, otherwise known as Muscle Beach.




Now a series of beautiful shots of the coast. Well, my shots are not always that beautiful, but the coast definitely was. I had never seen the Pacific Ocean before and I was absolutely blown away by how gorgeous it is. So different from the Gulf or the Atlantic (which are lovely too, of course).

First sunset from our hotel in Pismo Beach

Abby on the beach at night.

Abby on the beach the next morning.


A shot of our hotel from the beach.

I think that's a smile, don't you?

These are sluggish, rather ugly Elephant Seals, but I'm still glad God made them, of course.

Julie Pfeiffer Burns State Park which we renamed Julia Roberts Michelle Pfeiffer State Park, 'cause that's what we do. Absolutely lovely. Do you see the waterfall? The only one in the continental US that deposits into the Pacific.



The Bixby Bridge - I think Daniel has better photos of this. 

Sunset in Carmel.




Do you see the sea lions? At least I think that's what these were.

The Lone Cypress. Please don't send me any money for viewing this photo. It's copyrighted so I can't charge you. Just in case you were so overwhelmed by my photography that you were feeling moved to contribute.

Pebble Beach Golf Course - amazing!

More sea creatures of some sort.

Getting ready to go on our whale watching expedition. It was a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour... and my guys had to fight over who was the Professor. 'Cause that's what we do.

Abigail and James looking for whales. We actually saw quite a few gray whales as they migrated north. They gave us a good show too, flipping their tails into the air and all!


Looks even more like a smile! The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Abby is finally cooperating and looking very happy here because we had just bought her prom dress in San Francisco and were now heading to her favorite store - Forever 21.

Lombard Street in San Fran. And yes, we drove down it too!

Thanks for sharing my pictures with me. We had a great time and I highly recommend "the 1" (as the Californians say) if you ever have a chance to do it. We went up from LA to San Fran in 4 1/2 days and back down in 1 1/2! Whew! But we loved it!


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