Kim and Doug's Excellent California Adventure

So...Mom and Dad came to visit last week. They stayed for a week, and we could not have possibly packed in any more California. Here is a recap of our trip:

Day 1: Tour de Los Angeles - The Essentials
Hollywood sign and Griffith Park, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, and we topped it off with a bottle of bubbly during sunset at El Matador State Beach in Malibu. Could it have gotten any better or busier? I think not! And it was a perfect day:

Kim and Doug with Hollywood Sign in background.

The four of us with Hollywood sign in background. 

Me and Jer with Hollywood sign in background. 

Mom and Dad at Hollywood & Vine

Mom and Dad in Beverly Hills!

Big A$$ Tree in Beverly Hills Park

All the crazies were out at Venice Beach.

Venice Canals

Venice Beach

El Matador State Beach at Sunset...so beautiful. 

Drinks on the beach!

More drinks on the beach!

Could they get any cuter???

The four of us at El Matador in Malibu

El Matador

So, that about tired everyone out for the day.

Day 2: Heading North!
On the second day of their visit, we got up early in the morning and headed north. First stop was breakfast at Pete's in Ventura. Then it was off to Santa Barbara, where we strolled down the pier and through the marina. Of course, Dad had to look at a boat as he fantasized about living aboard out here in California! Then it was further north to the Hearst Castle - a very popular attraction here in California. I think our traveling party agrees that it's overrated and was basically a waste of money, but don't let us deter you from making up your own minds should you decide to stop by. One thing Jeremy and I do agree on though - between an afternoon at Hearst Castle and an afternoon with the Elephant Seals, we'd be on the beach with the seals! Which is exactly where we went after Hearst Castle! We hung out at the Elephant Seal Rookery for a while, then headed south a few miles to Morro Bay, which we all thought was the highlight of the trip. We had dinner at Sean's on Main, which is probably our favorite restaurant in all of California so far, and then we went bar hopping with the parents. We got them drunk and got some good stories out of them :)

Pete's Breakfast House in Ventura

Santa Barbara Pier

Kim and Doug @ Dolphin Fountain in Santa Barbara 

Well, Hearst may have been a pretentious D-Bag, but he did pick a place with a great view!

Hearst Castle

Me and Jer at Hearst Castle

Mom and Dad at Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

The four of us

Elephant Seal Rookery - they are so cute!

Day 3: Wine Tour Day!!
So, we woke up in Morro Bay and went for an early-morning work-off-the-calories-we-are-about-to-drink stroll through the Embarcadero and down to the beach. Not a bad way to start the day.

Otters playing in the harbor at Morro Bay 

Good Morning Fishermen!

Morro Bay Beach

We walked so long we didn't really have time for a good breakfast. We headed straight to Paso Robles to catch our ride with the Wine Wrangler where the first thing our driver asked us was, "Did you guys eat a big breakfast?" Woops! Oh well, off to the first winery. Our first stop was at Castoro Cellars  where we were told we would get 7 complementary tastings. Well, the tastings were more like quarter glasses, and I'm pretty sure we had about 15 of them. What a way to start the day! Hello...we're drunk. Mom joined the wine club, Dad got a hat, and Jeremy got stick-on beaver patches - we left a happy crowd! Our next stop was Veris Cellars where we got some delicious almond bubbly. After our tasting here, our driver decided it was in our best interest to eat something, so she drove us to Trader Joe's and we got lunch (a.k.a. the entire store). We went to Midnight Cellars next and ate on their patio with their cat, Chardonnay, who begged like a dog and ate like one too.  The last stop of the day was Eagle Castle Winery  complete with a moat. Of course, we were all so drunk by now tasting was a chore and all the wine tasted the same. Ahhh....first world problems.

Cheers! At Castoro Cellers

Cheers! Outside Castoro

You get the idea...

Eagle Castle Winery

Apparently, our Boston Terrier has a vineyard he's holding out on us....

Day 4: Big Sur & Carmel by the Sea
It should be on everyone's bucket list to drive the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to SanFran, with the most important piece being through Big Sur. Seriously, it is one of the most amazing and beautiful places on earth. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. We also toured the Tor house again so Mom and Dad could see it.

Bixby Bridge

Tor House

Mom's trying to talk to the birds...

After driving up the coast, we high-tailed it back to LA so we could spend day five in Santa Monica!

Day 5 - Santa Monica
So, after our road trip, we got a good night's sleep, made a killer breakfast, and headed out to Santa Monica for what was just going to be an hour or so, but ended up being the whole day. Another sunny day in Cali with a million other people at our sides.

Santa Monica Pier - The End of the Trail!

The Pier from the Ferris Wheel

Me and Jer on the Ferris Wheel

Mom and Dad on the Ferris Wheel

Santa Monica Beach from the Ferris Wheel

Me, Mom, and Dad on the Ferris Wheel

Kim and Doug on the Pier

Jeremy making friends with the infamous rubber-snake-wrangler. No joke. 

After an hour or so on the Pier, we went shopping on the 3rd Street Promenade. All the people and sun wiped us out for the day! We came home and grilled amazing steaks and drank some of the wine we bought (see Day 3).

Day 6: Beach Day
So, we didn't do the beach on Day 5 because it was too crowded - we waited until Monday. Well, we certainly had the beach to ourselves this day. It was blowing 30+ mph and the SURF WAS UP. The beach was cold but we put our parkas on and sat there anyways. It was very relaxing, but didn't last long. After the beach, we went for ice cream and then I had to get on a plane and head to Omaha for work. Mom and Dad stuck around another night with Jeremy and headed out the next morning.

Mom getting her feet wet

I think the surf came up further than she planned!

Thanks for visiting Mom & Dad! We loved playing tour guide and hope to do it again sooner rather than later! Now we all need a vacation from our vacation!