Day 4 and 5 On the morning of Day 4, we drove 170 miles from San Jose to our hotel in Oakhurst, just outside the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park. We immediately made the drive up to Glacier Point for views overlooking the Yosemite Valley....
On our way out of the park, we made a quick stop at the Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoias....
The Fallen Monarch....
On Day 5, we drove through the Yosemite Valley and Tioga Road on our way to Reno, NV.
Day 2 and 3 On Day 2, we drove 200 miles from San Luis Obispo to San Jose. We chose to take the slower, more scenic Highway 1 instead of Highway 101.
Lunch in Monterey, CA
Pool day with our friends in San Jose. In all of our time living in Santa Barbara, and even having a pool at our last place, Ryan had never been in a pool. It was exciting to finally let him have his first "swimming" experience.
Sporting a swim diaper and getting slathered with sunscreen....
Dressed in swimwear on loan from his 2 year old pal DT...
Ryan cried for a couple of minutes when he first got in the pool, but after that, he really enjoyed floating on the water....
Great dinner at Yuki Sushi. Ryan loves noodles....
We've had a very busy month of June... Brooke defended her dissertation and got her PhD, We had family in town for graduation, We sold my beloved Subaru so that we'd only have one car for the drive back to Seattle, We hired professional movers and rented a storage facility in the Seattle area, We hosted a birthday party for Ryan and other birthing class babies, We had Ryan's 1-year pediatrician appointment and Ryan's final helmet appointment (that's right...no more helmet) We boxed-up all of our things, and on Saturday June 19th, the movers came to take away all of our things, we returned the keys to our apartment, and we officially became homeless.
So here's a summary our migration back to Seattle....
Day 0 - Moving Day We had to pull an all-nighter, and even then we weren't ready when the professional movers arrived at 7:30am. We ended up haphazardly stuffing random boxes with the remaining items, so unpacking will be difficult.
This pic shows our apartment just hours before the movers were scheduled to arrive....
It was evening before we finished cleaning the apartment and turned in the keys, so we decided to stay in a Santa Barbara hotel that night.
Day 1 Staying an extra day worked out well because it allowed us to say goodbye to a few friends one last time. That morning we had breakfast with A/C and the Twins at the East Beach Grill. It was nice to hang out in an area that holds so many memories for us from triathlons, to hundreds (maybe even thousands) of games of volleyball.
Later in the day, we went through our regular Sunday morning routine of going to the farmer's market and getting coffee at Starbucks. We also met up with the wine crew for what else but drinks at Hollister Brewing Company. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos.
We managed to drive only 100 miles north before deciding to stop at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
The main dinner room. Frightening, huh?
We figured that if we're going to stay at the Madonna Inn, with its over-priced rates and gaudy decor, we might as well select the most extreme and memorable room: The Caveman. The room is built into the side of the hill and is covered with rock from ceiling to floor.
The room was equipped with a pair of caveman clubs....
The room was completely impractical and even dangerous for a child that's learning to walk,(we made Ryan wear his helmet) but it was definitely a memorable experience.
Last Thursday we hosted a birthday party for ten babies from our birthing class. We were excited for Ryan to play with his old friends; however, from the start, it was obvious he didn't enjoy being in such a large group. All the other babies seemed to handle it fine, but Ryan was grumpy the entire time.
Of the ten babies, four were able to walk. Nobody could tell that Ryan was a part of this group because he refused to be put down.
One mom had the idea to place all the babies around the birthday cake and allow them to attack it. The result was a bit more tame than what I had expected. Most babies were indifferent to the cake, but a few brave girls finally got their hands into it, and one of these girls managed to collect all the strawberries. As expected, Ryan just became hysterical when we set him down.
Graduation weekend was really busy, but a lot of fun. Brooke's parents, grandparents, and brother were in town. Having relatives in town gave us an excuse to do a few more Santa Barbara tourist things before we go.
