Camping in Big Sur

Friday night we decided to do camping "lite" at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.


Due to limited space in our car, we decided to only pack our tent, sleeping bags, blankets, mats, and pillows. We bought our dinner at Big Sur Deli, a mile or so south of the park. I would recommend the Cuban pork sandwich. It is not a traditional cubano, in that it is not flattened, but it has a kick and they warm it up for you. The pre-made turkey sandwich was just ok, a little soggy.



This ended up being our best camping trip to date, due to the gorgeous grounds and quiet atmosphere. Our spot was near the entrance of the park, and it felt amazingly empty for Labor Day weekend. Although all of the spaces were booked, they were far apart enough where we could barely see/hear our neighbors. (I think the spaces near the river are more popular, but more crowded and noisy). Our site was filled with redwood trees, and the air was so clean. D asked me whether I would prefer it to be three degrees warmer or colder, and I could not decide because it was that perfect. (At night it was cold, as to be expected, but we were snug in our tent).







D's favorite spot in the park




Camping will be even more fun once n doesn't wake up crying in the middle of the night. Still waiting for that to happen!

The next morning we packed up and headed north on Highway 1. Both Friday and Saturday the kids and I took Dramamine, and it seemed to work. We made a stop at the famous Bixby Bridge, which you always see in car commercials.







Driving Big Sur was an adventure, and a beautiful one at that.

Labor Day Weekend: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park & Nepenthe

We are back from our long weekend getaway to Big Sur, Monterey and Pebble Beach. We made it home in record time: just over 6 hours. No traffic in L.A.--yay!

But, back to the beginning. We left at 5:30 a.m. in the morning on Friday. I thought we were so prepared this time...D had cleaned the car out and we packed almost everything the night before. Unfortunately, in cleaning out the car, we failed to realize that we had left the cords for both our ipod AND the DVD player back at home! Argh! Let's just say that we heard k and n sing "She's a Grand Ol' Flag" one too many times this past weekend.

It was a nice change of pace to go up the 101/1 instead of the 5. We made many stops, of course, but our first sight seeing stop was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The main attraction was McWay Falls, which was pretty spectacular. It is a nice easy hike and k did it without complaint.


McWay Falls, "the only major California waterfall to tumble in the Pacific".


(n has some ink on his face from coloring in the car.)




I would say Julia Pfeiffer is definitely worth a stop and the $10 parking (we used our pass). One tip is that the parking is self-parking, so bring small bills. We encountered more than one party in search of change.

It is illegal to walk down to the beach where the waterfall is. However, someone did, and left this message:

Interpret that as you wish...

Our next stop was for lunch at Nepenthe. In preparation, I had read this book:

I enjoyed reading about the history of the restaurant, and the pictures are beautiful. It made me anticipate our trip even more.



It was quite foggy, so the view was limited, but by the end of our lunch, it had cleared up some. We chose the inside seating because it was more comfortable for the kids, but the building is open on both ends, with large windows, so there was still the outdoor feel.



We ordered the famous Ambrosia Burger and a French Dip, along with a "half" order of fries. (The full order cost $8, but the half order cost $6.50. The half was plenty for us, though).




At around $15 each, these were pricey lunch entrees, but the view/experience justifies at least part of the cost. Next time, we'll probably try Big Sur Bakery for lunch, since we ended up not eating there for breakfast the next day as planned.

The grounds of the restaurant have a magical quality:



Our trip was off to a good start!

New Shogun: Mission Viejo

As summer is winding down, it is heating up here in Southern California. We took it easy today...went swimming in the morning; D and I made some progress in painting k's room.

For dinner, we went to New Shogun in Mission Viejo. I think this is the first time we have eaten at a Japanese restaurant since returning from Japan! We used our Entertainment Book card for a BOGO on the Shogun Special Boat (reg. price $17.95/person). Although only meant for two people, it was plenty of food for us and the two kiddos.

It also comes with miso soup, salad and rice. We took home some leftovers, too. k liked the sesame chicken the best, but everything was good. We left very satisfied.

The Completed Sanrio Yogurtland Spoon Collection

Welcome to the family, My Melody (k's fave) and Keroppi! Who's next? Paul Frank?

Five Guys: Tustin

We had read/heard a lot about Five Guys and had high expectations. However, after reading the Yelp reviews for the new Tustin location, my expectations were lowered a bit.


A regular hamburger has two patties. We ordered one regular hamburger, two little hamburgers and one order of regular size fries. No drinks, and the total was $17. Now, I know Five Guys doesn't like to be compared to In n Out, but I'm pretty sure that same meal would cost under $10 there. D and I both had our burgers "all the way" which included a handful of toppings unavailable at In n Out, including mushrooms, pickles, etc. Although I appreciated the numbered stickers put on each hamburger corresponding to the receipt, I did not appreciate how each hamburger was wrapped in foil. It made the bun too mushy, especially with all of the extra toppings. The patty feels more handmade, and it is not as salty as In n Out, which could be good or bad. k's comment was that the fries tasted "burned".

Overall, I say we're sticking to In n Out, but I'm glad we tried Five Guys. Maybe if we're ever on the East Coast, we'll give them another try to see what all the hype is about.



Random conversation heard between k & n all weekend:
k: We're friends, right?
n: Yeah.
k: And Daddy's bad?
n: Yeah. Dada ba. (n's word for "bad").

Hanging Out in HB

I love the weather we've been having lately. Warm, but not too hot. Saturday was the perfect day to go to the beach. We went to Huntington Beach (state side, of course!)


However, playing in the sand is not much fun when you have a cut on your finger with a bandaid. (The cut was from earlier in the day due to an unfortunate incident with scissors).

Daddy's Back Home

Last week, D was in Baja helping build a home with other team members from our church. As you can see, the kids were happy to have him back home.



While he was gone, I managed to clean/organize our room/bathroom. Now onto the next challenge: our closet.