Salinis/Monterey, CA

Mark was really excited to get to our next destination because we were staying at Laguna Seca Recreation Area.  It is home to the famous Laguna Seca Mazda Speedway.  Not only was the park right next to the racetrack, it was also fabulously beautiful.  I picked a woody site that overlooked the hills.  Mark claimed that the site was too unlevel, but I insisted on staying there.  It was a double site and we opened our door to a grassy play area with lots of awesome climbing trees.  

Beans was not impressed...

After exploring the park on Friday, we spent Saturday at Big Sur.  It was beautiful!  We decided to take a hike to a waterfall in the hills.  Judah was a great hiker.  He brought his own backpack full of snacks and was ready to go! 

Beans was into it too.

Judah found a hiking stick that accompanied him the whole way.  It was mostly used to hit things on the side of the trail, but I think it helped him up the hills, too.

When we finally got to the  waterfall it was beautiful, but a little anticlimactic.  Plus there was a big family of jerks sitting in front of it so no one could really take any pictures.  But we had a nice lunch and then headed back. 

Beans was pooped.

But Mark was full of energy.  While Sawyer slept, Mark took Judah on a bike ride to check out the racetrack. 

And the infamous corkscrew

Then we went into town where Judah found a fire truck (and some hot firemen--seriously, the firemen in California are exceptionally hot).

When we go home I made dinner...and Holden cleaned up.  Naughty.

After dinner, Judah was completely captivated by Wheel of Fortune.  He is really excited for next week when he gets to watch it with Jen. 

Then the boys and I read in bed for a bit before we crashed.

The next day we went to  Monterey, which was right down the street.  We checked out cannery row, which was an old fishing/canning district and the area about which Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row.  Dan Burke, I thought about you the whole time. Apparently JS is from Salinis--where we were staying--and hung out in Monterey a lot.  There were signs about him everywhere. 

Judah was really into the scuba divers...

and the pirates, although he was a bit dubious about this guy.

There was a glass elevator that he really wanted to check out.  I held on in terror as we ascended the three floors to a bar and then had to go right back down.

When we got home, we just hung out and played.  This is the view out of our back window.  Beautiful, right? 

I got out some toys for the babies...

and climbed trees with Judah.  Mark took a picture just as I looked down and shouted "It's covered in ants!".  It really was covered in ants.

Mark and Judah vacuumed out our filthy car...

while Saywer comfort tested Judah's car seat...

and the dogs sniffed stuff.

Then we went for a walk and watched the sun set. 

When we got home, Judah helped me make dinner.

By this time, I was ready to concede, that we were at an extreme angle.  The back of the RV was hanging off of the hill and we were sleeping with our heads well below our feet.  I think this caused my spine to compress.  Although I don't think I got any shorter, I did wake up every morning with crazy back pain.  So on our final night, we busted out the couch and table beds and had a slumber party in the living room.  I slept with my head on the elevated side and it was amazing.  Had Sawyer not woken up every half hour to nurse, Judah coughed until he threw up, and, later, fell out of bed, it would have been a fabulous night sleep.

v

  

On Monday I had papers to grade, so I headed to Starbucks to work while the boys got the RV ready to go.  By the time I got back, it was check out so we unhooked water and electric, dumped, hooked up the car, and headed down the coast.