Day Tripper

More donuts you ask?  Yes, I say.  There will be many, many more donuts." 

Uncle Rick just wouldn't hear of us leaving Orange County without trying Adams Avenue Donuts which, he claims, has appeared on Discovery Channel and Food Network.  

After trying them, I believe every word of praise I heard.  It's a dumpy looking place with old men hanging around drooling over classic cars, but the donuts are fresh, homemade and cheap.  My kind of eats!  I recommend the sugar donut, but Andrew really enjoy the maple frosted.

The rest of the day pretty much looked like this.  We hit the road for the second leg of our trip.

I got a little nervous when this was all we saw for the first two hours.  I got even more nervous when two hours into our drive, we were only at LAX.  That took us only 30 mintutes by Jeep on the 405.  It's definitely not for those in a hurry!

Then it started clearing out and we were mesmerized by this scenery the rest of the drive.

First stop: Santa Barbara, Stearns Wharf.

I hope you won't tire of Pacific Ocean pictures.

Because they are aplenty.

About half of Stearns Wharf burned in a fire in 1998, but it has since been rebuilt.

These birds are so used to tourists that we are more scared of them than they are of us.

Brave little fellas.  We opted to eat inside to stay out of their way.

After foregoing Moby Dick Restaurant's pricey menu, we stopped at a quick seafood place.  I ordered a grilled tilapia sandwich.

Andrew - fried shrimp after I talked him out of ordering pizza.

Aren't you glad you have me around, honey?

And here I am with my after-lunch dessert.  I really do end every meal with something sweet. 

We stopped in Solvang, a Danish village just outside of Santa Barbara.  It felt pretty empty there.  Kind of like Gatlinburg without all the traffic - and with a little culture and couth.  

It still feels weird to put pictures of myself on here, but I've decided to make a book out of my blog - kind of like a scrapbook - so you may be seeing more of me on here!

Considering Uncle Rick Olson recommended we stop here, we had to drop by Olsen's Bakery! 

 

He's so good - no ice cream at Stearns Wharf and black coffee without even a bite of my cookie.

Mmm.  A marzipan cookie and a cafe latte on the patio.  A much needed rest from the driving.

Just wouldn't feel like Holland without a windmill.

This one's for you, Mom.  I know you would have headed straight for this stitchery store.

Back in the car, this is the view on the right.

And the left.

Where did this come from?  Luckily we were freezing and had just put the top back up before this strange weather crept up on us.

Speaking of creepy, this was the scene right outside of our hotel room in Morro Bay.  At least 50 loud, squawking birds hovering in the hazy mist.

Hoping to escape the birds, we left for dinner at Taco Temple though we were warned lines would be long.  No line and no doubt the best nachos I've ever had.

I will revisit this California Fusion restaurant in my dreams tonight.

Wonderful

Saturday we woke with no plans other than the wedding at 6:00 - unusual for me, I know!  Before we did anything, we knew we had to find some good breakfast.  With a donut place on nearly every corner, we thought it might be good to try one.  Uncle Rick has talked about a place he loves, and we thought we found it because the ones we had were so good.  We later learned, at the wedding, that he was disgusted we would even try Royal Donuts - apparently not the place he raves about.

They were so good though!  A slightly fresher, tastier version of Dunkin' Donuts - my pick over Krispy Kreme any day.

Trying to get in as much family time as we could, Andrew and I hung out on the porch with his Grandpa for the rest of the morning.

Unable to eat a standard turkey sandwich or PB&J, we opted for the local favorite In-N-Out.  

We're thinking of opening up a McAffry franchise in K-Town.  Whaddayathink?

I know what he thinks about it.

I just can't get enough of this little one.

Love that Angels hat.  A baseball player in the making.

Or is that a surfer in the making?

I went to the neighborhood pool with Susan, Lynn, Ian and Grandma for the afternoon while Andrew visited with his Grandpa some more.  Then it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

But not before spiting Andrew by taking another self-portrait in the scarf that he said I look, and I quote here, "ridiculous" in.  Can anybody guess where it's from?  (Hint: Check out the print.)

Uncle Rick with granddaughter Taylor.

My lovely mother-in-law.

Have I mentioned I need a zoom lens?  This picture does not do the bride and groom justice.  They were radiant and the setting breathtaking.

Laura carried this beautiful pink color throughout the decor.

Notice the western themed toppers and rope trailing down the cake.

The Snow family.  Even though they live in Powell, I've seen them more in California this week than I have in the last year all together.

The Williams family who graciously hosted us on our two previous CA trips when we were too young to even rent a car!

Here is their sweet Allie that I just met on this trip.  How cute is that face?

Love that guy.

Ian just decided to carry the nut bowl around with him.

He was looking pretty dapper in that suit.  I think he knew how good he looked.  He was definitely enjoying the camera action.

The wedding was such fun.  Definitely the swankiest wedding I've ever attended but with lots of personal touches.  To carry through the western theme, the entire wedding party wore cowboy boots: groomsmen wore black, bridesmaids wore white and the five flower girls and ring bearers wore miniature versions of the same.  The groomsmen even wore cowboy hats.  Lucky for me, in lieu of the typical free style dancing, they taught line dances instead.  Yay for the uncoordinated person who can't dance!  Play "Ice Ice Baby" and I run as fast as I can for the buffet line, but give me the "Boot, Scootin, Boogie" and I can dance the night away.

Seating the entire family from Tennessee at one table might have not been the best idea.  Kind of felt like a zoo exhibit - "Look!  There's the family from Tennessee!"  I guess requesting and singing Rocky Top at the top of our lungs didn't really help our case either.  

Really though, the wedding was a beautiful way to end our time in SoCal with most of the family all in one place.  Matt, Melissa and their families were definitely missed, but with cousin Brittany's wedding next May, we have another shot for getting everybody together.

You're My Best Friend

Andrew and I spent most of Friday by ourselves.  We first went to Huntington Beach, otherwise known as Surf City.  We just missed the Hurley US Open Surfing Championship last week.

I hope the waves were bigger then because on Friday the surfers were practically crawling over one another waiting for a good one.  They looked pretty frustrated.  Notice the "marine layer" that makes it look overcast every morning.  Quite a euphemism if I've ever heard one.  Isn't that the L.A. smog we've all heard about? 

This was the beach at 9:00 AM.  By noon, you can hardly find a place to lay your towel - so we went further down the beach to find a little space.

But not before having breakfast at Ruby's!  There she is, way down at the end of the pier.

The anticipation just builds as you walk down the pier making the food that much more delicious.

This little diner has quite a menu.  We were tempted to come back for lunch too but somehow resisted that unhealthy urge!

Waiting for the meal.

We both ordered the cinnamon roll french toast.  Oh my heavens is that stuff yummy!  

After spending most of the day at the beach, we then went to the Orange County Fair.

These guys were the best entertainment.  Check out the creative advertising on the ground for gotdrummers.com

I haven't been to the fair at home since elementary school, but I would imagine it looks nothing like this one.  It was beautiful and everything was surprisingly clean.

The food offerings were overwhelming, but we finally decided on this fried zucchini and 

chicken fajitas.  The fajitas weren't actually that great though they looked delicious.  Twenty-five dollars later Andrew just decided to go for a pizza instead.

Those pink lights actually hold people spinning that fast in the air.  You would never catch us on that thing!

We enjoyed just wandering around looking at the rides and events - and, of course, the food too!  Somehow Andrew resisted the fried twinkie, but I had to try the key lime cupcake.  Anybody know of a recipe for that?  I've gotta find one.

At the end of the evening, we bit the bullet and paid $10 to ride the ferris wheel.  Isn't it beautiful?

I don't know if it's age or what, but all of a sudden I got a little nervous when this was all I could see.  We were the first ones on the ride so we were lucky enough to just hang in the air swinging back and forth on our gondola pondering what it would be like to free fall straight to the ground.  A pretty romantic moment.

Andrew was such a good sport to ride this with me even though he's scared of heights.  It wasn't half as bad as the Eiffel Tower though.  Right, honey?

The view from the Ferris Wheel.

Not much else to report from Friday.  Just a nice, relaxing fun-filled day with my husband.  Hope to have a few more of these on the rest of the trip!