Aaron and I headed out to California the first weekend of September for a wedding. Raymond...He was the best man at our wedding so Aaron knew that this was something that he couldn't miss.
 |
| Ray at Aaron's wedding (to me!) in 2009 by my Daddy |
I wasn't planning on going because I knew that it would be my second week back at work and I didn't want to ask for a day off so early in the semester. I mean...that would have been pretty lame right? I would be missing TWO DAYS my second week back and one of them is a Friday...my longest day at work.
Well, since my co-worker got hit by a car, and I worked two weeks in my summer to cover for them, I figured that it was at least worth asking about. And my bosses said that it would be fine.
So.......her getting hit by a car....kind of worth it? I guess it was for me. But I bought my plane ticket about two weeks before the wedding and so I knew that Aaron and I wouldn't be able to sit by each other.
We got to the airport and Aaron and I sat down to wait to board our plane. And then Ray comes over....turns out that he was on our flight, and he says, "Wow....what are you guys doing here?"
What do you think we are doing here Ray? Waiting to board a plane to Oakland Airport....the same weekend as your wedding....what could we be doing?
What a silly.
His future wife comes over and it was fun getting to know her. She was lovely and before the plane boarded we all got to sit and chat.
We went to get on the plane and guess what kind of weirdos I had to sit next to on the plane?
Ray and Ashley.
Isn't it wonderful how life works out sometimes? Stuff like this seems to happen to me all the time. I don't know whether it is because Heavenly Father loves me and orchestras awesome things for me or if I make up a bigger deal of these things than they are. I think it is because Heavenly Father loves me.
Well, we did get to California with an extra day to play and since Aaron's parents LIVE in Fremont, we had an extra reason to come a little early. Aaron's dad took the day off of work so that we could all go sight seeing in an area that I had never been before.
We headed to Monterey Bay to visit Fisherman's Wharf and see what we could see.
Can I just say how nice it is to have people who understand when I'm taking FOREVER to move on to another spot because I'm busy taking pictures. Aaron's family is so good to me.
They even let me stand and take pictures of a seal fight. Apparently not every seal is allowed on this platform. It is a very exclusive seal club....clubbing seals?
The wildlife on the pier was pretty diverse but I guess I'm greedy. I wanted to see more animals AND there were whale watching tours being advertised.
We all decided that it would be fun to go for a little whale watching trip so we boarded the Princess Monterey.
There was a lot to look at even when we were leaving the harbor. I almost didn't know what to take a picture of first....and I still have tons of pictures that I haven't edited that I think are quite good. I also didn't know what camera to use first. I wanted to post Instagram photos...to add to my photo map but I also wanted pictures that I could edit with some quality. And Aaron had our point and shoot so that there would be some pictures of me. Yeah...that's right...we had three cameras going....I don't see the problem.
Here are some photos from my phone.
And here is a picture of me by Aaron with the point and shoot. Not the most flattering picture of me but still pretty epic.
What did we get to see out there? Tons of humpback whale action! A real whale! In real life! In the real ocean! It blew my mind.
Three hours of photo work and this is the best photo that I got. I don't know if I would be a very patient wildlife photographer. I've heard a National Geographic photographer say that if he could get a decent photo ever 6 months he is satisfied. His standards are probably a lot higher than mine.
Anyway, we also saw a couple HUNDRED dolphins moving as a giant pod passed our boat. I didn't get any pictures that I liked of that but it was INCREDIBLE to experience. INCREDIBLE. Seeing that many wild animals basically stampeding was a once in a lifetime experience...at least for me.
UPDATE: I still hold that I didn't get any pictures of the dolphins that I liked or that captured the amazing scene that we had in front of us, but I did get some pictures to prove that we saw them.
It was like a parade of wildlife. There were the hundreds of dolphins and their were pelicans and seagulls flying overhead looking for fish that were getting away from the dolphins. And then in the group of dolphins were a could random seals that got caught in the group and were going with the flow, I guess. Or they were after fish that the dolphins were chasing? I have no idea. But look at this guy go!
End of Update:
Back on the pier, we got to get a snack....of clam chowder. The classic Fisherman's Wharf food.
Aaron ended up eating most of the actually soup but I got a good portion of the bread....the yummy delicious sour dough bread. I love me some good sour dough.
And that was the end of our day....
NOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT!!!!!
What? Do we look like some tourist pansies? Aaron and I know how to TOURIST. We are hardcore tourists. We can make a day of being anywhere.
Next we drove around the coast enjoying the beautiful views of the water and the different districts in the area. There was a lot of beautiful ocean/fisherman related graffiti that I wish I could have gotten out and photographed as we drove but that would have taken hours and so it was time to just sit back and enjoy the moment.
We drove until we got to Pacific Grove which is apparently known for its Monarch Butterflies....apparently it is one of their destination locations a month a year.
It also had a quilt shop that Barb wanted to go and check out....so while she did that....
We headed to a museum. In the Pacific Grove Museum of Nature History (which is free to go to) they had a lot of butterfly related stations and activities.
Let me tell you about this picture:
When I visit Aaron's family, one of my goals, is to see how many times I can get Aaron's dad, Mike, to laugh. It is a pretty hard game actually. He might smile....but a laugh...that is something you have to work for.
So, I got into this cocoon chair, and I yelled out, "Mike, Mike! Look at me, Mike!"
When I was sure he was looking, I turned the chair slowly around and emerged from my cocoon! To the laughs of Mike. I WON THE GAME!
Look at how graceful I am getting out of the cocoon! I'm such a majestic creature....you can't even believe.
Outside of the museum is the "Spirit Nest". Would you believe that Mike and Aaron wouldn't get in it with me? Every party needs a pooper.....
Aaron wouldn't get in the "Spirit Nest" with me but he would make out with me under these plants....go figure. My kisses are pretty awesome...so I can't blame him.
We continued our drive along the coast and we even got out to walk around and see if we could see any sea otters...they had been very elusive that day. We had only seen a couple while we were on the Monterey Princess.
No luck....but we were close. Someone had just finished dinner. We just don't know who but we know that they like fish.
We ended the day by looking at the outside of an old Spanish mission in the area. Unfortunately we got there a little too late and it was closed but we got to enjoy the outside of it.
UPDATE:
The outside was quite beautiful and I can see why people still like to have their weddings here. I walked around the grounds and looked at the statues in the garden. I wish that I could have gotten a tour of the museum part and see the interior of the mission building.
It was a wonderful full day of touristing.
