Kailani painting her race car tires black
Two sisters out for sushi dinner
Look at all those groceries. Starving student no more!
(The beer was Sean's!)
The view from Highway 299
Taking the Audi through the drive-through Redwood tree
The Mendocino Coast
Fort Bragg
Happy to be back in California!
10.06.08: Our plane from Lihue, Kauai to Seattle wasn’t exactly on time. We ended up leaving around midnight and the plane was scheduled to land in around 7am after a 5 hour flight. It hardly seemed enough time to get any sleep, but we survived. From Seattle, we had a few hours layover. I at least managed to catch a few Z’s lying across the chairs at the gate.
Kailani cried more than ever when we touched down in San Jose. I’m sure it was just lack of sleep, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew our trip was over. After Jimmy picked us up from the airport and we got settled, we decided to get a bite to eat for lunch. Of course, we ended up going at Whole Foods. I do have to admit that it WAS nice to grab a bite to eat there, and to see all the familiar good foods that they sell. Since we hadn’t eaten any “official” Mexican food since we left the country in February (yummy fish tacos in Kauai are the closest we got) we invited a few friends for Casa Lupe in Sunnyvale for our first dinner. The re-connection with our friends was great, and good ole’ Casa Lupe food was just the same as ever. Sometime that day, Kailani asked if we could go on an airplane again. It was kind of heartbreaking to tell her we didn’t have any plans to anymore. Thanks, Jim and Jen, for the ride and putting us up for our first night back!
The next three days of being back in the Bay Area, we stayed at the Saunders’ house in Sunnyvale. (Thanks guys!!!!) For Kailani, longing for “some friends to play with” the past several months, it was the best place to stay. She is one month older than Noah, and the two have “officially” known each other since conception as his parents and older brother were living next door to us in our duplex at that time. They are so similar in demeanor and personality; you would think they are two peas in a pod! Everyday, we commuted over-the-hill to Santa Cruz to look for a temporary house. The drive got old fast. And, we never really found one that stood out as “the one”, but had a few options to choose from.
That Saturday, we also visited a nursery school in Santa Cruz. It was a little too early for us to start thinking about it, but they were having an open house that we didn’t want to miss. We were also honored that we were able to be there for little Mosley’s first birthday party. Kailani had a great time painting wooden cars as she so carefully painted the wheels black, avoiding everything else. I was impressed!
Later that day, we hit the road and drove up to see Caitlin in her new off-campus apartment for two nights. Since she was living in furnished on-campus housing last February when we left, we put all her bedroom furniture in our storage containers. Needless to say, her apartment is fairly minimal. Sean and I made a bed on the floor with a small pile of blankets, Kailani got Caitlin’s “loaned” mattress, and Caitlin got the couch that her roommate, Dana’s mother bought them. Since the “starving student” can’t afford to normally eat sushi, she took us, including Dana, to The Boathouse for dinner. I do have to say it was good, and reminded me of the old Hanamaru days. Kailani’s getting to be an old pro at using the chopsticks. Perhaps, the amount of time she spent in Asian has paid off! I played a reverse-role by bringing our dirty laundry to her house. But, made up for it by taking her grocery shopping and making two large pots of her favorite, spaghetti sauce, which we froze the excess for later. As we left Caitlin’s, we decided to stop for a tasting at Stubb’s, the only organic winery in Marin County. It was situated in hills above Petaluma and the landscape reminded us of New Zealand, except not as green. I didn’t realize it when I found the place, but they didn’t have a tasting room. Instead, Mary Stubb popped open a couple of bottles for us to try in the dining room of her beautiful house. They had a really nice Pinot Noir and good, not-too-oakey Chardonnay. Making this pit stop proved to be a worthwhile treat.
From there, we continued up north to Weaverville, in the Trinity Alps, to see friends, Karen, Mark and almost-eight year old Emily. The weather was great this time of year and we really enjoyed landscape and beauty of California, especially now that we can compare it with everything else we’ve seen. I used to dread the drive up Highway 5. But this time, I saw things that I never gave a second look at before. Kailani and Emily play extremely well together. So again, she was thrilled to have another friend to play with. While Emily was at school, Karen took us for a visit to a local winery. Unfortunately because it was harvest time, the staff was in the vineyards picking and their tasting room was closed. Still, it was interesting to go from the bare branches of Australia and New Zealand, where it was just warming up from their winter, to the full leafy vines of California during the fall. Later that afternoon, Karen, Kailani and I had the pleasure of accompanying Emily to her soccer practice, while Sean and Mark decided to bike there. It was just a few miles away, but as the crow flies, meaning you had to get over a mountain range. It seemed to take a while, but for Sean not riding in at least a few years, he survived fairly well. That night, I checked the internet, just to see if there were any new postings for rental houses, and found a sweet deal that I couldn’t pass up calling, right on the beach and for a great price (in exchange for it being on the market, which didn’t bother us any).
The next day, we left Weaverville via Highway 299 to Eureka and down the coast on 101. This was breaking new ground as we’ve always rushed back down on Highway 5. It was beautiful drive alongside a river and Sean vowed that we’ll be going up there again soon so he can try fishing. We stopped for lunch at Lost Coast Brewery where Sean says he had the best oysters and chips ever. I do have to agree. I had one of his oysters, and they were pretty awesome. We also had the Ten Beer Sampler for $10, and it included two additional samples of their seasonal beers. How can you pass that up? Our favorites were the Downtown Brown, Winterbraun and the Indica Pale Ale, which had a bit of a skunky taste. As we continue down south, we drove past some of California’s giant redwood trees which were absolutely stunning. It was definitely the biggest forest area we’ve ever been to and doesn’t come close to anything we’ve seen in the past eight months. We even decided to drive through the tourist magnet drive-through redwood tree. It’s too bad Kailani was napping at that point. But, Sean and I still got a kick out of taking a picture of our well-missed and beloved Audi going through it. From there, we hit Highway 1 west through some of the windiest hills we’ve ever drove to the Shoreline Highway, where it hits the Mendocino coast. Sean was getting tired of driving, so I took over, relishing the way the Audi handled every twist, turn, ascent and descent. If you ever want to truly test drive a car, I highly recommend taking this route which is NORTH of the Mendocino Coast (not Highway 20 or 128 that most people take from the Bay Area). That night, we ended up finding a great little room right on the cliffs overlooking the harbor in Fort Bragg, and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I guess it helped that it was the middle of the week and I don’t think it was considered high season. Although, with such beautiful weather this time of the year, one would think it should be.
The next day, we woke and drove straight down to Santa Cruz. I would have loved to make another couple pit stops, but we were playing phone tag with the “sweet deal” house broker and wanted to view it ASAP. We at least took the scenic drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Again, we got to see California in all its autumn glory. Taking a few extra days to take this little road trip definitely proved to be worthwhile in our opinions!
When we saw the house, it was everything we expected and then some. (The “some” would probably be the slight view of the 26th Ave. beach.) But, we still had to go through the application process, and it was going to take a couple days for the owner to make a decision. We found a room at a local Best Western, but only for one night because they were fully booked beyond that. The next day, we looked and looked for something else. But because it was the weekend, we couldn’t find anything decent and inexpensive. I suggested we go to a campground. But, we didn’t have any camping gear and Sean didn’t seem to think it would be comfortable shoving everything into the front seats, putting the back seats down, and all of us sleeping back there. I wonder why… ;-) Eventually, we found ourselves aimlessly driving around town with a car full of all our belongings, wondering what to do next. We were really feeling “homeless” by then. We finally ended up taking a room at a place where I was less than thrilled over it’s cleanliness, but kept telling myself it was only for one night.
As it turned out, the owner of the house STILL hadn’t made a decision. We again found ourselves driving around, wondering what to do while waiting for him. We still hadn’t seen our friends who live in Santa Cruz, Tammy in full blown pregnant magnificence, or their new house, as they had moved there after we left. So, we ended up showing up at their doorstep unannounced. They ended up offering us to stay with them and it sure beat the “dirty” motel room. So, we took them up on it and ended up there for the rest of the weekend, after we had dinner with other friends, Jim and Jen from Sunnyvale. I’m sure Jim and Jen were planning on coming to see us at our new house, but that obviously didn’t happen as fast as expected now that we were waiting for the “sweet deal”.
Again, staying with John and Tammy ended up being a blessing. Kailani loved playing with their girls, Maiah and Ella, and it was such a treat to spend time reconnecting with them. Tammy, the girls and I took a trip over the hill to the mall for some last minute things she needed for the baby and I was able to get some much needed “essentials” myself. Meanwhile, Sean helped John by crawling under the house with him for some renovation work. We can’t thank you guys ENOUGH for putting us up, especially so unexpectedly!!! When the broker for the house finally called me back, we found that they took another applicant. I wasn’t heartbroken but a little irritated, mostly because we waited when we could have moved into our second-choice house, albeit pricier and not right at the beach. But, we wouldn’t have been aimlessly driving around “homeless” and bouncing around like we did. Still, I don’t think I really have anyone to blame but myself, for waiting around for the house.
Promptly that Monday morning, we signed a month-to-month lease and picked up the keys to our new furnished bungalow/cottage in the Capitola “Jewel Box” neighborhood. The process to find a house definitely took us longer than expected, but the place is comfortable and it’s where we now call home, at least for the time being… :-)
10.06.08: Our plane from Lihue, Kauai to Seattle wasn’t exactly on time. We ended up leaving around midnight and the plane was scheduled to land in around 7am after a 5 hour flight. It hardly seemed enough time to get any sleep, but we survived. From Seattle, we had a few hours layover. I at least managed to catch a few Z’s lying across the chairs at the gate.
Kailani cried more than ever when we touched down in San Jose. I’m sure it was just lack of sleep, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew our trip was over. After Jimmy picked us up from the airport and we got settled, we decided to get a bite to eat for lunch. Of course, we ended up going at Whole Foods. I do have to admit that it WAS nice to grab a bite to eat there, and to see all the familiar good foods that they sell. Since we hadn’t eaten any “official” Mexican food since we left the country in February (yummy fish tacos in Kauai are the closest we got) we invited a few friends for Casa Lupe in Sunnyvale for our first dinner. The re-connection with our friends was great, and good ole’ Casa Lupe food was just the same as ever. Sometime that day, Kailani asked if we could go on an airplane again. It was kind of heartbreaking to tell her we didn’t have any plans to anymore. Thanks, Jim and Jen, for the ride and putting us up for our first night back!
The next three days of being back in the Bay Area, we stayed at the Saunders’ house in Sunnyvale. (Thanks guys!!!!) For Kailani, longing for “some friends to play with” the past several months, it was the best place to stay. She is one month older than Noah, and the two have “officially” known each other since conception as his parents and older brother were living next door to us in our duplex at that time. They are so similar in demeanor and personality; you would think they are two peas in a pod! Everyday, we commuted over-the-hill to Santa Cruz to look for a temporary house. The drive got old fast. And, we never really found one that stood out as “the one”, but had a few options to choose from.
That Saturday, we also visited a nursery school in Santa Cruz. It was a little too early for us to start thinking about it, but they were having an open house that we didn’t want to miss. We were also honored that we were able to be there for little Mosley’s first birthday party. Kailani had a great time painting wooden cars as she so carefully painted the wheels black, avoiding everything else. I was impressed!
Later that day, we hit the road and drove up to see Caitlin in her new off-campus apartment for two nights. Since she was living in furnished on-campus housing last February when we left, we put all her bedroom furniture in our storage containers. Needless to say, her apartment is fairly minimal. Sean and I made a bed on the floor with a small pile of blankets, Kailani got Caitlin’s “loaned” mattress, and Caitlin got the couch that her roommate, Dana’s mother bought them. Since the “starving student” can’t afford to normally eat sushi, she took us, including Dana, to The Boathouse for dinner. I do have to say it was good, and reminded me of the old Hanamaru days. Kailani’s getting to be an old pro at using the chopsticks. Perhaps, the amount of time she spent in Asian has paid off! I played a reverse-role by bringing our dirty laundry to her house. But, made up for it by taking her grocery shopping and making two large pots of her favorite, spaghetti sauce, which we froze the excess for later. As we left Caitlin’s, we decided to stop for a tasting at Stubb’s, the only organic winery in Marin County. It was situated in hills above Petaluma and the landscape reminded us of New Zealand, except not as green. I didn’t realize it when I found the place, but they didn’t have a tasting room. Instead, Mary Stubb popped open a couple of bottles for us to try in the dining room of her beautiful house. They had a really nice Pinot Noir and good, not-too-oakey Chardonnay. Making this pit stop proved to be a worthwhile treat.
From there, we continued up north to Weaverville, in the Trinity Alps, to see friends, Karen, Mark and almost-eight year old Emily. The weather was great this time of year and we really enjoyed landscape and beauty of California, especially now that we can compare it with everything else we’ve seen. I used to dread the drive up Highway 5. But this time, I saw things that I never gave a second look at before. Kailani and Emily play extremely well together. So again, she was thrilled to have another friend to play with. While Emily was at school, Karen took us for a visit to a local winery. Unfortunately because it was harvest time, the staff was in the vineyards picking and their tasting room was closed. Still, it was interesting to go from the bare branches of Australia and New Zealand, where it was just warming up from their winter, to the full leafy vines of California during the fall. Later that afternoon, Karen, Kailani and I had the pleasure of accompanying Emily to her soccer practice, while Sean and Mark decided to bike there. It was just a few miles away, but as the crow flies, meaning you had to get over a mountain range. It seemed to take a while, but for Sean not riding in at least a few years, he survived fairly well. That night, I checked the internet, just to see if there were any new postings for rental houses, and found a sweet deal that I couldn’t pass up calling, right on the beach and for a great price (in exchange for it being on the market, which didn’t bother us any).
The next day, we left Weaverville via Highway 299 to Eureka and down the coast on 101. This was breaking new ground as we’ve always rushed back down on Highway 5. It was beautiful drive alongside a river and Sean vowed that we’ll be going up there again soon so he can try fishing. We stopped for lunch at Lost Coast Brewery where Sean says he had the best oysters and chips ever. I do have to agree. I had one of his oysters, and they were pretty awesome. We also had the Ten Beer Sampler for $10, and it included two additional samples of their seasonal beers. How can you pass that up? Our favorites were the Downtown Brown, Winterbraun and the Indica Pale Ale, which had a bit of a skunky taste. As we continue down south, we drove past some of California’s giant redwood trees which were absolutely stunning. It was definitely the biggest forest area we’ve ever been to and doesn’t come close to anything we’ve seen in the past eight months. We even decided to drive through the tourist magnet drive-through redwood tree. It’s too bad Kailani was napping at that point. But, Sean and I still got a kick out of taking a picture of our well-missed and beloved Audi going through it. From there, we hit Highway 1 west through some of the windiest hills we’ve ever drove to the Shoreline Highway, where it hits the Mendocino coast. Sean was getting tired of driving, so I took over, relishing the way the Audi handled every twist, turn, ascent and descent. If you ever want to truly test drive a car, I highly recommend taking this route which is NORTH of the Mendocino Coast (not Highway 20 or 128 that most people take from the Bay Area). That night, we ended up finding a great little room right on the cliffs overlooking the harbor in Fort Bragg, and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I guess it helped that it was the middle of the week and I don’t think it was considered high season. Although, with such beautiful weather this time of the year, one would think it should be.
The next day, we woke and drove straight down to Santa Cruz. I would have loved to make another couple pit stops, but we were playing phone tag with the “sweet deal” house broker and wanted to view it ASAP. We at least took the scenic drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Again, we got to see California in all its autumn glory. Taking a few extra days to take this little road trip definitely proved to be worthwhile in our opinions!
When we saw the house, it was everything we expected and then some. (The “some” would probably be the slight view of the 26th Ave. beach.) But, we still had to go through the application process, and it was going to take a couple days for the owner to make a decision. We found a room at a local Best Western, but only for one night because they were fully booked beyond that. The next day, we looked and looked for something else. But because it was the weekend, we couldn’t find anything decent and inexpensive. I suggested we go to a campground. But, we didn’t have any camping gear and Sean didn’t seem to think it would be comfortable shoving everything into the front seats, putting the back seats down, and all of us sleeping back there. I wonder why… ;-) Eventually, we found ourselves aimlessly driving around town with a car full of all our belongings, wondering what to do next. We were really feeling “homeless” by then. We finally ended up taking a room at a place where I was less than thrilled over it’s cleanliness, but kept telling myself it was only for one night.
As it turned out, the owner of the house STILL hadn’t made a decision. We again found ourselves driving around, wondering what to do while waiting for him. We still hadn’t seen our friends who live in Santa Cruz, Tammy in full blown pregnant magnificence, or their new house, as they had moved there after we left. So, we ended up showing up at their doorstep unannounced. They ended up offering us to stay with them and it sure beat the “dirty” motel room. So, we took them up on it and ended up there for the rest of the weekend, after we had dinner with other friends, Jim and Jen from Sunnyvale. I’m sure Jim and Jen were planning on coming to see us at our new house, but that obviously didn’t happen as fast as expected now that we were waiting for the “sweet deal”.
Again, staying with John and Tammy ended up being a blessing. Kailani loved playing with their girls, Maiah and Ella, and it was such a treat to spend time reconnecting with them. Tammy, the girls and I took a trip over the hill to the mall for some last minute things she needed for the baby and I was able to get some much needed “essentials” myself. Meanwhile, Sean helped John by crawling under the house with him for some renovation work. We can’t thank you guys ENOUGH for putting us up, especially so unexpectedly!!! When the broker for the house finally called me back, we found that they took another applicant. I wasn’t heartbroken but a little irritated, mostly because we waited when we could have moved into our second-choice house, albeit pricier and not right at the beach. But, we wouldn’t have been aimlessly driving around “homeless” and bouncing around like we did. Still, I don’t think I really have anyone to blame but myself, for waiting around for the house.
Promptly that Monday morning, we signed a month-to-month lease and picked up the keys to our new furnished bungalow/cottage in the Capitola “Jewel Box” neighborhood. The process to find a house definitely took us longer than expected, but the place is comfortable and it’s where we now call home, at least for the time being… :-)
