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August 25th, Sunday

We drove about 25 miles and got to the Best Western Restaurant in Cambria before the wait staff had clocked in. Coffee. Lots of coffee. Tired? Who's tired? We're giddy and giggly. It's 6 friggin' AM in the morning and we're on vacation. As we left after breakfast, the hostess said to us, " I hope you have as much fun today as you had in here." I guess we entertained them :) It's still foggy, but not bad at all driving. Hardly anyone on the road. We stopped and took pictures at the San Simeon/Hearst Castle sign, and across the road at San Simeon State park. This is where I learned that JD has the talent to sing any road sign to the tune of Camp town Races … doodah, doodah. Over and over. And over.

Once we left the San Simeon area, we got to the pretty stuff. We were driving in and out of the fog, above and below the clouds. The ocean was just indescribable colors of blues. Straight-down cliffs, with the waves crashing on rocks the size of buses. We saw a stream falling down the hillside -- and the water itself was gold-colored. Driveways that looked like they went nowhere, with locked gates. A mixture of pine trees and desert yuccas and oak trees. Baby bunnies sitting on rocks, watching us crawl by. Driving through 'towns' that consisted of a restaurant and some weird statues. JD yelling every 1/8th mile, "Stop! Picture!" , and unsuccessfully looking for otters. Laughing until my stomach hurt. Doodah, doodah.

Further north more pretty stuff - Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park. Teaching JD what poison oak and poison ivy looks like. The ground was covered with it.

On to Monterey, lunch at a McDonald's, and on to San Jose. You can tell we're nearing civilization again. Traffic jams. JD falls asleep, but wakes up in time to help navigate into downtown San Jose. We call Ara on the cell to tell her we're close, real close. AAA Trip-Tic's are wrong!! New construction! Navigator, which way? That way! Good guess, I can see the hotel from the freeway. There's Ara! I hand the keys to the van to the valet and tell him I don't even want to SEE it until Wednesday. Checking in -- the staff can't seem to do enough for me. Corner suite! "Would you like Hilton point credits for JD's room since he's not an Honors member?" Hell, yes! Gold key! Free breakfast on the 18th floor! Microwave! CD player! Iced mineral water and candies and a card from the Hilton staff waiting for me in the suite. The bellboy must have thought I was demented. I walked around the suite for ten minutes and all I could say was "Oh my gosh." Ara and her crew are right next door, JD's across the hall. (The suite was never this clean again)

We finally headed out for dinner and went to the House of Siam. Good, but not as good as the Thai place in Philadelphia. Afterwards we wandered around the area, played in the fountains in front of the Fairmont, and just talked our heads off :)

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ConJose '02

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