California Sights

While I was in CA, my daughter was tour guide, wanting to take me places, etc. I love that...except she was just tour guide for her mother-in-law from Russia...and everyplace we could go cost money. BIG money. I felt bad about that.

Our first excursion was to Monterey. What an interesting-looking place! John Steinbeck wrote about it in his book Cannery Row (which I will have to read now). Our destination for the day was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We found a place to park at their Fisherman's Wharf, then walked the 1.2 miles to the aquarium (not knowing that there were free trolley rides to the aquarium from there). We saw seals up close and smelly. As usual, it was quite cool by the bay. The aquarium was interesting, but the children got squirrely after a few hours. Megan and Ryan walked the 1.2 miles back to the car and picked Robin and I up so we could see a couple more things. (They got ice cream for us on the way...which was in various stages of melting by the time they got to us.) In the meantime, the aquarium had closed, so Robin and I waited outside. Robbie found a tree to climb. She loved that. My little Nature Girl! We were late picking Denis up from work. He seems unflapped about that.

The second excursion came over the weekend when Denis could be with us. We drove 100 miles or so to Napa Valley to take a winery tour. Sterling Winery. Again, big $$ for the tour. Interestingly, we went through lots of temperature changes along the way. When we left Sunnyvale, it was 71 or 72 degrees. When we went over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (a first for the children and me), the bridge was shrouded in fog and the temp had dropped to 60. A few miles north of SF, the temp rose to 81...and was 88 by the time we got to the winery. What a microcosm of temperatures in such a short distance! The winery was beautiful. We took an aerial tram to the top of the valley to an overlook. There was a self-guided tour throughout, with 5 wine-tasting spots. (The children got apple juice at the last stop. Not grape juice!) In spite of the heat, it was really, really lovely! We stopped at Applebee's on the way home. Very nice day!

The third excursion was probably the children's favorite. We drove an hour to Santa Cruz just across the mountains from Sunnyvale. Santa Cruz is a place popular to surfers. There is a nice beach and a "boardwalk" with midway rides. Of course, it is a money pit! Once we found a place to park, we went to the beach. Robin changed into her bathing suit with beach towels around her for a blind, but Ryan couldn't bring himself to do it...so he played in the surf in his long pants rolled up to just below his knees. Silly us! Did we think he could wade without getting wet??? It was relatively warm but windy. Robin played and played and played, dragging seaweed out of the water and making sand castles. Ryan did, too, but eventually got cold. Megan and I protected the dry clothes as best we could so the kids would have something to ride home in. We had hooded sweatshirts for them (thank you, Goodwill!) so that went okay. When it was time to leave the beach, we knew we couldn't get away without doing the midway.

Tickets on the midway were $1 each, but most rides took 3-5 tickets. We were adding things up in our heads. I figured it was going to cost $40 or so just for the kids to have two rides each...until Ryan heard something that was announced. On Mondays and Tuesdays, from 5-8:00, it was 1907 Night (or something like that) and all rides were $1 each!!!! We bought 8 tickets. The kids got FOUR rides each...and we saved $32 by not doing the rides when we first got there! That left enough--and then some--for a snack before we headed back to pick up Denis. Yum!

When we got to Microsoft (late), Denis gave us a tour of the building. He has a private office that is much like a cubicle (no window) with five computers and three monitors. (He says you have to be with Microsoft for five years before you get a window.) They are supplied unlimited drinks and snacks. There are also break areas complete with XBox games, etc....and outside basketball courts, etc. The perks are good! Ryan decided that he wants to be another Bill Gates. Denis and the rest of us told him he'd have to buckle down and do well in school if he wants to be a multi-billionaire. Making the girls laugh in school just isn't going to cut it! Heh heh.

Oh...each day, we learned a new word in Russian. The 12th was Denis's father's birthday, so when he called on Skype (as he does every day) the children sang the Happy Birthday Song to him, "Happy Birthday dear 'dyeda'". "Dyeda" is a child's endearment term for "grandpa"...and it wasn't lost on Sergey. I don't understand Russian, but I noticed that he repeated the term and chuckled in recognition that the children had said it. I like that!