Mission at Carmel

Carmel is quite close to Pacific Grove. One afternoon, I went to visit the mission there with my parents and Peter & Anne.

Me standing outside the old church:

There was a sanctuary, a couple small museum buildings, and an area where priests used to live. Peter & Anne are at the top of the steps below.

Here is the inside of the sanctuary. The pope visited this mission at some point, and there was a memorial stone laid into the floor where he had kneeled to pray.

The church exterior. The buildings were pretty, but I enjoyed the grounds just as much, if not more.

Peter, Anne, and Dad in front of a small museum:

A picture I took of Mom and me:

This lovely bit of architectural detail was on the back side of the building. I thought it was such a nice-looking stair.

Flowers in the mission courtyard:

More flowers, along the edge of the roof:

Inside the mission building, there was a dead priest entombed. I thought the top of his coffin was so interesting because of the bear he is resting his feet on. (It reminds me of the state flag somewhat.)

Since the trip

Since our trip to CA, we have been keeping busy with work and enjoying the warmer weather. I started my census job, so I usually work a few hours each day for that. Brian is working on papers for the end of the semester and a video for the campus comedy group he is involved in. Inspired by Brian's chop, I got my hair cut about shoulder-length (no pictures yet). We took Brussels and Rex out for a walk in Lincoln Park on Friday. It was such nice weather that I couldn't stay inside. I think they enjoyed the scenery as well. We walked to a pond and checked out the ducks.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Everyone took a trip to the aquarium on Friday. It was great to see some of the variety of critters that live in/around the water. The number of different animals was really incredible to me. The Asilomar Conference Grounds provided all our meals while we were staying there. Since we were taking a trip Friday, they made us some tastey boxed lunches. We ate these outside the aquarium.

(L to R): Peter, Anne, Eli, Josiah (hidden entirey behind Dad), Dad, Simon, Rachel, Grandma, David, Grandpa, & Brian. Mom and I were also there, but it is really hard to get everyone in one picture, especially in such a large group!
Jellyfish:

Sea dragons:

Sea horses:

Several types of corals (with a few fish thrown in):

Coastal birds:

Sea animals adapting to human trash in their environment:

A super-spikey crab:

Living sea dollars (fuzzy and purple!):

A flat fish, with both eyes migrated to one side of the body (creepy):

A skate egg pouch, where eggs hatch and young skates develop, along with a sea pen (orange):

So pretty:

More coral (we like coral):

A beautiful tank with many creatures, including a snail, shrimp, and anemone:

Another good-looking invertebrate (I'm not sure of the exact name):

Asilomar, the first evening

After dinner, several people headed out to the beach to enjoy the sunset.

The little boys wanted to play catch with a tennis ball.

There was a rocky area on the beach where we looked in the tide pools and climbed on the rocks.

The waves come in pretty fast, so you need to stay n the beach or choose a tall rock to stand on.

Alternatively, if you don't choose a tall enough rock, you should bring an uncle to keep you out of the water.

San Francisco

Brian spent the first day of his vacation in SF after I picked him up from the airport. We did a little sightseeing, since he had never been to the city before.

We were both up pretty early. I went up to the hotel roof to check out the view and took this picture of Coit Tower. This tower is a memorial celebrating firefighters.

We left the hotel by foot, since it can be difficult to find parking in SF. We started by hiking uphill to the crooked part of Lombard Street. After climbing up this street, we decided to search for breakfast.

We headed north, towards the bay. The view was quite nice, although it was a bit hazy. We headed to the marine park, which is a dock run by the NPS that has several interesting ships restored along it. I figured this area would be touristy enough to find several restaurants.

We settled on the Buena Vista, on Beach Street. We had a tastey breakfast that included some sourdough toast. Our table was right by the window, which looked out on the cable car station and the bay.

We wandered along the bay a bit and found the station for the Duck Tours. (This tour company was made famous by a couple important trademark cases that Brian had to read for school.) It was a great tour. We rode in a vehicle that can go on land or water (hence the duck name). We all got duck bills to blow into that made a super loud duck noise. Once we were out on the water, I even got to drive the boat for a while.

Giants stadium & downtown from the water:

The duck!

We walked along the marine park dock and looked at some of the boats.

We stopped to see the sea lions at the wharf. This year, there are only a small number of sea lions staying in SF Bay. It is not exactly clear why that is. In previous years, there have been many more.

The flowers were blooming beautifully in SF, a marked difference from what we had left in NJ.

After walking along fisherman's wharf a bit, we decided to head back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and drive out of town. Overall, we had a nice time exploring SF.

I will end our SF post with a couple more pictures of us from the Duck tour. Quack!

Ripon

Before going to pick up Brian in SF, I spent some time at my grandparent's house in Ripon.

I think it is funny that David and I took almost the exact same picture of the redwood tree in the front yard. It was warmer when I took my picture, so it must have been a different day.

These are two other large trees in the front yard. I just think they are pretty.

Mom, Simon, Rachel, Eli. What is on TV?

Grandpa watching the news:

Eli thought it was so funny that we could take a picture of ourselves!

Grandma & cousin Matthew:

Cousin Calvin & his daughter Joleen:

Aunt Rebecca & Mom: