Monterey Bay Aquarium

sea anemone

sea nettle

egg-yolk jelly

sea otter

shark in kelp forest

blue tang

penguin

leafy sea dragon

sea nettles

sea horses

rainbow!

moon jellies

Kelp forest

Sunday roadtrip PICS

Carson City, Nevada

Julie & I at Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Emerald Island at Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe!

snow mobiling at Lake Tahoe

Sacramento, California

Julie & I in San Francisco

San Francisco at night

Julie & I at Pier 39

Chinatown- San Francisco

California back to Texas :(

So Julie left Monday am for San Antonio. I stayed in Fresno, Cali hoping to get a new assignment in the area soon!! After 2 days with nothing to do in the fruit farm capitol of California and the only job prospect being in LA I left Fresno and went to Carmel.

Seaside Beach- Monterey State Beach

There I stayed with my grandparents wonderful friends- the Bigbee's. Last time I was in California over 3 years ago I stayed with them at their home. They are a wonderful couple with a great big heart! They let me just spot by and stay with them for 3 days!!!! I am soo thankful for the warm bed and delicious meals and time with them!!

Laguna Seca- Monterey County

Thursday I went the Monterrey Bay Aquarium- which is absolutely amazing and I highly recommend to everyone! Last time in Carmel I made a visit to this aquarium and I was totally impressed! This visit there was a special exhibit about seahorses- which was just beautiful and breath taking!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

For lunch I left the aquarium and went down the pier for fresh fish lunch- fish and chips. I can honestly say I have never had before and it was delicious. After lunch I had 2 telephone interviews in LA hospital. Both interviews went great and I was offered the position . . . but by now you all know that I am not in California or in LA.

Monterey California

Then on Friday I waited by the phone all day talking with my recruiter hoping to hear all the final details about the job in LA . . . waited and waited and waited. Finally at 530pm my recruiter called with the sad news that the LA hospital requires additional background check and drug screen and the next date for orientation after those items are completed is in 3 weeks. I could wait in Cali for 3 more weeks but I would be on my own for housing and meals. That was something I was not willing to do and wait. So I decided to head back to Texas and just wait there for a new assignment. There at home I would be with family and friends and a have free place to stay.

I left California Friday night. Saturday making stops in Phoenix Arizona at the Capitol, Tucson at Sagauro National Park and dinner in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Phoenix, Arizona- capitol

Saguaro National Park

Sunday making stops at the Sonora Caverns and finally arriving back to San Antonio.

Caverns of Sonora

Roadtrip SUNDAY

goal-- Lake Tahoe, Sacramento for lunch, then dinner in San Francisco

Wake up in Carson City, Nevada!!

Tour the Capitol grounds and historic houses in the area. Breakfast at Mom & Pop diner. Wonderful breakfast!!! Other dining guests suggested to us to see Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe. We pulled out our maps and were off to Lake Tahoe!! 

Driving around the lake, touring some very nice neighborhoods with private lake access. We just made our selves at home stopping in a driveway to take pictures!!

Then made our way to Emerald Bay- the only island on the lake! It was beautiful- snow covered grounds, tall evergreens lightly frosted with snow, and mountains across the lake. The drive to see the island reminded me of highway 1 on the coast of California. On one side was the lake and the other evergreens trees and mountains. Julie was glad she was not driving!

As we are driving away from the lake we pass this area with snow mobiles. Julie says, "That sure looks like fun. Have you ever done that before?" I replied, "No. Do you want to go?!" Then Julie says with a huge smile, "I think it looks pretty safe. I can handle that!" I turned the car around and we went snow mobiling at Lake Tahoe!!! It was such a blast and the people running it were laid back and let us each have our own snow mobile and we got to ride for a whole hour even though we only paid for 30 minutes!!! We would have stayed longer but honestly after 1 hour it was enough and we wanted to get to San Francisco before dark. 

Sacramento for lunch!

Touring the Capitol, wander the streets of Old Sac, lunch at an ice cream shop- hot dog & drink special for $3 plus validation for free parking . . . totally worth it!! Also, we saw the golden bridge over the river.

San Francisco for dinner!

Arrived into the city just before dusk. Got an awesome parking spot just down from Fisherman's Wharf and it was FREE!! Walked down this pier and we were able to see the whole city lights come to life as the sun went down. To the left was the Golden Gate Bridge, straight ahead was Alcatraz, and the right was the Bay Bridge and to the far right was the city!! Julie and I then wander the streets down Fisherman's Wharf, then Pier 39 hearing the sea lions barking just off shore!!! We grabbed a bit to eat at this Italian/ Seafood restaurant and had shrimp pasta that was amazing plus it came with fresh sourdough bread!

Then we got in the car and drove around the city! We went down Lombard Street twice! Finally making our way to Chinatown and parked along the street for FREE! Wandered the main streets and stopped in one of the many many shops for some wonton soup and pot stickers. It was delicious and my stomach was so so full. 

We departed the city around 10pm and arrived to Fresno, California around 1am.

Roadtrip SATURDAY pics

Julie & I in Death Valley

me & Julie in Death Valley
at the Salt Flats

me

sunset in Death Valley

dinner in Lone Pine

Motel 6 in Carson City

Roadtrip to Cali . . . SATURDAY

plan- drive to Fresno late Sat night, Sun all day in San Francisco


Wake up in Vegas!!


Julie and I decide to stay in Vegas most of the day seeing more hotels and casinos and just relaxing. Julie has been to Vegas many times before and I have only been once before. Wander the Flamingo hotel and see all the flamingos outside!! Over breakfast Julie and I look at the maps and decide maybe we'll go to Death Valley then over to Fresno.


On the road again . . .


While driving to Death Valley my Aunt Zanne calls and asks how we are doing and if we would be interested in staying at their time share in Napa Valley. I told her that we were planning to sleep in Fresno tonight but thanks for thinking of us. After getting off the phone and pulling over to get more gas before going into the valley Julie and I discussed a new plan.


Why were we going to Fresno tonight?? It had never occurred to us to not spend the night there. So we looked at the maps again and decided that we could just drive to Sacramento via Carson City and Lake Tahoe and spend the night there then enjoy all day in San Francisco without waking up super super early. Going from Death Valley to Sacramento would be a long drive but we would stop in Lake Tahoe area at the gas station to get t-shirts and magnets. Just so we could say we had been there.


DEATH VALLEY


I know it might sound like a huge desert with nothing to see but Julie and I decided that if it's a national park there MUST be something to see there! And we were right, its absolutely beautiful!!! Mountains, deserts, hiking trails, sand dunes, salt flats, and more mountains.

Did you know??
- Death Valley is the driest and hottest spot in North America.
-- Less than 2 inches of rain annually
-- Recorded high of 134 degrees
- Death Valley is the lowest point on the continent
-- 282 feet below sea level
- Over 1 million people visit each year


After spending several hours in Death Valley we made our way out of the 3.4 million acre park and headed towards Lake Tahoe! Driving out of the park was a 9 mile stretch up the mountains at 11% grade followed by a 11 mile stretch down the mountain at 9% grade . . . lots of brakes!!! After coming down the mountain we stopped at the salt flats.


Continuing to drive out of the park we noticed these giant mountains all around us. It seemed like every minute there was a different view and bigger mountains. We stopped to watch the sunset over the Sierra Nevada Mountains- it was beautiful.




Lone Pine, California


Dinner at local diner. It was only once were here did we realized that the mountains we had been driving though were home to Mount Whitney- the tallest point in the continental US at 14,494 feet. After dinner and a quick stop at a souvenir shop we headed towards Carson City, Nevada.


Driving through the mountains at night was uneventful. We could see the giant trees in the darkness and snow covered mountains but we knew that if we wanted to spend Sunday in San Francisco we had to keep driving! All the roads were clear, no ice, no snow, and not much traffic but our late night in Vegas caught up to us.


We decided to stop in Carson City, Nevada to get some much needed sleep and then we would be able to see Lake Tahoe during the day!!