Always Take the Scenic Route!

I learned this from my dad long ago. Freeways are boring and back roads are where you find cool stuff. And in the famous words of Clark Griswold in "National Lampoon's Vacation," "getting there is half the fun!"

We travel over to the Monterey Peninsula pretty often. I go as often as I can, since I don't have a 9 to 5 job holding me back. Oh, and I go on job interviews there once in awhile. I always bring my furry best buddy Rylee with me. Like me, she's always up for a good car trip.

Here are some fun things I've seen on my recent ventures. Enjoy!

JD and Rylee in the car.



I love seeing this because I know I'm getting close!



One of those really great off-the-beaten-path places, Frog Pond Nature Preserve in Del Rey Oaks, CA. You could drive right by and not know it's there.





Tiny blooming flower at Frog Pond.



We stopped at a little pet store in Marina, CA and they had some big empty 55 gallon tanks to give away. I may just have a little car but I made it fit!





I love the Laureles Grade. It takes you from Hwy 68 over to Carmel Valley. It's a steep, winding road and I think the summit is about 1200 feet or so. It permits an amazing 360-degree view of Carmel Valley and the Salinas Valley.

(I stood on my car to get some of the panoramic shots).















I call my cat Roxy "Foxy" and when we drove by this place (a well-known vegetable producer in Salinas), I had to take a picture.



This cracked me up. It's a man's store and it's called Dick's!



The remains of this farm equipment was lying off on the side of the road. Don't know what it was but we took a picture anyway!



We found this cool little natural foods pet store in Carmel Valley. They had a great selection of sea-creature pet toys!



This beautiful wool-felted stingray is meant as a dog toy, but I see it as art.



One of our favorite beaches, Carmel State Beach. Dog friendly!



Jellyfish.



JD playing with Rylee.





She doesn't understand why you shouldn't drink saltwater.



Me!



This says it all!



We stopped at a gas station on the way home and saw this little guy eating out of a coffee cup on the ground.



That's all for now. As most of my friends know, I take pictures constantly. I have several other trips that I've photo-journaled that will be posted soon!

Bye for now.

~Jenny

San Francisco Road Trip

Last weekend, we went to the Bay Area to visit my grandma for her birthday, and we decided to head up to San Francisco, too.

I kept seeing these strange SNAIL garage sale signs all over town, and was very amused by them!



I had no idea what it was but I was fascinated. Finally my grandma informed me that it was the name of a neighborhood group and SNAIL was an acronym. I still thought it was funny, especially since I have a thing for snails.

I felt the need to post this picture of a pretty lily, too.



Note to self: do not take your sister's boyfriend's huge, four-door, lifted Silverado to the tiny, winding streets of San Francisco! Everywhere we went, our large, lumbering beast of a truck was a spectacle to be seen. I felt I should be waving out the window like I was on a float in a parade.



J.D.'s amazing parking job. He's used to parking a tiny truck.





Yeah, we couldn't fit the truck into the parking garages!!



House on a hill:



Yep, this was a tour of people on Segways! It made me laugh, so I kept taking pictures of them!



We always end up going to Chinatown, where they have some great pet stores. (At least for me, because they cater to goldfish owners there). I ended up coming away with a couple snails, including this beautiful nerite, and a new baby calico fantail goldfish.




On the way back, we saw a sign advertising a two for one wine sale at Casa de Fruta on Highway 152. Well, being the group of wine lovers that we are, we couldn't pass up a chance to go wine tasting! We ended up coming home with two bottles of Pacheco Pass Appellation Black Muscat Blush. If anyone is traveling that way, I'd really, really recommend wine tasting there! It was free, low-key and fun, and not too crowded when we were there on a Sunday evening.