Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful time on our trip, but at one point we had to just sit back and laugh at all the misfortunes we kept having. And at that exact moment, I cracked a tooth. Lovely. Lets start at the beginning. . .
PO and I departed early from Lodi on Friday, April 23rd. Our first destination was Monterey. We had planned to stop in Hollister before that to check out a famous biker bar. Needless to say, PO missed the sign and we got a little turned around!
We got to Monterey sooner than we expected, since we missed our first stop. Next on our agenda (that we had meticulously been planning and routing out for some time) was to stop in at the Mucky Duck in downtown Monterey, our favorite hangout where you can sit on the patio, smoke a cigar (PO, not me!) and enjoy the cool vibe and atmosphere. As we got to the door, we realized they were closed. Blah!! Onto Cannery Row we went and enjoyed a few beers at Sly McFly's. Afterward we went beach combing and found an insane amount of sea glass on the beach!
No more than a few minutes after we arrived and checked in at the place were were going to be staying for two days, PO found a nail in the rear tire of the motorcycle. Lovely. We decided there was nothing we could do about it that late on a Friday afternoon so we decided to head down to the beach. We strip down out of our jeans, leathers, etc. and began dawning our beach gear when I realized somehow I managed to only pack one of PO's flip flops (still not sure how that happened?!) After being in big heavy boots all day, he was dying to slip on some cooler shoes. We had to walk all over Carmel looking for a surf shop that sells footwear. An hour and $45 later he had some new flip flops and we were finally beach bound.
We took the short walk down to the beach, only to be greeted by cloudy skies and cold, chilly winds! No worries, we still made the most of it and had a fun time!
After hanging out at the beach for a while we decided it was time to go have some dinner. We stopped in at the Hoggs Breath Inn and had the luxury of having the bar entirely to ourselves! We enjoyed great food and great drinks for the latter of the evening!
Apparently there was an early morning kids marathon taking place in Monterey Saturday, and a lot of competitors happened to be staying at the same hotel as us, including the people RIGHT ABOVE US. We woke up at 3:30 am and were never able to fall back asleep with all the noise they were making above us.
Around 6:30 am we decide it's pointless to try and fall back asleep, lets just get going with our day. There was a cute little cafe that I wanted to check out called Carmel Belle so we took the walk down there only to realize that it wasn't PO and MJ friendly (translation: too many stuck up snobs and weird over priced food.) Continental breakfast it was!
We spent all morning Saturday searching the depths of Monterey for a motorcycle shop that could check out the nail-in-the-tire situation. After finally finding one (and squeezing in an awesome, late breakfast at Old Monterey Cafe) it was confirmed, the tire needed to be replaced! Only problem, it was going to take two hours. . . that's ok, thanks to the iphone and the crazy-cool-scienceteacher-author we met, I was highly entertained while we waited around the shop.
Also while at the motorcycle shop we learned that HWY 1 was going to be closed the next day due to a marathon (what's with all these marathons going on in the area?!) That was the biggest bummer I think we ran into, at least for PO. We had planned to drive down the coast, stopping in at vista points, and cool seaside towns, but NO! New plan was going to have to include a long boring stretch through farmland in order to get to our next destination, Pismo Beach.
After the tire fiasco we got back to Carmel and praise the lord-the sun was shining! The vacation gods were starting to work in our favor! On to the beach we went.
After some much needed fun in the sun we headed back to our hotel and hung out outside on the patio while PO smoked a cigar and we sipped on tasty beverages. We were accompanied by an older couple who also had a cigar aficionado in the pair.
We had dinner at Little Napoli's and it was AMAZING--Gorgonzola gnocchi, yes please! The rest of the evening we just walked around and hung out at our hotel.
We woke up early Sunday morning, hit up the continental breakfast, and were on the road again, this time headed South to Pismo Beach. Remember that big long stretch of ugly farmland that I mentioned early?! Well, it caused me to have an insane allergy attack. Usually I can handle them, but when you are on the back of a motorcycle, going 90 mph, wanting to stop but only desolate land in sight, you start to freak out. Then came the panic attack. I won't elaborate, because it got ugly, but lets just say I wasn't a happy camper at this point!
We arrived in San Simeon and stopped in for lunch at a pretty cool place right on the water. Here is when I was really starting to get psyched about the trip, and about going to visit Hearst Castle (next on our agenda.)
After we ate lunch we headed towards Cambria and Hearst Castle. As we pulled into the parking lot of the castle's visitors center I realized to myself "Wow, there are A LOT of people here!" I ran inside while PO parked the bike to see when the next tour began. This is where the biggest disappointment of the trip (for me at least) happened-- tours were completely sold out for the rest of the day. I went to the parking lot and told PO the bad news and I'm not sure, but I think I shed a few tears and stomped my feet a bit too.
We just kept truckin. . . onto Pismo Beach. Luckily we got to ride a little bit along the coast between San Simeon and Pismo, and were able to pass through Morro Bay which was beautiful.
Finally we arrived in Pismo we checked into our hotel and things started looking up! Rooms came equipped with hot tub, mini bar, ocean view, and even plush, luxurious robes hanging in the closet! While unpacking our bags I realized I had broken a flip flop the night before and that I forgot my bikini at the last hotel! Bummer! After getting settled in we took a walk to the pier and to check things out a bit and try and find me some new flip flops and bathing suit! I was able to find some reasonable priced flip flops, but I didn't feel like forking over $80 to $100 for a new bikini. Unfortunately we were no where near a Target or a Ross so I just made due without a swim suit.
One of the best parts about where we stayed was our balcony overlooking the ocean. I think we spent more time out there than on the beach!
PO and I were sitting on our balcony, relaxing, listening to music, sipping on some beer, snacking and recolecting about all of the mishaps we had been having since we left on Friday. We were listing things off one by one when all of a sudden I chomped down on a chip and cracked a tooth! Fortunately it didn't cause any pain, but was just one more thing to add to our hillarious list of misfortunes!
One thing I can say about Pismo is that they have some GREAT grub! Between Mo's BBQ, Splash Cafe, The Crab Shack, and two trips to Hoagies for their awesome 'Pismo Wraps', I think I gained 7 lbs! Ouch! Splash Cafe has the most amazing clam chowder served in a bread bowl. PO and I are STILL talking about it, that's how awesome it was!
Another fabulous thing Pismo Beach has to offer is a beautiful stretch of beach filled with powdery sand and spectacular sunsets!
Monday we had planned to get up early and join a group of other people staying at our hotel for a bus tour around the area. It included stops at wineries, a goat farm, lunch, as well as a visit to a lavendar farm. I thought it would be a great way to see some sights and take some pictures and do something we have never done before. When breakfast arrived late (YES, the hotel delivers breakfast to your door in a basket every morning!) we decided to ditch the tour and make it a beach day instead!
We spent most of Monday relaxing on the beach, which was exactly what we needed to finally get into 'vacation mode'. We enjoyed some more good grub, watched another awesome sunset, and made use of our spa on the balcony for the remainder of the day.
Tuesday the rain came! Fortunately we were prepared. (We had been watching the weather forcast like a hawk.) We scheduled a couples massage that day and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening planted in our hot tub again, relaxing, and we even ate dinner in bed! Now that's what I call relaxation!
Wednesday we woke up early, packed our bags and hit the road back home! We were chaising the rain storms and hit some pretty attrocious wind (which scared the be-jesus out of me and had me clinging to PO the entire ride home.)
All in all we had a wonderful trip spending some one on one, quality time together, which was the whole point of the vacation. We had a few minor misfortunes and things didn't go so much according to plan, but that's life! We set out on an adventure, with a possitive attitude and the wind in our hair and made some great memories!
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