Thanksgiving Road trip

Dad is taking his paternity leave for the Holidays, which means we get to take some trips! The first, is our road trip to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Liz's house for Thanksgiving. I hadn't been past the Hearst Castle along Hwy 1, so wanted to take some time and see the sights along the way. We kind of ended up following the schedule that we would wake up, eat breakfast, play, then about morning nap time for Lane, make our 2 hour drive to the next location. We'd get to the town, explore a little, eat lunch, check into our room, then take an afternoon nap with Lane. Then we would go somewhere for dinner, then back to our room for bedtime. It was pretty nice and still relaxing.

like my dad would always say when we started a trip, returning to the house a couple of times to get things we forgot... "We're off! Like a herd of turtles"

Morro Bay: Our first stop. We walked along the waterfront, went to their "Aquarium" which had rehabilitated sea lions. We are not sure how we felt about their living quarters. You could feed them sardines, which Dave did, but they barked really loud and freaked out Lane, so we left. Morro Bay also has a cute Main Street with Antique and Thrift Stores that we walked around. For dinner, we went to Taco Temple (found on Yelp) which had awesome, huge, fish tacos for $5. We got way to much food. You really only need one taco there.

photo opp and our bathroom break

Big Sur: Day 2. It was so pretty, the drive there and in actual Big Sur. We stopped off to see the waterfall and lagoon at Julia Pfeiffer Burns and walked some of the trails to see the redwoods in the state park. I think next time we go, I want to stay at the Lodge there. Dad was a little freaked out that there was no cell service (facebook) and no TV in our room, but it ended up being the best day of our trip, forcing us to disconnect and reconnect. We had dinner at the restaurant where we were staying, then put the nugget to sleep and hung out on the patio outside our room. It was nice, the Big Sur River Inn, but the room reminded us a little of the Bates Motel. The next morning, we headed to Santa Cruz. I finally got to see the Bixby Bridge, which I have been wanting to see. We drove through Monterrey, too - where I definitely want to go back to visit soon. We really are going to have to go back to all of these places and spend some more time.

Santa Cruz: We walked around downtown, then checked in our hotel so that we could catch our afternoon nap with Lane. For dinner, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called Saturn Cafe. Dave is finding his way to vegetarianism, quitting red meat and pork for now,  so he wanted to try this restaurant. It was pretty good! I'd go back. I definitely want to go back to visit here, too. We didn't even get to the Boardwalk...

Napa: We got up in the morning to make our way to Napa. I love Napa! Of course I had to go to a winery since we were there. I asked the concierge if it was okay to bring babies to wineries (haha), he said that it was, so we just drove toward St. Helena and stopped at one of the first ones we saw. The Menage a Trois tasting room, so technically, I still need to go to an actual winery. We stayed at the Embassy Suite, and our room was so nice, we decided that we are only going to stay in suites when we travel from now on. Lane loved it because they had cube ottoman's on rollers in the living area that he could push all around the suite. He is walking with a walker and holding on to things, so they were perfect for him. It was really nice to have some extra space, some of the other rooms were a little cramped with the three of us. Did I say how much I loved Napa? It was almost exactly how I always pictured it, fall colors and all. I don't know why, but I have always pictured it with fall leaves and that is how it was. I might have to only visit in Fall. We walked around downtown, and Dave and I both agreed that it just feels good there. The wine definitely tasted better, we couldn't decide if it was since it didn't have to travel, so the temperature was consistent, or if it was just because we were in Napa. You know, how a Mai Tai always tastes so much better when you're in Hawaii?

Went by Dave's Aunt Carol and cousin Lori's house so that they could meet Lane. They were getting ready for their Thanksgiving and Dave's Uncle Terry and Aunt Marilyn were there too. It was nice to see them and for them to meet Lane. We were a nervous wreck, since Lane is getting into everything and they have lots of nice, breakable things at his level. Luckily, nothing was broken.

Grandma & Grandpa's: Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Loma Rica for the next few days. We had a fun few days, relaxing and spending time with Grandpa and Grandma. Lane met his Aunt Denise and Blueberry for the first time, who he got along with very well.  Lane loves dogs and gets really excited when he see them, so we are trying to teach him to be gentle. It is so pretty in the foothills in Fall, with all of the turning leaves.

cousin Levi was there

Uncle Nick and Bob's dog, Shelby

Uncle Nick

First Thanksgiving!

cousins

Grandpa took us over to see the neighbor's animals. They had goats, geese, ducks, cats, and a horse. Lane met his first miniature horse.

Meet Dot.

and the goats... 

3 generations of Thomas men.

Things we have learned about traveling with baby:
1. Spend more than one day in a place to really be able to take everything in and catch an afternoon nap with the nugget.

2. Get a suite - with living room and bedroom (Embassy Suites was awesome) the extra space is very luxurious!

3. Hotel rooms are almost totally baby-proofed, just pick up the trash can, close the bathroom door and you're good!