California Dreamin'

About a year ago I started Googling conferences for Jarred to go to. I'd heard enough stories from all his colleagues of the great times they'd had going all over the world for these things. It was time for Big Girl to find herself a vacation!! And it was good for Jarred's resume too, of course. I came across the perfect fit for him at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Yes, please!! I'd never been to the west coast or put my cute little toes in the Pacific (and by "cute little toes" I clearly mean "long skinny, finger like toes" but that just doesn't sound as good now does it). I actually found this conference long before Jarred found out about Puerto Rico, so this Cali trip has been in the works for a long time! I even reserved our hotel room before he even found out if he was accepted. What can I say, I have confidence in my man! Plus discounted rooms at the Four Seasons just weren't going to last forever. Gotta be a little proactive sometimes, am I right? You know how it is ladies. So without further ado, here are some pics!

First we started out with a hike in the mountain-like hills surrounding Stanford. We came across this comforting sign about what to do if we encounter a mountain lion or coyote I think my favorite part is, "if attacked-fight back!" Oh my.

Jarred's ready to fight back...

On Jarred's birthday we went to a Putt-Putt and Arcade place for a little friendly fun and competition. How this ball rested on the hill and didn't go into the water, I'll never know. Dang it!

Love this homemade sign at the course. After one particularly frustrating whole, I began to understand why they had it up!

An action pic of me dominating Jarred in Pop-a-Shot.

For those who don't remember, Jarred and I basically fell in love over Hangman. Needless to say, Wheel of Fortune is our game!!

The next day I surprised Jarred with a trip to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. It's the largest of its kind in the world. And that rollercoaster may not look like much, but I assure you, it's intense!!

Ferris Wheel

 Bumper Cars

Another surprise for Jarred...a helicopter ride over the coast! We do it up right!

I was so excited about this next shot. Our pilot told us that 80% of strawberries in the US are produced there. It's  Driscoll Farms, and I totally recognize that name from the grocery store. Sure enough, if you look, they are grown in Watsonville, CA, right where we were. Love it! 

Toes in the Pacific time! So cold!!

You can see the pain on Jarred's face. Freezing! But nothing I have conquered in the mountains.

We finally made our way up to San Francisco and rode bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was truly breathtaking and so, so fun!



More pictures to come on facebook! Even though we had to battle fevers of 102 while there, we managed to have fun!