well it has been a busy month for the walker pettigrew family. since father's day, we spent a weekend in lake tahoe, a weekend in cambria and
costanoa and a weekend in bodega bay. needless to say, very little dust has settled on us lately.
our tahoe weekend was fun but we didn't take very many pictures. some friends gave us a back pack carrier think so we got to use if the first time. that was a good time and hana really liked it.
the next weekend, was our trip to cambria and costanoa. cambria is a town on the central california coast near hearst castle. we stayed on moonstone beach drive, which i highly recommend. most of the rooms are surprisingly affordable for beach front property and cambria is a pretty cute town.
we visited hearst castle where we once again go to break in the back pack for hana (they have 170 steps and don't allow strollers) and that was a fun outing. thankfully, hana did tolerate the back pack pretty well because without it, we would have fighting to keep her out of the
neptune pool.
she kept saying "wa wa" (for water) and "bath" and asking to get down. thankfully we moved on before things got out of hand. hana seemed really interested in all the over the top decor there and the gardens, which were dripping with flowers.
her curiosity nearly got the best of her in the "assembly room", which was basically a living room. there lots of couches, down filled to boot. it was hot. i wanted to sit down myself. hana starts repeating " walk... walk... walk", and when she realized this was a losing campaign, she started to throw a tantrum but then just fell asleep. it's a good thing too because, she probably would not have tolerated not being to bathe in the "indoor pool" too well.
after our time at hearst castle, we began to have car trouble. there were some tense moments, and poor jon spent the better part of the afternoon dealing with our car. and it wasn't until i had a major freak out with AAA that our issues go resolved (i still owe them a strongly worded letter). the rest of the weekend went off without a hitch.
from cambria we drove to costanoa. for the record, we would have stayed the whole weekend at costanoa but it was booked solid the other two nights. costanoa is located about halfway between santa cruz and half moon bay on highway one. we LOVED this place. we stayed in the lodge which was very, very nice, but actually i think the camping opportunities (family cabins, tent cabins, and plain ol' tent camping) is where it's at. they have a pretty good restaraunt (organic food, interesting recipes, if not a little overpriced... but not your average campground fare by a long shot) on the grounds and a cool general store if you forget something. i really wanted to camp there since i used to be an avid camper. i chickened out when i was making the reservations. this weekend trip was a family vacation for us on the weekend our son would have been due. we needed it to be relaxing and fun and chill and all of those things that don't include worrying about your toddler running into a campfire ("hot" - as she says...) and scurrying off into the woods. that was definitely accomplished.
i think the highlight of this weekend was the hike we did on the last day. jon and i put hana in the pack and hiked down to the beach (about a 3 mile round trip). it was GORGEOUS! blue (smoke free) skies, amazing landscapes, crashing waves, a snake carrying a lizard crossing the trail and jon hopping around like a girl... good times.
on the way down to the beach hana fell asleep in the pack and slept through the best part. but she enjoyed hiking that way so we plan to do more of it...
it should also be noted that hana came to truly appreciate the soaking tub this weekend. you know those luxurious bath tubs that are deeper than the traditional tub and big enough for two. well, she got to bathe in those all weekend and every time we walked into our room she would head straight for the tub saying "bath! bath!" and climb right on in if you let her. i love a good tub too so she comes by this honestly. but she might be a toddler out of control. when we arrived in our room at costanoa, mommy and daddy were starving, but hana wanted a bath immediately. normally i could redirect her but this time she climbed in and staged a bit of a sit in. when i pulled her out, she turned the water on. so i caved and gave the girl her bath. i was tempted too, but i wanted to eat more so it was a quick bath for her alone. also i had a massage schedule for after dinner so my pampering would come in due time...
since we've returned, she seems to have adjusted to our regular tub, and doesn't seem too ruined by the lap of luxury. but there's always that potential... now we know.
