More Jenna

I need to have more kids so Jenna doesn't get so many posts dedicated to her...

"Yeah, I'm drinking juice. Jealous?"

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The belt makes the basket easier to pull.

"Let's see if this fits."

"Hello, can I have cheese?"

"Grandma reads stories the best."

"Daddy helping to wash my hands."

The Underground Gardens

In the early 1900s, a guy named Baldassare Forestiere came to the United States from Italy.  He came to Fresno and partly because it was so hot in the summer, he decided to build an underground living area, with the intent of eventually turning it into a hotel. He had his work cut out for him since the soil was actually hardpan, but he created something beautiful. He didn't have any blueprints or plans. 

Jenna did a good job staying with the group. She is getting too heavy to carry but luckily she is usually obedient. 

There were many trees like this.

Jenna was such a good girl

A walkway - I want!

Amazing shelf

Looking from a reflecting pool into a living area.

Of course Jenna chose to stand in the middle of the chapel.

You slide into the seat and the table slides out.

The summer room. The window in the left looks out to the reflecting pool.

Going to a Pumpkin Patch and Liking It

So before Thanksgiving hits next week I guess I should record our adventures to the Fresno Pumpkin Patch. They had a few fun activities and we all (especially Jenna) had a good time. I am glad that she was old enough to enjoy it this year.

Walking with Daddy

Sitting with Daddy and Aunt Kitty

 

Racing her tricycle

On the train with Mommy

Learning how to run the tractor

Feeding the pig a pumpkin

Racing Stripes

Several years ago we received from the Lopes more blue painters tape than we needed for the house painting. The last couple rolls are being utilized in the automotive industry by Jenna, who uses them to give racing stripes to her animals.

In one picture she seems to be sleeping during the race, so good thing there's a turtle in the race!

The animals are Coon (Steve's old stuffed animal), Theo (Suzanne's old bear), Pig, and Go-Go (the sea turtle).

 

--Steve

The Path of History

So in my previous post I mentioned that our hotel was in historic Monterey. Most people probably wouldn't think that this was a positive. But I sure did! I love to delve into the history of the places I travel to. (And the public library, always the public library.) Monterey is sure rich with history! Monterey is the first capital of California, though not the official first capital. Meaning that California's constitution was written and signed in Monterey, but the signers made San Jose the first official capital of California. Jenna and I saw the signatures of the people who signed the constitution, and one of them belonged to was General Vallejo! In my mind's eye, I can see him traveling from his house in Sonoma to the convention to make sure California had a good constitution. Really cool to connect the dots of my vacations!

Colton Hall. Where California's Constitution was signed.
 

In front of Colton Hall.

Monterey had funding awhile back to restore many of the historic buildings. Afterward, they lost the funding and so the town made "The Path of History". The Path is made up of yellow ceramic circles that are laid into the sidewalk, and lead you past all (well, many) of the prominent historic buildings of the area. I had a map, but I didn't need one since I could just get on and follow the Path. If I lost my way, I would just look for the yellow circles and I knew I was back on the Path of History. In addition to signs outside the building, there is a number you can call, and when you enter in a specific stop number, a recording will tell you a little bit of the history of the place. I think I went to every place that had a stop number. Here are just a few pictures of our multi-week adventure.

Monterey had a lot of enclosed gardens. This one is behind the First Theater. An oasis in the middle of a busy city. And a good place to get out the wiggles!

Customs House near Fisherman's Wharf.

Casa Soberanes

I want this bedroom! In the Cooper-Molera Adobe. The guy who built this place had to take on a Spanish name (Molera) to own the land. And he married General Vallejo's sister. Oh, and when I was in the gardens here I ran into a playgroup!

 

Sherman's Quarters. General William T Sherman (yes, the Civil War guy), spent some time in Monterey in 1847. This building is located in the gardens of the Larkin house (sorry the picture is bad, I should have crossed the street).

View from the Presidio (military base). Yes, that is my German car. I am reading a book called "HHhH" about WWII and every time I think "German car" feel a little bit guilty. But I love my used car! Did you know in WWII, the Polish tried to use cavalry? They didn't last long and around that time the USA decided to retire their own cavalry.

When I went to the Old Whaling Station, a sign said, "Knock for Admittance", so I knocked. Turns out the place is the headquarters for the Daughters of the Revolution or the Junior League or something like that. I don't think the lady who answered the door was supposed to let me in, but she allowed me access to the inside. The stairs going up to the second floor had a second step that was taller than the other steps by a few inches (three?). It was known as a burglar step and was designed to trip and catch burglars.

Upstairs bathroom.

Back sitting room.
 

Back view. The sitting room is the window by the bench and the bathroom is the set of second story windows on the left.  

August in Monterey

Steve travels a lot for work, and during the week he is gone for at least half the year. He doesn't pay for hotel, food or gas to the job. He is a Marriott card holder and is now a Platinum Elite member. So free upgrades and other perks depending on which type of Marriott he is staying at. When he travels to somewhere boring like Bakersfield, we stay at home, but if he is somewhere wonderful, like Santa Cruz or Monterey, Jenna and I travel with him. Since it is usually about 105+ in Fresno in August, we make sure to go with him when he travels to Monterey! And this time we stayed in really nice rooms that average $200 a night. No way would we pay for this on our own dime! This year, we were there for two weeks. The first week had the famous car show at the end of it. The total bill for 5 nights? $1,700! Crazy, right???

This Marriott was right in the middle of historic downtown Monterey. It was next to the wharf (and the car show), old historic buildings and (on Tuesday nights) a farmers market. It was only a 10 minute walk to the public library. And I only had to walk for 15-20 minutes to get to Dennis the Menace Playground, a really interesting park. At the park, Jenna finally learned that in order to go down the slide one has to go up the steps and across the structure. That was fun for her and I didn't have to do much to entertain her for 40 minutes!

At a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf.

Dessert at the restaurant above.
 

Trying on sunglasses that Daddy got from work.
 



 

 

Where we ate our dinner from the Farmer's market.

This seal was fascinating. Jenna was in love.

A Staycation of Sorts

In the middle of July, in lieu of a cruise, we went on a vacation around my hometown. We went up on Sunday after church and stayed until Friday afternoon. We dropped off Jenna at my parents' house and were alone for a few days in what was supposed to be a "rustic cabin" in the woods of Guerneville.

Sunday: Got to Santa Rosa around 5pm, had dinner, slept over at my parents' house.

Monday: Stayed at my parents' place until nap time then we took off. We drove into Sebastopol. Once there, we watched "Man of Steel", looked at the sculptures of Patrick Amiot on Florence avenue and ate Falafal for dinner. Yum! We later checked into our "rustic cabin". For $100 a night, it was two stories, two bed, two bath, and two decks. Upstairs had a fully stocked kitchen. Once we knew we had a fully stocked kitchen, we bought food for the coming week. Lasagna, pizza, salad, muffins, bananas etc. Steve did most of the cooking.

 

Tuesday: We got up "early" and drove to the Chanslor Ranch in Bodega Bay and rode horses! We took the 60 minute Osprey trail (ended up being about 45 minutes). So much fun! Steve's horse was called Penny and mine was called Bug. Bug was not very motivated to move but we came to an understanding by the end of the ride.

We then had lunch (clam chowder, yum!), bought taffy at the building that is painted like a Victoria Secret bag, and went to Goat Rock beach. At the beach we looked at the seals and took a brief nap.

Afterward, we went home, had dinner, chilled some more and drove to Windsor. In the summer, the city of Windsor has kids movies on the Green. Windsor is a small, relatively affluent town and the event had a small town feel. We put our blanket on the grass, bought a root beer float, and saw Madagascar 3. It was so fun! I would do this every chance I got if I lived there.

Wednesday: I dragged Steve on a historical adventure. We first drove to Jack London State Historic Park. After touring the main building, we walked down to the Wolf House and Steve really got into the architecture of it. The building was more intact than I remember it as a child. We didn't have a chance to see everything so I guess I'll have to go back!

We then went to Sonoma and had PB and J sandwiches on their town green. We sampled cheeses (lavender jack cheese, garlic jack cheese etc). We went to the Barracks, the Mission and Vallejo's home. Afterward, we stopped at the Petaluma Adobe. We were getting a little worn out by the time we got to the Petaluma Adobe, but since it was on the way home and we had already paid for admission, we made a brief stop. That night we were sure worn out! After dinner we relaxed at our cabin.

Sonoma Barracks

Thursday: We had a late morning (Steve took a nap!). After checking out, we went on a hike with lunch in Armstrong Grove (Redwood State Park). The hike was nice, and we ended up back in Santa Rosa for a showing of  "Star Treck: Into Darkness". We had dinner with my folks and stayed the night.

Friday: We did yardwork (voluntary on our part, they didn't even ask) and drove home during nap time. Jenna was very well behaved both coming and going to Santa Rosa, even after she woke up from her naps.

Our short little vacation was wonderful. I would do it again. Maybe a cruise next year though. Maybe.