It had been a while since we had traveled to California for the holidays so this Thanksgiving venture was long overdue. Of course, some things never change and our first stop had to be at In-N-Out after we left the airport. We had made a long list of things we wanted to do and people we wanted to see, so we needed to be fueled up properly. Right after this meal, and not pictured here, we met up with Aunt Brandy and Grammy to see the movie, Wicked. It was a great start to the trip.
The next phase of our trip entailed driving to the Bay Area to meet up with the Perrones. Lauren had reserved parking for us at Muir Woods so that we could start our time together with a hike beneath the Redwoods. Sarah and Lauren have been friends for 34 years and they have come a long way since they were roommates their freshmen year of college.
Although our girls have only gotten to see each other every other year at best over the past two decades they somehow have managed to develop and maintain their own friendships. Callie and Kate vlog back and forth, which is hilarious, and apparently is the new way to be a penpal. It certainly helps that all the girls know how close Sarah and Lauren are, so they just kind of know that they should get along. But it is still very sweet to see it all play out in person.
These two especially seem to have made a connection that spans the miles. Both of them are juniors and thinking about colleges. In fact they both show early signs of interest in a similar major - engineering - and talk about how cool it would be to end up at the same school Who knows whether that could actually happen or not, but it's fun to hear them talk about the possibility.
John and JP also get to be part of these gatherings, which is nice. They tend to hang back, catch up, talk girls sports, and overall enjoy the time together. At this point because of Lauren and Sarah they have known each other for over twenty years, so it's not as if they are strangers. It was a great way to all get together.
The Golden Gate Bridge is just a short drive from Muir Woods so we had to get a picture and lucked out because it was an absolutely gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky. This ended up being our Christmas photo for the year and ironically the one we took of the Perrones became their Christmas card as well. Great minds think alike! After we took a photo we headed to Sausalito for a late lunch and then we drove to UC-Berkeley to check out the campus. We packed a few things into the day and just wished their was more time.
Keith had sent out a text in early November seeing if anyone wanted to join him in running the Feed the Hungry 5K in downtown Sacramento on Thanksgiving morning. Reese and John ended up being the only takers and we managed to find Keith in the crowd of nearly 30,000 so we could take a picture before the run began. It was a little chilly but a great way to start the day. And we loved the fact that Keith had tried to get everyone out. Reese did not necessarily love running in such a huge crowd but felt much better when we found donuts at the finish line. And the three of us had earned the hearty Thanksgiving dinner we had later that day at Brian and Bri's house. We clearly were too busy eating to take pictures.
Sarah was determined to see family on this trip, especially since we hadn't met her cousin Sophie's little boy Charlie yet. This meant hopping in the car early on Friday morning to head to Santa Cruz for the day. We met up at a local restaurant with Sophie, Charlie, Grammy, Zac, Keith, and Sarah's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Isabel. It was fantastic to have all those people together.
After lunch we headed to the beach to keep the conversation going and to get some fresh air. It was another beautiful northern California day and this picture of Grammy and her younger brother Tommy is priceless. Tommy is such a great guy and unfortunately we just don't get to see him very often.
The crew had a fun time playing on the beach, even at one point doing crab races with little Charlie. Reese certainly took the opportunity to put her feet in the Pacific Ocean and of course we had to take some pictures to capture the moments.
From the beach it was a quick drive to downtown Capitola where we could check out some shops and of course get a sweet treat. We even managed to go to the store owned by Sarah and Zac's cousin Brian's wife. She wasn't there, unfortunately, but we made sure to buy a couple of souvenirs and support a local business. But if you thought Capitola was the last stop of the day you would be wrong and you have not traveled with Sarah. We were just getting started!
From Capitola we made our way to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz. The primary goal was to walk along the Monarch Grove Trail and see one of the top spots for monarch butterflies along their migratory path. Although it was the right time of year to catch them the weather patterns did not cooperate and we did not see the volume of butterflies we had hoped for. Fortunately, the Natural Bridges State Park is right along the ocean and so the trip was redeemed by the type of views seen in this picture.
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