On the 3rd August Sean, Jasper & I travelled to California (via Auckland) to visit all our family and friends back home in California and introduce them to Jasper. The very next day after we arrived, we went to a Giants baseball game with Clay and Carroll - it was just like the good old days when we had our season tickets - ahhh!
Pac Bell park with Clay and Carroll. Grandpa Jack meets Jasper for the 1st time.
Our presence at the baseball must have helped pull the Giants out of their losing streak, as they've been on a roll ever since!.
On August 13, we had a big family and friends party at Sean's mom's home with 80 people attending. We celebrated Sean's birthday and Aunt Penny's 60th, and it was a great time to catch up with old friends and family.
Kovacs and Mark. Nic, Bob, Clay, Brian, Mija & Jasper. Sean, Jasper, Chuck and Juan Carlos.
Evjenth Family. Dina, Aaron and Allison Schumer. Jenn and Matt.
We also went to Sonoma Valley wine tasting for 2 days with Nic and Brian. Now that was like being back in the good old days. We miss California's wine country a lot.
Wine tasting with Nicole and Brian in Sonoma Valley.
Later in August we went to another baseball game with Kevin (Sean's brother), his wife Cheryl, and their boys, TJ and Ben. It was great to see Jasper so excited to be with his cousins and all decked out in their Giants orange and black colours. It was another gorgeous day in San Francisco too.
Runkle boys at the Game. The real Giants fans.
Jasper was christened along with his cousin Sadie (2.5 mths) while we were in California. He stole the show, laughing and hamming it up with the church congregation. Clay and Carroll were his honorable God parents.
Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of our trip was our climb to the top of Mt Whitney - the highest point in continental USA at 14,500 feet. We rented a black mustang convertible and cruised thru Yosemite National Park with the top down and was in awe (again) of the wonderful beauty of that place - truly amazing! Jasper spent 2 nights with Grandma - and I had the challenge of pumping my breasts as I was still breastfeeding while we were camping and half way up a mountain - another story in itself! We camped the night at Lone Pine campsite and got up at 2:30 am to get on the trail at 3:45 am for our full day of hiking.
As Mt Whitney is so popular with people coming from all over the world to hike it, you can only get permits thru a ballot system. We missed out on the overnight permits and only scored a day one, so that meant up and back in 24 hrs - tough, but possible and I was determined we'd do it. And we did. We got back to our campsite at 9:15 pm - roughly 16 hrs of hiking. Boy did we sleep well that night. Check out all the pics - fantastic scenery right from the drive there and back.
Mt Whitney pics here.
Next road trip - Hwy 1 to Pismo Beach, Solvang and wine country.
We swapped the Mustang for a boring family car and headed off on a little road trip south - just the 3 of us. We looked up an old school mate of Sean's - Frank - and called in to see him and his wife and toddler in Arroyo Grande (near Pismo Beach). We stayed in Pismo Beach and loved it - wishing we had longer. We visited nearby Solvang, Santa Inez Mission and did some more wine tasting in the area where "Sideways" was filmed. It's a great flick by the way - rent it if you haven't seen it.
Door at Santa Inez Mission. Pismo Beach. Solvang - a little EU in CA.
Wine tasting again - winery featured in the movie, "Sideways"
Then it was up to Lake Tahoe to hang out with Clay and Carroll and Clay's mom Toni - just like we used to do the past few Labor day long weekends. The cabin was great and Clay's brother and two kids were also there. We spent days on the beach at Meeks Bay and it felt so great to be back in Tahoe - we love it there. When I win Lotto, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a holiday place there.
Lou & Jasper at Meeks Bay. Carroll, Emma and Clay. Gorgeous Lake Tahoe
Lou & Jasper at Meeks Bay. Carroll, Emma and Clay. Gorgeous Lake Tahoe
Canada - Sept.
After Tahoe, we drove back to the Bay Area and spent the night at Clay and Carroll's before our early flight to Detroit from where friends Kevin (originally from Perth) and Laurie picked us up. They live in Belle River Canada, near Windsor, which is just over the border from Detroit. After some flight delays, we finally got to their house at midnight - we'd been up since 4 am!
But we had a very relaxing 5 nights with them - the first time we could just hang out, sleep in and actually feel like we were on vacation. Their home was so comfortable and homely, they have 2 great dogs (we were missing Maddy very much at this point) and kids, Megan and Mathew are fantastic and very good with Jasper. We nearly didn't leave!
They took us to Niagara Falls, which was fantastic. The Canadian side provides better viewing than the US side and carries nine times more water. The Maid of the Mist boat (with complimentary rain poncho) was a must.
We also spent a night in Toronto - great Hard Rock Cafe there - it's situated right over the baseball park, so if you are lucky enough to score a seat by the ball park side you can see the game all for the price of your burger and beer!
Niagara Falls. Jasper and Lou on Maids of the Mist. Priors and Runkles in Toronto.
Kevin & Jasper.
Back to California
One more famous Ray BBQ - and everyone incl Jasper enjoyed the ribs. On my b'day we had lunch in Capitola by the Sea (Near Santa Cruz), at a great Mexican restaurant. We miss good Mexican food a lot - Australia just doesn't seem to get it right.
And just two days time we we boarded the flights back to Perth via Auckland, again. Jasper was great on the flight - even though he was now a little boy instead of the baby we came to the US with. He now had 2 teeth, could sit up on his own, roll all over the floor and was eating regular solid meals (well mashed veges, fruit etc). All in all, it was a fantastic, activity-packed holiday - and it made us realise that we have so, so many good friends in California. We were feeling very mixed emotions as we said goodbye and returned to Perth. It was nice to be back in our own home, but we already missed California and everyone a lot.
Eating ribs with Ray. Runkles on my birthday, Capitola.
Back home and a new Aussie is here!
When we returned from our trip, there was a letter for Sean regarding his Aussie citizenship. The ceremony was the next week - lucky we were back in time. It was a great ceremony - much smaller (about 30 new citizens) and more calm than the one I went to in San Francisco when I became a US citizen along with 600 others! And so a new Aussie was made.
Sean with Melville City Mayor, Katherine Jackson
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