Happy New Year! My goal for twenty-ten is to blog more on blogger and post more to my side project The Daily Penguin. It's been slow so far but, ready? here I go!
Eric and I took an awesome holiday vacation to the wonderful West Coast. Here's your Long, Overdue Recap.
Saturday, December 19th. 7AM EST. Winter was coming our way and nothing, NOTHING was going to stand in its way. I received an email from Jet Blue with the subject line "Cancellation to your flight." Wait, I can reschedule my flight to Vegas free of charge and leave tomorrow instead? Really? No, thanks! Not when our Vegas (UCSB Reunion) Extravaganza was planned for one night. Thanks to some quick flight searching and top notch service, Jet Blue was back on my A list when they booked us for a flight (routed via Boston) arriving in Vegas just one hour after our original flight would have landed. Success!
De-icing the plane at JFK. Fingers crossed!
Saturday, December 19th. 11PM PST. We had an excellent flight to Las Vegas, NV and walked off the plane ready for some In-n-Out deliciousness. Luckily, our friendly taxi driver didn't mind the detour so we stopped at the drive-thru on the way to the Excalibur. The night immediately jumped over the 10-point mark after that cheeseburger (double-double for Eric) and than it was dancing time at the Luxor club LAX with the group!
Walking to the Luxor
Sunday, December 20th. 2 PM PST. The reunion closed with a quiet, somber brunch at MORE buffet at the Luxor. The late night party was the perfect mix of wild, crazy fun and just a touch away from overwhelming. Which was good considering (disclosure) this was Eric's first trip to Vegas! At 2:00 pm we rented a car and started heading West to California. Next stop: Santa Barbara!
Sunday, December 20th. 8 PM PST. Dinner with my Camino friends at Harry's Restaurant. Good times. Good food. And then...bedtime! We had reached the breaking point and thankfully got some much needed rest.
Monday, December 21st. We awoke to a breezy, overcast, gray morning in Santa Barbara but our spirits were soaring. We raced over to Super Cuca's for breakfast burritos. Feeling a bit nostalgic after the mini reunion in Vegas, I wanted to show Eric what the best university in the world looks like. Luckily, he was able the walk around campus with an official UCSB tour guide (Me!). Campus Point was teeming with talented surfers and we spent the morning enjoying the beautiful scenery and awesome waves.
Campus Point
We drove south and took a quick tour of the Mission, stopped for a quick visit to my old office in Carpinteria, and watched the sunset at The Beach Grill at Padaro. Camino friends joined us for an exciting dinner at Something's Fishy for our last night in SB. Yea for sushi, hibachi and sake bombs. When I say sake, you say bomb. SAKE BOMB!
Tuesday, December 22nd. We departed sunny Santa Barbara on route to San Jose. The lovely scenic drive north along side the Pacific was gorgeous. The 101 is my favorite freeway and I often find myself thinking about the stretches of highway which I consider some of my favorite scenic vistas of California. We arrived in SJ around 2 PST ready for family time/Holiday festivities.
Wednesday, December 23rd. My Mom, Eric and I traveled to San Francisco to visit the Academy of Sciences. More than just a museum, it includes a planetarium, aquarium, natural history museum, and a four story rainforest - where you can visit Borneo, Madagascar, Costa Rica and the Amazon. Of course, the highlight of the Academy was watching the penguins!
Every aspect of the building itself was designed with the environment in mind. The living roof, consisting of 7 small hills, reflects the landscape of San Francisco. The skylights allow natural light above the rainforest and aquarium and were created to open and close automatically for temperature regulation. The Academy has been named the greenest museum in the world and upholds a strong commitment to energy efficiency, reducing the carbon footprint, and preserving the natural world.
Thursday, December 24th. Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house.
Friday, December 25th. Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 26th. Eric and I had another adventure in San Francisco. This time we took the scenic Highway 1 via Devil's Pass.
Once in SF, we visited the Mission Dolores and took a walking tour with my uncle around the Mission District.
Balmy Street
We made a quick photo stop at Bernal Heights and then explored the great finds at Green Apple Books.
Sunday, December 27th. After celebrating my cousin's birthday, it was time to pack up and say goodbye to everyone. We were flying out of San Jose back to New York on a late night redeye. It was a memorable adventure and I loved every second of the trip. Adios.
