Advertisement
Published: July 19th 2012
Arrived at LAX & waiting for Mike
4 weeks, 2 people, 2 carry on's and 1 checked bag...avid light travelersWe arrived at LAX on Southwest Airlines, my favorite domestic airline for so many reasons: great customer service, amazing Rapid Rewards program, free bags and snacks. My goal for this trip was to do something new in each city, as we have been to all the places on our tirp many times. First stop, was to see my Brother in Laws, who all live in Westwood. We had a great outdoor lunch with Rob & Mike in Venice Beach, sushi in Westwood with Tim & Connor, cheered on Tim & Rob at their weekly co-ed softball game, met Tim's girlfriend, Lisette (also a Midwest girl), strolled around Venice's canals & Abbott Kinney Blvd, got a visit from Stephanie Wold a former employee from Enterprise and hiked
Temescal Canyon all while in LA for 3 days/2 nights.
We then drove Tim's car down to Orange County to see friends and family in the OC. We were able to meet up with Mike, who we taught with at Hangzhou Dianzi University (HDU) and became great friends with over the year in Hangzhou. We visited Doug & Michelle's new place in San Clemente as they moved from Santa Barbara
in February to be closer to family with their two little ones, Patrick who is 3 and Haley now 18 months. We were able to pick up Aunt Carole and my Mother in Law from the Long Beach airport, smallest airport I have ever been to, after there week visiting family in Whitefish, Montana. It was great catching up with Carole and Georgianna over lunch before Carole drove three hours back up the mountain to her home in Big Bear. Pete, Georgianna and I then drove down Pacific Coast Highway from Newport Beach to San Clemente. We found the old beach that Pete's father would take all 5 kids to on the weekends, with a visit to AM/PM and found Pete's Grandma Winter's home that she lived in before passing away in 1995.
With the help of Erica Winter, who caught the bouquet at our wedding then got married 15 months later to Brian Winter, Pete's cousin, we planned a nice dinner for nine of the Winter family members that could attend dinner in Huntington Beach. It was great catching up as we see them about once a year. We wish we could be closer as they
Winter Cousin Dinner
Lucky Dog Cafe in Huntington Beach, CA are all really fun to hang out with. We were able to meet Christine, who is engaged to Patrick, before she becomes part of the family on December 1st. After the 9 of us finished dinner, the 6 of us staying in the OC had another beer at the bar before heading home.
Pete and I hit up another hike called Las Ramblas Trail and Harbor View Trail near his Uncle's home in San Clemente. We have enjoyed getting out and appreciating the natural beauty that the US has to offer especially So Cal with its amazing ocean views. We were able to meet up some friends one last time for breakfast before getting on the Amtrak train at the San Clemente pier heading to San Diego Old Town station, where Sarah was awaiting our arrival. Neither of us had taken this route before and I really enjoyed the views as 85% of the 70 minute ride was along the beautiful coastline.
We have traveled by train a lot in Asia but trains are a very rare mode of transportation in the US. I would recommend it to anyone traveling this route in order
Sarah, Denise & I at OTL
Over The Line Tournament to avoid the horrid traffic that comes along with the amazing beauty of Southern California.
San Diego is always a good time and this trip was no different. Thanks to all our amazing friends who were able to meet up with us at Over the Line Tournament that is hosted on Fiesta Island every July. The six years that I lived in San Diego I had never attended this unique sporting event. It was a crazy reintroduction to American culture with so many tattoos, skimpy clothes and massive amounts of beer being consumed, something we haven't experienced in quite sometime living in China.
Activities while we were in San Diego:
• Hit up South Park's Walk About, a neighborhood event to showcase stores, restaurants and community involvement with Sarah, Chris & John.
• Hiked Mission Trails Regional Park
• Lunch at Cafe 976 with Don, Mary, Sarah, Penny and Rick
• Beach time at Law Street Sunday & Monday afternoon
• "Ladies Night" at the movies to see Magic Mike 😊
• Pete got in some quality "Guy Time" also with Erick & John
• Dinner with Heather, Scott & Sierra in Old Town (must see in SD)
We
are having a great time seeing all our friends and family. HUGE thanks to The Brothers, Brian & Erica and Sarah for hosting us for our first 6 nights in California!
*Pros and cons to having Pete being on antiboitics is he isn't supposed to drink, so he has been the automatic DD during our travels so far. Thanks Babe!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.096s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0264s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
Amber
non-member comment
looks like u had an amazing time. Sorry I missed out on seeing you guys :(