First trip to Monterey and scenic Hwy 1 So. (the best, and the most pictures first!!)
Very well rested from my lazy vacation in Fla. and VA, I had been getting restless since returning to CA on Friday and very much wanted to go on a trip somewhere. Monday (a holiday we, shockingly, got off [JB, I am
soooo jealous!]!), I
finally got Amy to go with me on a daytrip-
- we headed towards the central California coastline.
This was my first glimpse of the (southern) California scenic Highway 1 coastal road, which was truly one of the most breathtaking roads I have driven. I was trying hard not to veer off into the rough shoulder as I steered and gawked at the Pacific Ocean
right there beside us. The pics don't do it justice, but scroll down to see some more that we took.
First time down to one bar
I tend to be very high-in-harm-avoidance when it comes to running out of gas. Somehow, Amy and I were yapping so much that I didn't realize, until we were well outside Monterey and Carmel, that I was down to "one bar" of gas on the Prius. Now, I think that one bar lasts something like 50 miles (Dad?), but this was a remote area of coastline headed away from main towns, I didn't know how the Prius handled driving on what would be near-empty in a non-hybrid car ("I drive 40 miles when the gas light comes on in my truck!" says Amy), and I subsequently started to freak out that we weren't going to make it out to Big Sur and back to civilization without running out. Amy tried to alleviate my fears ("Your car doesn't even USE gas [well, or much], does it?! We'll be fine," ) and cracked up next to me as I worried away, but let's just say I became much happier when I saw that Big Sur (not really a town per se but an area with some random lodging and convenience stores) did have gas stations. Below is me with the sign by my "gas station of salvation" (never mind that gas [the cheapest grade!] was $3.99/gallon because they can suck in the "last resort" people!!). They should have a sign like this when leaving to go south from Monterey or, I think, by law, anywhere there is going to start a gas-less stretch of more than 20 miles!
Meanwhile, Amy relaxes as she did most of the trip
We went hiking at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park 
The water almost looked tropical!!
Photos I stole from Amy 
Pretty bluffs and pretty girl!
First trip to Monterey
Monterey is a very cute town right on the ocean which, incidentally, is where English (the Rays' phenomenal daughter) lives!!! It would have been great to visit with her, but Ebby said she was busy studying for her end-of-year exams and so we didn't try to distract her :) Amy and I just walked around a bit and explored Cannery row; here are some pics...
I thought it was amusing that these kids were contributing to these sea birds' excellent nutritional statuses by distributing Lays potato chips :) 
Cute sand castle they made when not feeding the birds
Cannery Row 
We didn't have enough time to see the aquarium (which Amy's visited, and which is apparently the largest and perhaps the most impressive in the U.S., requiring
at least a half-day to explore), but I'll have to go back another time when people come to visit (hint, hint... ) :)
Speaking of missing things and first (and, with hope, last) major travel idiot moment
Coming back from the coast, we had been stuck in a bunch of traffic on county roads and were excited to see I-5 signs (LA/Sacramento) which would bring us back to Sac quickly. I got on the highway and we were making great time.
Then we saw a sign for Bakersfield and LA which, interestingly, was the first sign we'd seen since getting onto the highway (no signs like "Sacramento xxxx miles" or interstate signs on the side). We both froze. It couldn't just be an "FYI" sign (i.e. you're going towards Sac but LA is 300 miles in the other direction, for your information). You go on I-5 SOUTH to get to LA. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. We had to drive about 5 more miles, panicking (this time Amy was panicking, too!) all the way, to find an exit and, sure enough, we realized we had just driven about 30 minutes in the complete opposite direction from home. We spent the whole way back (now it was liike 8 p.m., putting our ETA in Sac around 22:00) incredulous that we (thinking we are fairly intelligent girls) had somehow done such an idiotic thing (or I guess it was mostly my fault since I was driving). We didn't remember seeing a fork in the on-ramp to go south or north and assumed the whole time we were headed North. We were very bitter that we added about another hour to what was already a traffic-lengthened return trip home and are still mystified as to how this happened, but will say that we will be very cautious about reading road signs from now on...
In other random firsts:
- Blocktime #2. Today was the first day of (our second round of) blocktime (educational time consisting of didactic sessions and time to work on our community projects, not hospital time). While I am sad to have vacation end, blocktime's schedule, where we don't start till 8 a.m. and are done every day by 5 (today it was much earlier!), feels like vacation compared to what our hours are usually.
- Tennis! I played tennis with Shomir on Friday for the first time in like 2 years in shorts and a t-shirt in February. I could not get over how awesome this was. I love CA weather!
- Bikram Yoga: On Sunday, I went to a Bikram Yoga class in town that Kate has been to, on her and Amy's recommendations. I have only been to one other yoga class in my lifetime and have to say that I'm not sure I'm a fan. While I thought this was "hot rocks" yoga or something, it wasn't filled w/ rocks, but just stinkin' hot (about 100 degrees in the yoga room, which is supposed to make you more flexible and [I think] help you sweat out more toxins). It did make me sweat. It would take a lot more than that temperature to make me flexible. Some of those poses aren't good for klutzy people. While I have to say that it was a very good strength-building workout, I actually started feeling really woozy and nauseated despite good hydration and had to duck out after about an hour. I think that that might have been my first and last time at that.
- Obama book: Dreams fFrom My Father was the first non-fiction book I'd read in a while. Very inspiring. I'd recommend it highly!!
- Drano not working. I thought Drano works on everything!! After cleaning out a hair plug from my shower drain, it has gotten progressively and acutely worse over 2 days to the point where I still (since the shower this a.m.) have 2 inches of standing water in the tub despite a whole bottle of drano! Gross! I have been doing some internet research and among things I'm supposed to now try are: lye, baking soda/vinegar, a plumber's snake (what is this??), or full-out plunging with a mini-plunger (where do you get such a thing??)!! Any other ideas? This is the first time I've had this problem (maybe I should call my fridge-replacing landlord!!).
- Frequent posting: This might be the first time I've posted too often for my blog-readership (Hans, are you still with us?? Wendi, do you like it?! :))
11 a.m. Dim Sum at New Canton (here is Arash with his favorite dessert-- don't ask me what it was-- while Din Hai looks on! A new food for me was chicken feet. Not sure I'm a huge fan, but they were interesting).
This mini ping-pong table from Sonia was awesome! Here is Darina on one end.
Shomir and Elham playing while Marcel looks on
Phi and Anika (interns representing!!)
(Trying not to drop) The cake (in general, it's not such a good idea to let klutzy girls carry desserts intended to feed lots of people but, no worries, there were no accidents)!!
I wish I'd gotten a better cross-section shot (can you see the plate?). Notice the "backup pie" to the right :)
Why everyone should own a Prius...
Vanessa: "I gave up sobriety for Lent. Let's drink to that!"
