Practicing

So while Snake was gone on his trip, Chizz and I decided we should take advantage of the opportunity and go on a trip. But where to go? As these things usually work out, the timing of the trip was not necessarily good for Chizz's work so it was hard to make concrete plans. And because of the costs of Snake's trip, tuition deposits and college fees, the timing of the trip was not very good for our wallets as well. So where to go that we could be flexible with our comings and goings, would be inexpensive and the weather wouldn't require snow shovelling in any shape or form. Ta Da!! In laws to the rescue (how many times does that happen? In my case, quite a bit). My FIL & MIL (Father-in-Law and Mother-in-Law in internet lingo - see I am cool!) have a condo in Carmel. My MIL had it before she married my FIL. Her whole family is from that area and she has roots there since forever! She has always been very generous in letting us use it and since they wouldn't be there at the time, she kindly allowed us to camp there.

The location fit the bill on many levels, the major two being it was cheap and we could drive there - which we love to do. Chizz and I have always enjoyed driving vacations. We try and find small roads to get us where we need to go. We try to avoid freeways and highways as much as possible. It is all about the journey not the time or speed in which you get there. We enjoy looking at the scenery, the houses or little towns you find that are off the beaten path. No time frames, no agendas. Of course, the people under 20 in our house absolutely hate these kind of vacations. Actually, hate is too strong of a word. Usually, they are indifferent. As long as they can plug in and tune out, they seem to be okay. Although there are many vacations that we don't allow them to plug in, we want them to take in the scenery, actually notice their surroundings. That it is when it becomes a little unbearable for us. When they voice their boredom, "When are we going to get there", "I'm hungry", "Can I please listen to my Ipod", "I'm hungry", "I can listen AND watch the stupid scenery", "I'm hungry". So we jumped at the chance to do a driving trip without the commentary from the back seat.

The weather didn't exactly cooperate. It was off and on raining pretty much the entire time. But we managed to have a good time in Carmel. We drove along the backroads and saw some pretty impressive scenery. This is one of my favorite times of year in California, it is so green. We only have a few short weeks of rain each year and it turns the hills into an amazing array of green. In about 2 months time, these will turn into the "golden hills of California" but it is nice to enjoy the greenery while it lasts. Just around the bend from here, we found acres and acres of grape vines. Well, when in Rome. . . .


So these posts don't get too lengthy, I am going to break this up a bit. More tomorrow or, in the vernacular of the teenage people in my household, "whenever".