Loving California!

Yesterday afternoon we left for California!  It has been a long time since we have had a vacation, and we decided to combine a visit to see my brother (who is finishing his PhD. at Berkeley) with a little vacay of our own.  We have tried to visit my brother since he moved to Berkeley 2 years ago, so it was thrilling to earn 2 free tickets and finally find the time to travel. My mom and dad kindly dropped us off at the airport and are taking care of our four-legged little one while we are gone.  

We hit the ground running (well, rolling on the plane :) and started sight-seeing immediately.  It was 5:30 California time, 7:30 our normal time.  The first thing we did was drove down the crooked street in San Francisco.  I loved looking at all the pretty houses-SO different from ours in Texas!-and also enjoyed the huge incline we drove on to get to the top of the road.  I am still amazed at the drivers who have to park their cars on this ramp of a street!

The crooked Lombard street, view going down

Then we headed to dinner.  Jeff has a favorite restaurant that overlooks the ocean.  On the way to eat, we got a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset...

Dinner at the Cliff House by the ocean...

This morning we had brunch at a delicious little restaurant, Sunny Side Cafe.  I had the most amazing french toast with peanut butter cream cheese and grilled bananas on top, yum!  I would eat here every weekend if I could!  Delish!

This afternoon we walked around campus and visited the Sather Tower.  The view from the top was amazing, and we even got to hear part of a bell concert as we toured.  

View from the tower

Huge bells in the tower

We also got to tour Jeff's research lab and see some incredible microscopes.  This one is worth somewhere between 3-4 million dollars!  That just blows my mind!  I can hardly believe he gets to work with such amazing equipment--it is right up his alley.  Jeff will finish his PhD this year and then return to Rice/Baylor in Houston to finish his M.D.  He has worked so hard; I am so proud of him.  It has been such a treat to spend time with him and his precious girlfriend Sara.  We are so excited to see them again at the end of this week!

No doubt one of my favorite things all day was our visit to the Rose Garden.  I have never seen so many roses so beautifully displayed.  It was incredible!  We walked around and stopped to smell as many roses as we could...the fragrance was lovely.

Berkeley Rose Garden

A few of the beauties

Jeff and Sara

Clowning around

Tomorrow we leave for the valley to spend a few days in Napa and Sonoma.  I can't wait to see that part of the country!  Wednesday we are going to Muir Woods to see the ginormous trees and hike a bit.

Did I mention the weather here is incredible?  We left 90 degree temperatures and arrived to 60.  The day warms up a bit, and the nights are chilly.  We love cold weather and are savoring every bit.

  

As for the fitness challenge, we walked 5 miles today around Berkeley, so I think we are going to make it.  44 miles down, 6 to go!