Back to School

2015-2016 school year.

 Lauren is an 11th grader/junior and Jace makes his debut into high school as a 9th grader/freshman. Lauren refused a photo but I got this one of Jace. They are both attending Centennial High School- home of the Bulldogs! 

Summer Vacation 2015 (Part 4)

The last installment of our summer adventure.

We stayed Sunday night in the adorable yellow Carter House B&B. Monday morning we enjoyed breakfast then took a little tour of the town. The green Carson Mansion was AMAZING!!It is an American Queen Anne style Victorian that was built in 1884. It has been a private club since 1950 so were weren't able to go in or get a closer look. It wasn't long til we were back on the 101 and found our next stop- the quaint little town of  Ferndale. We stopped and shopped down main street and took a quick tour of the town (all 5 streets) then were once again on our way. Our next adventure was my favorite because......

I like big trees and I cannot lie.... (if you didn't sing this you are not my friend)

The Avenue of Giants!! Home to Redwood trees- lots of them! A beautiful, majestic 31 mile scenic drive that was simply amazing. we stopped several times along the way to check out different trees like the Chimney Tree and the drive thru Chandelier Tree. We also made a stop at Confusion Hill and defied the laws of nature in the Gravity House. Here gravity is confused but is it an optical illusion or nature defying the law of gravity? It was like the Mystery Spot we stopped at last year in Santa Cruz. We finished out the day by driving to Santa Rosa, CA where we had pizza for dinner then checked into the Flamingo for the night. I wanted to stay at the Flamingo because of it's great history. It opened in 1957 with a grand gala bash and remained a popular place to be seen. Movie stars sunned themselves by the pool and it was known in Hollywood as the place to stay north of the bay. The architect was Los Angeles modernist George Vernon Russell and he built it to mirror the original Vegas Flamingo, which he also designed. I wish we would have had time to lounge by the pool but instead we were off to cross the Golden Gate into San Francisco. Our last few hours of vacation were spent cruising Lombard Street, shopping at Brandy Melville, eating crab on the wharf, and ice cream at Ghiradelli's. After Ghiradelli's were returned to our rental car to find that some idiot low life had smashed in the back side window. What a crappy end to our fun adventure. Luckily, the scumbags didn't get away with too much- a backpack that had some snacks and a blanket and my camera bag that only had a lens and my cords in it. I had the camera and smaller lens with me. Still a bummer though. We called and made a police report but of course there's nothing they can do. We noticed that a few other cars on the street were hit as well, the folks parked in front of us lost an iPad and some other items. It's times like these that your faith in humanity withers just a bit. Life must go on though! We cleaned up some of the glass inside the car and the four of us squeezed into the middle seat on the ride to the airport where we traded the car for a plane and were soon landing back home in Las Vegas. It was a great trip and we got to see some of this beautiful country and experience new things. Now where to go next??

Eureka, CA

Tea time at the Carter House

Carson Mansion

Adorable pink house across from the Carson Mansion

Ferndale, CA

Old cemetery in Ferndale

Main drag in Ferndale

B&B in Ferndale

Avenue of the Giants

Santa Rosa, CA

San Francisco, CA