California - The Wrap Up

******I've been too busy with school and everyone here at home to have time to blog. Here are the details of my Spring Break trip to California******

So it's been almost 2 months already. I may as well get this trip wrapped up! Another reason this hasn't been done in a timely manner is I shot actually film on the trip and when I turned it in, I forgot to mark "CD" on the envelope so I have no way to post photos.

Wednesday the Aunt stayed home from work because she had a doctor appointment (and because I was there). We got a lot of cleaning done. I made many trips to Goodwill which was conveniently located a couple of blocks away. We took a load of books, magazines, and catalogs to the library. We flew to the library the next town over. We thought it was closing at 5, but once we got there we discovered it was now open until 7. The aunt's IMT appointment for Thursday in Monterey had cancelled so she decided to go whale watching with me. We printed out her ticket at the library.

We got home very, very late and we were quite tired. We had to leave for the coast at 6 am. I started to flick dirt, cat hair, etc off my sleeping mat. As I grasped the sheet I put my hand in wet. THE CAT HAS PISSED ON MY BED. The aunt didn't believe me! "He doesn't do that". Well he did. I freaked out.

"I've had it! Where's the nearest hotel?"

She started laughing. "You can have the bed."

"I don't know that the cat didn't piss in it! I'm outta here!"

I packed up, went online, and got myself a room at the Super8. I spent 2 nights there and the next three in a Courtyard by Marriott (great deal on hotwire).

I called my husband crying to see if we had enough money for me to spend 5 nights in a hotel. So much for my cheap vacation. Graciously, the aunt paid for half my hotel bill.

Staying in the hotel improved my vacation a lot!

She let me take the car for the reminder of the vacation. I would drive her to and from work each day then I could "buzz around" in it the rest of the day.

Thursday morning I picked her up early and we headed to the coast. It was a pretty drive. We went through orchards, strawberry fields, and artichoke fields. The sight of the ocean really takes my breath away. I forgot how white the sand is in Monterey. We had a yummy breakfast then walked down the wharf to board the whale watching boat. I took some Dramamine. It was a beautiful sunny day. The guide chick said yesterday was an amazing whale day (it must go every other day lol).

Now, I'm a landlocked Iowa girl. I had no idea what the hell i was looking for! Eventually, I figured out it was the plume/mist that comes up when the blow out their blowhole. I also finally managed to see the tops of their heads/back when then surface. It was pretty cool, but a little disappointing. I have to say that the discovery channel ruined whale watching for me! You become accustomed to seeing the animals so very close up due to the amazing lenses. Toward the end of the trip we saw an albatross and finally a FLUKE! I even managed to catch it on film! We were (supposedly) between 2 pods of whales so we stayed out a while longer than scheduled. We ended up getting about 45 minutes extra of cruise time. On the way in we saw sea otters and of course, seals. I want to do it again!

We had a great seafood lunch overlooking the bay and headed back to Modesto.

Friday, the Aunt went back to work. I did some cleaning and hung out at the hotel in the hot tub.

Saturday we did some more sorting and I got to go to Trader Joe's. What a disappointment. A bad thing happened, too. The cat was sick. We took him to the vet hospital where we had to wait a very long time. He had renal failure and possibly a polyp between his ear and nose. We left him there getting IV's and fluids.

Sunday, we drove to the mountains to have brunch with Pat. It was nice to see her again. She had come to Iowa with the aunt years ago. She is an art teacher. She has a pretty little house. The air was clear and crisp. Her daffodils were in bloom. We drove up to about 5, 000 feet to discover the brunch place is no more. I really enjoyed the scenery. We drove back down the mountain and had brunch at the casino. It was a nice day.

Monday morning I took the Aunt to school then I went and picked up the cat. I took him to the regular vet and left him there. The Aunt and the vet would decide later what to do. Ultimately, she had to have Jazz put to sleep.

I took myself to the airport. My suitcase was overweight, but the guy let me go with out paying the extra baggage charge. My flights home were good and my husband was glad to see me.