Our last day began with a slight back track. Since we missed our tour Wednesday, we got up early and left for Hearst Castle at 7 am to make it for the 8:20 tour. Luckily we made it this time! The Castle was amazing. It is seriously amazing what money can buy! I wish our pictures did it justice, and we didn't get too many, but this place was incredible! Here is one of the pools.
There are a bunch of different buildings (he had bungalows for guests that were bigger than most normal homes), this was his house. It really was a castle and all the details were spectacular.
The view from the grounds. Crew's favorite part was the 10 min. bus ride up and down. He was a little disappointed that there weren't any swords but he was pretty good considering he couldn't touch anything!
The grounds around the castle were so beautiful. It is pretty cool that the public get to see this fortress but it is kind of sad no one can really live there and enjoy all that Hearst created. If they needed a volunteer I would do it!
From Hearst, we drove about an hour and 45 minutes down to
Solvang. This is a little Dutch town 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara.
Solvang was a great stop. We ate some
aebleskivers and schnitzel for lunch (pancake balls and a pork cutlet dish) at a little restaurant there. Crew loved the
aebleskivers, well, we all did!
We actually got these in honor of Matt's dad who served his mission in Austria and made these for his kids when they were growing up.
Mmmm, they were delicious and the schnitzel was pretty good too. I was proud of our adventurous orders!
Next we went through Santa Barbara, which was a fantastic beach town but we didn't really stop until
Carpinteria a few more miles south. Here we changed into our suits and got some much needed beach time (out of the car!) It was a great beach.
Gram especially enjoyed getting out. Poor kid spent a lot of time in car seats or strapped into a Bjorn.
He also enjoyed getting his little toes in some sand and surf
This little guy was a trooper and really good the whole trip.
So was this big guy! He told us as we were leaving the beach to head home that we need to take more vacations. I think that was a good sign that he had a good time.
We grabbed some dinner and left
Carpinteria about 6 and pulled up to our apartment about 7:30. It was good to be home but we had such a fantastic week. I am amazed at all the different kinds of beauty that are all in one state! After this trip I must give a shout out to the people who made the Baby Bjorn (clever chaps), the makers of our 2002 Toyota (seriously huge gas tank and fantastic gas mileage), Trader Joe's for feeding us most of the week, and the people of
McDonalds for putting Star Wars characters in their Happy Meals. Yoda and a space ship kept Crew entertained for literally hours! It was so much fun to be with just our little family and definitely a trip we will always remember!
There are a bunch of different buildings (he had bungalows for guests that were bigger than most normal homes), this was his house. It really was a castle and all the details were spectacular.
The view from the grounds. Crew's favorite part was the 10 min. bus ride up and down. He was a little disappointed that there weren't any swords but he was pretty good considering he couldn't touch anything!
The grounds around the castle were so beautiful. It is pretty cool that the public get to see this fortress but it is kind of sad no one can really live there and enjoy all that Hearst created. If they needed a volunteer I would do it!
From Hearst, we drove about an hour and 45 minutes down to Solvang. This is a little Dutch town 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara.
We actually got these in honor of Matt's dad who served his mission in Austria and made these for his kids when they were growing up. Mmmm, they were delicious and the schnitzel was pretty good too. I was proud of our adventurous orders!
Next we went through Santa Barbara, which was a fantastic beach town but we didn't really stop until Carpinteria a few more miles south. Here we changed into our suits and got some much needed beach time (out of the car!) It was a great beach.
Gram especially enjoyed getting out. Poor kid spent a lot of time in car seats or strapped into a Bjorn.
He also enjoyed getting his little toes in some sand and surf
So was this big guy! He told us as we were leaving the beach to head home that we need to take more vacations. I think that was a good sign that he had a good time.
We grabbed some dinner and left Carpinteria about 6 and pulled up to our apartment about 7:30. It was good to be home but we had such a fantastic week. I am amazed at all the different kinds of beauty that are all in one state! After this trip I must give a shout out to the people who made the Baby Bjorn (clever chaps), the makers of our 2002 Toyota (seriously huge gas tank and fantastic gas mileage), Trader Joe's for feeding us most of the week, and the people of McDonalds for putting Star Wars characters in their Happy Meals. Yoda and a space ship kept Crew entertained for literally hours! It was so much fun to be with just our little family and definitely a trip we will always remember!
4 comments:
The picture with Graham's pants unsnapped is so funny, he's too big for his britches! Next time you do a road trip, I want to tag along!
Oh my goodness! You are such a travel expert! I've never been on a boring vacation with you because you always find the cool places to go and cool things to do! :) Miss ya!
Wow Shan. Sounds like an amazing trip and I'm so glad your boys handled it so well. Beautiful pictures!
I'm so jealous...you went on a real family vacation. Good for you guys! It looks like someone really researched where to go and stop, and eat and stay. It looks like it was a BEAUTIFUL vacation. I'm glad your boys did so well with the travel!
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