Discovering Another Mad Dash (Oct 14): Heading Home and Finally finishing this TR #1523 (05/03)

It was good of your cousin to make it considering she was unwell. And mmmm...claypot rice! Your DS also did well considering how much ground you covered. The amount that you fit into your trip always astounds me. Or maybe its just that actually remember to take the photos and post them! The shot of the lanterns is just beautiful. Did you find it decorated differently with the New Year coming up?

Oh and hurray for free food!
 
So I know this isn't really the place to do this, but I couldn't figure it out. Shushh, I'm really enjoying reading your blog of your trip, especially the DC part...if you couldn't figure it out, I'm going there is a little over a month and doing a lot of research on the Smithsonian. I can't wait to see the lunchboxes!

Thanks for reading along on my blog! I'm sure princess won't mind us having a private chat on her territory...

I think you are very lucky as a Nation to have such a wonderful Institution as the Smithsonian. It is simply incredible. I loved it.

My husband had to drag me away from the lunch boxes because I was taking a photo of every single one! They were so cute!
 
I am back and all caought up...WOW you sure can pack alot into a short time! Loved the tips on Chinatown eats and I have to get to that fortune cookie factory someday Colton would LOVE it! Maybe we should drive down for the October trip and hit SF or maybe the summer 2012 trip hmmm have to think on that more sea lions in the summer so maybe that is the ticket.

Beautiful pics as always!
 
I love all the pics. I really like the waterfall. Everything you eat looks so good and sounds like you found a great price for it as well. I hope your cousin is feeling alot better. Keep it coming. Hope you get a tag;)
 


So true about the round eyes LOL my mum got chased out of a shop in Chinatown S.F no idea why LOL

I must say though we go to Yum Cha in Springvale in Melbourne and the people there are very warm to us, they love our kids LOL
And they were pretty surprised when we asked for the chicken feet LOL

Me, on the other hand, they get pretty surprised when I DO NOT ask for the chicken feet. It was one of those things I never quite worked out how to eat...or maybe it had to do with the fact that we had chickens in our backyard in SE Asia...and I kept thinking about them :rolleyes:

:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

It was good of your cousin to make it considering she was unwell. And mmmm...claypot rice! Your DS also did well considering how much ground you covered. The amount that you fit into your trip always astounds me. Or maybe its just that actually remember to take the photos and post them! The shot of the lanterns is just beautiful. Did you find it decorated differently with the New Year coming up?

Oh and hurray for free food!


That claypot rice was pretty good. Maybe after some time all I'll remember is the rice; and not the service.

DS did very well that day. I kept thinking that I was going to need to walk to Stockton and catch the bus; but he was happy to meander down. Once he got to Market...that was a different story.

The lanterns are normally up. I was a little disappointed that there weren't any extra decorations up for CNY...but then there was still one week to go.


Thanks for reading along on my blog! I'm sure princess won't mind us having a private chat on her territory...

I think you are very lucky as a Nation to have such a wonderful Institution as the Smithsonian. It is simply incredible. I loved it.

My husband had to drag me away from the lunch boxes because I was taking a photo of every single one! They were so cute!

Go right ahead! I don't mind at all.


I am back and all caought up...WOW you sure can pack alot into a short time! Loved the tips on Chinatown eats and I have to get to that fortune cookie factory someday Colton would LOVE it! Maybe we should drive down for the October trip and hit SF or maybe the summer 2012 trip hmmm have to think on that more sea lions in the summer so maybe that is the ticket.

Beautiful pics as always!

Welcome back "grandma". How are the baby chinchilla's?

October is a nice time to be in SF. But I'm partial to summer. It is warm enough for proper sea swimming; but not too warm that you boil.


I love all the pics. I really like the waterfall. Everything you eat looks so good and sounds like you found a great price for it as well. I hope your cousin is feeling alot better. Keep it coming. Hope you get a tag;)

My cousin is feeling better, thank you.

Tag? As I said in another thread, I was always LAST to be picked at playground Tag.
And now that I know that the Tag Fairy is REAL and, in actual fact, is an all-powerful Tag Queen (and not some Moderator in Drag), I don't think I'll be picked for a tag anytime soon. :sad2:


princess::upsidedow
 
Love the free food.
Homeward Suites do that too with varying quality depending on the location and quality of the hotel.

Is that cherry pie?
More of a curiosity thing than anything...me likey like the Gingerbread men :cloud9:
 
Love the free food.
Homeward Suites do that too with varying quality depending on the location and quality of the hotel.

Is that cherry pie?
More of a curiosity thing than anything...me likey like the Gingerbread men :cloud9:

YES ::yes::....my favourite....CHERRY pie :lovestruc

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The free food is always a bonus. I'm always amused at how the hotel calls it "snacks" for happy hour. They usually put out the item on the published menu, garden salad, fruit, cheese, cold cuts and biscuits, red and white wine, soda and coffee/tea for happy hour.

More than plenty!
 


Love the free food.
Homewood Suites do that too with varying quality depending on the location and quality of the hotel.

We love this chain! I'm staying there on my next trip and all of them we have stayed at so far have been great! Our only problem is that we miss the evening snacks because we are still out and about. We stayed at one in Texas and they had a waffle maker that made waffles in the shape of Texas! :lmao: The best part is that we use our Hilton points to stay and get the rooms for FREE! :thumbsup2
 
Glad to see you are still enjoying your time in chinatown. All the food that you are eating looks so delicious. It is a pity that your cousin wasn't feeling well, but it is still good that you got to see her. I love the pictures of the lanterns, so pretty.
 
Great pics as always! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2


Still in Chinatown
We arranged to meet at the corner of Stockton and Broadway. My cuz knew a place on Broadway that served rice porridge.

Yum! I love congee with pork, chicken & ginger! I add a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. It's great comfort food. :love:


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The lanterns were out and it made for a pretty shot.

Do they not have WIND there? I'd be afraid the wind would tangle up all the lanterns. :scared1:
 
Glad to see you are still enjoying your time in chinatown. All the food that you are eating looks so delicious. It is a pity that your cousin wasn't feeling well, but it is still good that you got to see her. I love the pictures of the lanterns, so pretty.

I was really pleased to catch up with her. I think I would have broken down her door if she wasn't able to meet us in Chinatown.


Great pics as always! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2


Yum! I love congee with pork, chicken & ginger! I add a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. It's great comfort food. :love:

Do they not have WIND there? I'd be afraid the wind would tangle up all the lanterns. :scared1:

Thanks!

If you ever come to Melbourne, we'll head to a shop called the Supper Inn. It's opened till way past 2 am and they serve congee there in every variety.

:scratchin: I think it depends on what sort of WIND you're talking about. :rolleyes: But those lanterns seem to be up every time I've gone, so they must have some way of keeping them bolted in place. :confused3
 
Our last morning and the Cabrillo Highway


Despite my packing last night, DH decided that he had some last minute packing to do himself. He woke up before the alarm, started to shuffle around in the room and promptly woke me up as well. No chance of a sleep-in for me this morning!

We got ready and finished up the packing as we wanted to load our bags into the car.

It was our last day on holiday and we have a late night plane to catch out of San Francisco. For me, last day on holidays is always bitter sweet. On one hand, I look forward to heading home and sleeping in my own bed. On the other…I will miss the freedom of doing what I want to do when I want to do it.

After all the morning activity, DS was not in the mood to rush out early for breakfast. So, we hung around until close on 9 am, when the breakfast bar would close.

I made sure that I got a shot of my plate of food.

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I’ve also been having a bowl of grapefruit most mornings…

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I’m sure gonna miss the breakfast here! Or maybe…I’m sure gonna miss not having to cook breakfast.

DH had arranged for us to have a late check-out at reception when he settled the bill. Problem was…no one had told the cleaners.

So, after breakfast, when we went back to the room, DS were not happy to find out that not only were we locked out of the room (the keys had been reset) but there was a cleaner in the room stripping the linen. The cleaner was none too happy about having his cleaning schedule disrupted and I hustled DS out and into the car.

I had originally planned to be in the room till at least noon so that we could rest up and get ready for the late night flight. That was so not going to happen now.

With time on my hands, we decided that the best thing to do was go for a drive….down the Cabrillo and into San Gregorio State Beach.


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Sadly for us, the day had turned out to be a typical cold San Francisco winter’s day….

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….and there was no one else silly enough to venture on the beach.


Traffic was sparse as we drove down towards Pescadero. It felt like we were on a real breakaway from civilization!

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The scenery of Highway 1 was stunning….

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…and breathtaking. As I was taking these shots, it was the first time that it felt like winter in California. It was COLD and also misty and foggy…..

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….even the cattle had other things to do….

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…than to look across the road to admire the view…

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….and by this stage, DS had about had enough of the cold weather.


So, we headed on back….


(Continued in Next Post)
 
(Continued from Previous Post)


Final Afternoon and On the Way Home

With the cold day, I managed to convince DS that the best place for us was a MALL! Yes….the weather finally did what I couldn’t get DS to do all week…..let me go shopping.

We stopped by the food court for lunch. DS saw the Burger King and decided he needed a junk food fix.

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He got the Whopper with Cheese meal deal.

I decided on the Japanese Teriyaki Chicken rice bowl.

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I did some credit card damage on this last afternoon, but nothing too significant, and we also picked up some last minute Lego for DS. Thankfully the bags were in the car, so I managed to squeeze everything in without too much effort.


And with no more room in the bags and an hour to kill before picking up DH, we decided to head to a Donut shop. This particular donut shop is one that I’ve driven past many times but never stopped at. I don’t know why I’ve never stopped in it before! Have a look at the display….


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I ordered a pot of tea. We also settled on a Chocolate iced donut…

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…a sugar donut and 2 donut holes.

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A ridiculous $2.75! I’m definitely coming back!


We finally got a text from DH and it was time to collect him.

One of the benefits of picking DH up from his office campus is that we can head to the sports complex and grab a shower before we leave. There is nothing to beat the feeling of being clean at the end of the day before a long flight home. The facilities provide towels, soap, shampoo, moisturizer and hair drying facilities; everything you could want without having to pull out the toiletries!

And our final meal? We are creatures of habit…so, we headed to the Wholefoods.


DS likes the mac and cheese. The lack of truffles is no hardship for him.

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DH and I always choose to have a light meal of soup…

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…and salad.

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Our flight was uneventful and it was a relief to get off at Sydney airport for some much needed Australian culture!

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We boarded a plane back to Melbourne and it was wonderful to be home again.


Post Script

Right to the end…my luck with scavenger hunt items held. I managed to pick up winter sport, whilst waiting for the boys to finish their showers.

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…and peppermints just stared me in the face at the check-in counter.

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I also got this Valentine Related shot in Melbourne Airport.

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Up Next – Final Thoughts


princess::upsidedow
 
I agree ... I can't believe it's almost over! Have really enjoyed your TR and look forward to reading your next one! I'm sure it will happen soon! :lmao:
 
I hate the last day of vacation. I usually try to start planning my next trip as soon as I get home to have something to look forward to.:) You really managed to get a lot of scavenger hunt items.
 
So sad that it is over, I have enjoyed following along with you, and getting some good ideas on things we can do while in California. Thanks for posting so many wonderful photos. Can't wait to hear your final thoughts.
 
You got some nice pics ( with out anyone in the way ). Leaving vacation is always bittersweet. I dont like coming home either. You guys look like you had a great time. Cant wait to hear your final thoughts. Sorry about not being able to stay in your room. You have a great TR with many more to follow.
 
PIO, another great TR. Your drive along the coast looked beautiful even if it was cold. Thanks for letting us follow along. What am I going to do now that your TR is coming to a close?!??! Any new PTRs to come? :rolleyes1
 
Sounds like it was still a good day despite the problems.
I'd have been fuming about the room situation and demanded a new room. If they have agreed to it I always try and confirm the late check out the night before.

But at least you could grab a shower at the sports centre :)

Plus your coastal drive was lovely. You should be familiar with cold coastal drives being a Victorian :rolleyes1

LOVE Wholefoods. Wish we had a place like that here. Their soups and stews are divine. :cloud9:

But I gotta say the toast and Vegemite looks almost as wonderful...especially after a trip overseas ;)


Thanks so much for the wonderful TR as always. I'm ready for the next PTR ::yes::

popcorn::
 

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