Rain, Row and Romance

Hi All!!!!!
I'm back from my "Romantic Get-away" to Monterey with the love of my life...  I came back home to a very busy evening since I had to prepare a session for today's class.  Well let me get on with how my day's away went.... I'm sure you want to know or else you wouldn't be here... lol....
 
 

I ended my last blog on day one (Sunday) of our stay in Monterey.... 

 I felt much better on Monday... of course I did take enough meds to get me through the day without feeling too sick... So Monday was a better day for me and for Lance!  (if you don't know what I'm talking about then you should read my last blog)

Poor guy... I bet he thought I would end up laying in bed the whole time hahhaa...  so let's get on with the fun stuff!!!

We headed out the door around 10:00 and were making our way towards Big Sur, we had never been there before so we didn't know what to expect.  The weather forcast was "rainy" and boy was it!!! 

I put together a scrap page of our drive there.... needless to say it was a bit wet but in the end on the way back to Monterey the sky opened up and heaven shone upon us the rest of the day!!! Whoo-hoo for nice weather!!!

So let me share with you the "trip" to Big Sur before I post the picture...  Like I said we didn't know what the drive would be like and well... I'm not real good with windy mountain roads that look like you are going to fall off the cliff's edge... and I'm not good with bridges... and I'm really not good with the two combined along with the cliffs that drop off into the ocean.... needless to say I was a bit... uh nervous... Poor Lance... he really is a trooper when it comes to dealing with my car melt-downs.... but once we reached "low land" again I was good to go!!! I must tell you that if you love to camp and be near the Coast at the same time I would suggest you head to Big Sur!  It's absolutely beautiful being surrounded by all the trees and "foresty" area and also being only 1-2 miles from the ocean at the same time.   

Before we headed too "high" into the mountain side we did pull over a few times to look at the view... one of my thoughts every time I go to this area is how much I hope that those who live in this area really appreciate the beauty that surrounds them, you know how easy it is to just "get used to" where we live and then a stranger comes around to "refresh" your view of where you live... Oh Lord please let them still appreciate all that beauty!

So this is what we seen on the way to Big Sur and back to Monterey  follow the pictures from the left to the right... see how it was oogie and then turned beautfiul.... kind of like how I felt as the day progressed....

 

So once we got back into Monterey we headed over to Cannery Row.  We love to just walk up and down the Row and go in and out of the shops just to look at all the stuff and read all the crazy things in the shops... but the best thing to do is EAT!!! Yeah I didn't get the size I am by just looking at food.... lol....
Hmmm... what sounded good to us??? BUBBA GUMPS!!!

If you've never eaten there then let me just explain that it's a resturant based upon the movie Forrest Gump... they have the movie playing on the t.v's and the waiters will come up to your table and ask you trivia questions about the movie.... not that I've watched the movie over and over again but it's one that you just can't seem to forget... Both Lance and I did really good on the trivia part and even stumped our waiter! He asked us "What book was little Forrest reading at the end of the Movie"  okay so he gave us a hint "has a monkey in it" so we guessed and said Curious George! Yipee we were right!! No you don't win anything you just have a good time anwering the questions!  Then I asked him "So which Curious George book was it?"  Ha he didn't know! hahhahahaha...  Lunch was GREAT!

Here's a lookie loo at what we ended up having..... yeah it's a whole "let's eat" kind of get-away hahahhahaha....

 

The quotes that are written around the picture is what was written on the table we ate at.... I still have more quotes but didn't have the room on the picture!
So after Bubba Gumps we walked around some more and went to this huge Antique Store, I was looking for some soup tureens that we can use when we have our Souper-Stations during this Lent (something I'll explain in a different blog), well... we were in Monterey and I know that everything there is much more expensive but GEEZ I was blown away... and literally out the door by the prices!

We decided to head over to any second-hand store to see if we could find something there!  WE managed to find some baskets (NEW ONES!) for the bread and some more soup ladles that looked just as new!  AND while I was standing in line I was looking from afar at the movies they had for sale and guess what I found..... FOR THE BOYS oh I love that movie!!!!!!! I only had to pay $2.25 for a DVD that worked perfectly!!! (we watched it at the hotel later that night!)  While I was there I asked if there were any other 2nd hand stores and they directed me (and Lance since he's the driver) to where they were and after getting lost only once we found them!  I managed to find a few more baskets and a really nice glass bowl for a prayer table candle that I bought...  BUT I still needed some tureens!!!!  

Just outside the 2nd store that we went to there was this beautiful mural on the wall... It had all remarkable women... yeah that's right... women ROCK IT

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

Wow!! As a painter myself I really can appreciate all the hard work that this artist did to portray these wonderful women!!!
After being "stalked" by a fellow shopper... kid you not this guy was with us at every store!!! and he was a bit uh... unnerving... so after not finding what I needed we left and I noticed a 99cent store across the street, so we ran across the street and into the store... can you tell that I LOVE BARGAINS???

I didn't find any tureens there but I did find some pots that I will be using instead.... the guy wanted to make the deal so much with us (because I needed 5) that he said "OH I give you GOOD DEAL" (yep he sounded like that it's not a typo) "I no charge you TAX" hahahahhaha so I got what I needed TAX FREE!  So not much but it was a "deal!"  I also managed to purchase 10 water pitchers that will be needed too.... Let's see... the only thing left for my night of feeding our parishoners was "SOUP" (which I was going to be purchasing later that night)

After "shopping" we both decided to go back to the room to just hang out for a bit before we headed out to dinner....
OH YEAH.... we went to

 

As many times as I've been to the Wharf... I've never eaten any where else but the Grotto!!!!! I always have the Cioppino!!!! So to show you how wonderful it all was I will share a little scrap page for that dinner too!!!

But before I post that I have to tell you that this resturant has a lot of style and really treat the customers GREAT!!! I've never gone away feeling disappointed with the food and it was really nice to hear an employee (he helped us carry out the soup to the car) say "Its the best place I've ever worked at" how often do you hear that coming from an employee about their employer????  So if you are ever in Monterey at the Wharf I strongly suggest you go there!!! We were even given a complimentary appetizer of Calamari and Artichokes...

 

OH YEAH!!! Thanks Mr. Shake!!!! (by the way the owner is always at the front door opening it for you!!)  so with no further ado....

 
After that huge dinner.... we headed back to the room and just soaked in the hot tub... and then I started putting together all these scrap-pages that you see here.... I hope you enjoyed being with us on day 2 of our get away....

ON day 3 it wasn't as eventful but our last day there was really nice because the sun was shining brightly, the wind had died down and we were able to just be together without any interruptions....

But there was this one bird who seemed to follow us everywhere!!! LOL....

 

Thank you so much for coming and visiting me on my blog, I really do hope you enjoy my little life stories and I hope that you can see the presence of God as I do throughout each day......

With that I leave you our final day's pictures..... 

Both Lance and I were.....

 
And we love each other and go together so well that we are like.....

and

 
Where there is one of us there is always the other.....
 

 
Yes we complete each other.....

only because by the Grace of God are we together!
 

Oh yeah one more thing.... everyone probably thought we were crazy taking pictures of all the food and stuff in the resturant... but he when you want to make scrap pages you'll take a picture of anything and everything!!!!

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Have a blessed day!
Love,