California Dreamin'

So I escaped Seattle just in time to miss the biggest storm of the season (one which damaged my boat), and headed for much sunnier California for Tracy's conference there, and also to see a part of the state I wasn't familar with (the Monterey Peninsula).

Because of Tracy's schedule, the trip was somewhat fragmented. I got in late Thursday night, and had Friday morning to myself, where I took advantage of the wonderful aquarium they have there. I was particularly impressed by their huge fish tank which housed tunas and hammerhead sharks. After attending Tracy's very impressive presentation, we walked around quaint Carmel a little bit before heading back to the hotel to find a dinner spot. Nothing fancy, just some classic Italian fare in Monterey. After a dip in the hot tub, we chose to lay low that night and stayed in to watch, of all things, CourtTV. Why is it that 90% of all police shows on TV focus on incidents in California?

On Saturday morning we drove south on Highway 1 to the Big Sur coast, the part of the Pacific Coast Highway that seems to get all the press (including a highly publicized murder that we learned about the night before!) The day got off to a gray and drizzly start, but eventually the sun came out and illuminated some wonderful scenery -- steep cliffs, turquoise water, curvy roads, etc. We didn't really have time to do any hiking or geocaching, since my friend Umesh and his girlfriend, Kate, were scheduled to meet us back in Monterey that afternoon.

The rest of the weekend was pretty mellow as well, with one exception. Kate decided that we should crash Tracy's awards dinner, even though we technically hadn't purchased tickets to the event. Making things even more uncomfortable, we were dressed very casually (jeans, tshirts), whereas most people were very dressed up. It all worked out in the end, though, as we got a good (free) meal and made some new friends at the table we were at. Apparently there are a lot of people that treat such events as a joke, so we weren't totally out of place!

On our way back to Seattle, we stopped by at Umesh's apartment in Berkeley to watch the first half of the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the San Jose airport, the game was over and the Seahawks had lost. I was even rooting for them this time!

For all the pictures from the weekend, click here.