First family trip! Day 1

We just got back from our first family trip with Violet!  We have, of course, gone to Arizona with her, but this was the first time we picked a different destination and planned an itinerary and got a hotel.  

We drove up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to San Simeon on the 4th of July, and then up the PCH to Monterey on the 5th.  Today, we drove all the way home from Monterey without stopping to see anything.  We have been wanting to do a trip up the PCH, and since Glenn had a couple of days off for the 4th of July, we decided to take the opportunity and go!

On Thursday morning, we left around 8:00, and drove to Solvang.  Solvang is a Danish town just north of Santa Barbara.  It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there, but that was the longest stretch of the whole trip, besides today when we drove all the way home.  

At Solvang, they had an Independence Day Parade!  It was fun to watch, and Violet loved the horses.  Also, I had read that the one thing you have to do in Solvang is get some baked goods, since that is one thing the Danes are famous for.  We got a Danish, naturally, and also a huge oatmeal cookie sandwich dipped in chocolate.  They were both delicious!  

We planned to stop in Solvang only briefly to stretch our legs, but we still ended up staying almost an hour, and could have stayed and explored a lot longer!

Next, we drove about an hour and a half to Cambria.  Cambria is a really odd city.  It is tucked away from the shore in the woods, and it actually reminded me of a very posh Pine, AZ.  It is basically just one main street, with lots of unique shops.  We stopped in a couple of antique stores, and a place that sold "Rare and Unusual Succulents".  I had chosen the place we ate lunch based on reviews online, and it didn't disappoint!  It was called Indigo Moon, and it was delicious.  Also, the restaurant itself was really cool; it was an old, beautiful house with some tables inside, and a lot out on the big back porch, which is where we sat.  Violet had fun playing in the garden in the backyard while we waited for our food.

(Glenn's chicken-apple-brie sandwich and sweet potato fries)

Our hotel was in San Simeon, which was just a 5 minute drive from Cambria.  We arrived at our hotel about an hour before check-in, so we went down to the beach for a while.  Our hotel was literally on the beach, so it was only about a two minute walk to get down there.  

There were lots of rocks on the beach, and they were so beautiful!  I tried to get a picture of a good selection of rocks to show you, but the colors are not as vibrant in this picture as they were in real life.

Violet loved walking around the beach collecting rocks.  When we finally got into our hotel room, it was time to relax!

Don't let that picture fool you, Violet didn't sleep.  In fact, the only bad thing about this trip was how little Violet slept.  No naps either day, and that first night, she went to bed at almost 10 because of fireworks, and then woke up at 3 in the morning, and never went back to sleep.  Needless to say, we were all pretty tired on Friday. 

It was fun to watch fireworks on the beach though!  It was Violet's first time seeing them, and she loved them.

I'll chronicle Day 2 tomorrow!