Vacation!
Spring Break!!
I haven't posted here in ages, due to a whirlwind of activity, but I've done many fun things! Ted and I had our first competitions, flying to UCSD and Harvard, and playing at the San Diego Zoo, downtown Boston, and the Boston Museum of Science while we were at it... we chose the coldest night of the week to tour downtown Boston, go us!
Last weekend I went home to visit my family and friends, but since my family was still in school, I only stayed for <48 hours and then returned and did some much needed spring cleaning/paperwork/organizin in my apartment *feels SO much better*. Then on Thursday Ted and I left for a vacation!
We drove down to Monterey Thursday afternoon and explored. We went to fisherman's wharf, cannery row, downtown, and around the beach, doing some window shopping and such. On our way we went through this park where there was a playground... the coolest playground ever! Naturally, I stopped to play in it... there was this steam engine to climb on! A real one! hehe and other funness... the park itself was pretty cool; it has a U-shaped pondishness that defines the length and width of it, and geese and ducks wander around tamely... I stalked some this afternoon :P.
Friday we drove down to Big Sur to a smaller state park called Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to find some pretty trails to hike. We found a short trail that led to an outpost from which we could see a waterfall falling directly to the beach and draining into the ocean, and then we hiked into a canyon with another waterfall from the same stream at the end, and then began the longest hike with a goal to make it... 2 hills over and one hill up... by sunset... in an hour... to watch the sun set over the ocean, and made it by the skin of our teeth =). Watching the sun set on top of a mountain, of course, implies a hike down the mountain in the dark... with a winding flashlight hehe. w00t.
The neatest part of the day was that while driving down highway 1 (omg most scenic road ever) we pulled over at some random point and found a trail off the side of the road to a hidden beach that was absolutely stunning. It had really strong waves creating riptides and would ahve been terrible for swimming, but we weren't intending to swim, and it was a gorgeous place to walk to/around. The whole drive i was basically just staring out the window going "pretty!" "pretty!" in periodic bursts =).
Today we were exhausted and took the day to relax; we walked to a beach near our hotel in Monterey, and after walking through the waves a bit we laid down on the sand and took a nap in the sunshine. I got a little burned, but it's ok. Then we went back to the hotel and utilized the spa/pool there so we could actually get in the water (even the pool was heated) and laid down watching clouds for awhile. A walk to fisherman's wharf to get a souvenir and a dinner later, we were on our way back home.
I now feel very refreshed and relaxed and happy =). Too bad I have midterms for the next two weeks.
I haven't posted here in ages, due to a whirlwind of activity, but I've done many fun things! Ted and I had our first competitions, flying to UCSD and Harvard, and playing at the San Diego Zoo, downtown Boston, and the Boston Museum of Science while we were at it... we chose the coldest night of the week to tour downtown Boston, go us!
Last weekend I went home to visit my family and friends, but since my family was still in school, I only stayed for <48 hours and then returned and did some much needed spring cleaning/paperwork/organizin in my apartment *feels SO much better*. Then on Thursday Ted and I left for a vacation!
We drove down to Monterey Thursday afternoon and explored. We went to fisherman's wharf, cannery row, downtown, and around the beach, doing some window shopping and such. On our way we went through this park where there was a playground... the coolest playground ever! Naturally, I stopped to play in it... there was this steam engine to climb on! A real one! hehe and other funness... the park itself was pretty cool; it has a U-shaped pondishness that defines the length and width of it, and geese and ducks wander around tamely... I stalked some this afternoon :P.
Friday we drove down to Big Sur to a smaller state park called Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to find some pretty trails to hike. We found a short trail that led to an outpost from which we could see a waterfall falling directly to the beach and draining into the ocean, and then we hiked into a canyon with another waterfall from the same stream at the end, and then began the longest hike with a goal to make it... 2 hills over and one hill up... by sunset... in an hour... to watch the sun set over the ocean, and made it by the skin of our teeth =). Watching the sun set on top of a mountain, of course, implies a hike down the mountain in the dark... with a winding flashlight hehe. w00t.
The neatest part of the day was that while driving down highway 1 (omg most scenic road ever) we pulled over at some random point and found a trail off the side of the road to a hidden beach that was absolutely stunning. It had really strong waves creating riptides and would ahve been terrible for swimming, but we weren't intending to swim, and it was a gorgeous place to walk to/around. The whole drive i was basically just staring out the window going "pretty!" "pretty!" in periodic bursts =).
Today we were exhausted and took the day to relax; we walked to a beach near our hotel in Monterey, and after walking through the waves a bit we laid down on the sand and took a nap in the sunshine. I got a little burned, but it's ok. Then we went back to the hotel and utilized the spa/pool there so we could actually get in the water (even the pool was heated) and laid down watching clouds for awhile. A walk to fisherman's wharf to get a souvenir and a dinner later, we were on our way back home.
I now feel very refreshed and relaxed and happy =). Too bad I have midterms for the next two weeks.