Well finally back from a week of vacation and fun family bonding time. Lo-Gung and I were a bit naiive and thought, hey wouldn't it be great fun to drive up the old Highway 1 and see the coastline whilst on our way to Monterey??? Bad idea. As boyfriend and girlfriend we'd driven down it...now I wanted les fils to see the glorious California coast. To know their homeland and such. However we seem to have forgotten why the 5 fwy was built in the first place...BECAUSE IT TAKES A FUCKING LONG TIME TO DRIVE UP THE BLOODY COAST. We were on the road for a good 12 hours...a drive that should've taken maybe 5 hours. Yes...it was that bad. The scenery was beautiful, and we did stop and enjoy the coastline at Pismo Beach and some random point god knows where...lots of sea kelp beds...but by the last 35 miles, and when one would think...oh...35 miles isn't bad...but when you've been in the car all day and stuck behind the stupid minivan from out of state who is driving 20 mph (when one could at least be going 40) because of the curves...suddenly...35 miles is a hella long time.

Speaking of Pismo Beach, they had a tiny outlet mall there, and I was desperate for sunglasses and a decent book. They had a Book Warehouse there, the romance section was all crap, but did find Dog Days by Anne Marie Cox. I lived at her site Wonkette during the last presidential election, and it seemed to be the only decent book at the whole store, so I got it. (Side note: not too bad, the most useful thing I got of it was the expression Control-Fuck-You.)

So anyways, we finally got there, checked into the hotel, scoured the guide for a cool local area restaurant...and decided to go to one called Forge in the Forest. It was very picturesque and we sat outdoors. Apparently every employee has a interest in the ownership of said restaurant, and a bit pretentious (boy our waiter was a dork), but I think I was able to command the waiter's attention by keeping my eyebrows haughtily lifted the whole time. The freshly waxed and beautifully arched eyebrows were telling him, "oh yeah, you better be serving us in a timely manner beeyotch, or I will open a can of whoop ass on your big ole white ass biscuit!!!!!!!!!" I believe I was quite successful. :)

There were two couples next to us, each at their own table. The older couple (lets call them Al and Peggy), most likely denizens of Monterey were talking shop about local events, and Al started a conversation with the younger couple (lets call them Marcy and Steve). About what they should see and recommending they should eat at this particular restaurant.

"Here!" Al said, sticking a fork full of his steak at Marcy. "You've got to taste this!"

Marcy looked a bit shy, but didn't seem to have the fortitude to refuse, so she politely nipped the meat off the fork and smiled.

"Oh, and you have to try the ceasar salad!" Peggy piped up. She too took a forkful of salad and stuck it in Marcy's face. Marcy ate that too.

Lo Gung and I were quietly laughing...as the evening passed Al had gotten a few drinks in him, and after ignoring us all evening, suddenly turned to us and said, "So where are you folks from?" I told him, and apparently it was an acceptable venue to be from, as he became increasingly friendly. He recommended the Underwater Explorers program for P (eldest daughter, 8) which we ended up doing. After dinner we went back to the hotel and decided to watch a movie and then turn in.

I'll write more tomorrow...need to run errands and this is turning out to be a rather long entry. :)