Day Fifteen – September 23, 2018

Day Fifteen – September 23, 2018

Another – yes, another beautiful sunny California day.  Living near Lake Ontario we are more used to cloudy days – this sunshine is great!

After breakfast we text the kids and volunteer to watch Esmé for an hour or two so they can do something together.  Trista isn’t ready to leave her just yet so we ask what she is craving for – a deli sandwich from the Summit Store is her answer.  We haven’t visited that store yet so we take sandwich orders from them and head for the mountain.

Traffic is about the same as yesterday – no issues.  The Summit Store is a fantastic find!  Within a five mile drive for the kids this store has everything – every little thing!  Dale says if you can’t find it here you don’t need it.  Seems true.  Their produce is local and fresh and delicious looking.  The meat counter rivals none we have seen – fresh cuts, lean and priced reasonably.  They are having a meat extravaganza on September 27 when they cut the meat prices substantially.  We take a flyer with that news for the kids!  We would be stocking up if we lived here!  It is pretty crowded here so we put in our deli order and wander up and down the aisles to see what they have.  A bottle of champagne would be good; their anniversary is coming up soon.  We won’t be here to celebrate but we can get them a little something.

Our order is up and champagne is in hand, we check out and make our way to their place.

Esmé seems glad to see us – Grandpa takes her quickly so the kids can eat unfettered and we enjoy lunch. 

 

Chris and Dale talk technology while Trista and I talk about growth spurts.  It is nice just sitting and talking and playing with the baby. 

 

She likes to stick her tongue into this ball!

 

We ask the kids about some of our travel options – they enjoy a place up the coast on Route One but there is also Yosemite.  Hmm – we have a lot to think about.

It is such a nice day we decide to go for a walk.  There are blackberry vines on both sides of the road – some just out of reach but we sample the few we can get to. 

 

 

You can see Monterey Bay from their driveway!

Esmé is tired out so we go back – but – she is not ready to go down for a nap.  We take some more photos – Dale made Esmé a little rocking chair; we brought Dale’s Mom’s rocking chair for the kids; the knee pads we bought in Los Banos!

 

 

Too much going on.  Both Chris and Trista are exhausted and we know we are not really helping because Esmé is just too interested in what is going on and she does not want to miss a thing.  This is our last night with them and we need to re-pack the car, so we sadly leave.  It is so hard being this close and then knowing we won’t see them again until Christmas.  But tears and Kleenex aside, we had a wonderful time with the three of them and wouldn’t trade that time for anything.

Back down the mountain and into the beach traffic again.  We, slowly creep towards our hotel.  Once there we begin the task of packing up and then re-packing the car.  We have so much more room in the car, now that we have visited these two daughters!

Trista sends us a photo – after we left and there was not as much excitement.

Now, time for a decision – where do we go from here?  After much deliberation we decide on Yosemite National Park and start looking for a place to stay.  The closer to the park you get the higher the hotel prices.  The place the kids stayed in February is priced a lot differently this time of year – we find a place about 20 miles from the Visitors Center and book it for the night.  Satisfied that we have a plan we dine on leftovers and hope to get a good nights sleep.