Will & Kerri Get Hitched - Rehearsal

June 22nd

 Our friends Will & Kerri are getting married!  Hurray!

 We flew from San Francisco to Newark. 

 A very serious mother-daughter conversation.

 The guys had a lot of waiting around to do (Henry, Will, Josh, Rory, Ron, Dan, and Sean).

 Woo processional starting!

 There's a loooooooong aisle.

 Enhance.

 Enhance.

 J thinks keycards are delicious. 

 Courtney and J.

 Married!  But only pretend., for now.

 Maybe...don't look down the entire way guys.  Practice Congrats!

 So...I'm not 100% sure on the bridesmaids' names.  Sorry ladies!  I think Kat and Henry.

Taryn and Josh. 

 Beth and Rory.

 Lady with the best facial expression and Ron.

 Kim? and Dan.

 Kelly? and Sean.

 Will's parents.

 And then we practiced eating!  But we actually ate too.

 J got a lot of attention.

 Renaissance dining. 

 J was not happy about me keeping her from the beer.

 This table didn't have as much fun as we did.

 We had yummy Italian foods. 

 And also many beverages.

And we close this evening with a candid photo of Will and his dad.

It was really great to get to see everyone tonight.

This concludes our adventures for today.

Winchester Mystery House

June 21st

Byron and Karen and kids were in San Francisco for a week.  We met up and went to San Jose to go to the Winchester Mystery House.  I was super excited.

 We had a little bit of time to kill before our tour, so we wandered the grounds.

To the left is the Fruit Drying shed and to the right is the Foreman's house.

The Central Gardens.  Did I mention it was really hot?  Like...in the 90's hot.

We got someone to take our photo.  Aren't we cute?

More of the Central Gardens. 

 The grand property is totally surrounded by city.  

There's a huge shopping center across from the front door.

 A second floor door that goes nowhere.

A guide to Victorian Architecture.

These front doors cost $3,000.

The front of the Mystery House.  I enjoy Dan's and the kids' poses.

I was trying to see if anything was in the bowl.  There wasn't.

It was about time for our tour, so we headed back to the entrance.  No photos were allowed inside.  The house was interesting, but it was hot and stuffy.  Also, many of the things that the staff tell you about the house aren't exactly true.  Surprise, surprise.  One of the biggest is that Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, built the house to have stairways and doorways that lead to nowhere to keep the ghosts of those killed by the Winchester rifle from getting to her.  What's more likely, is that the house used to be seven stories tall, but when the earthquake hit in 1906, much of the massive house toppled and was never rebuilt.  Hence stairs and doors going nowhere.  They used to go somewhere, but now they don't.  Anyway, I have now been to the Winchester Mystery House.

This concludes our adventures for today.

Camping: Morro Bay Day 4

May 28th

Who doesn't want some squirrel art?

I wonder what's in it.

We decided to take Ta to the beach.

Dan took some artsy photos of this branch.

And these rocks.

It seems like a decent beach.

You can't tell, but Ta was pretty excited.

I went to explore the rocks.  I was looking for critters in tidal pools, but didn't have any luck.

Colorful rocks!

It was very windy.

We let Ta off leash for a little bit.

I think she had a good time.  

We left the beach and decided to do a little hike around the reservoir.

We spotted this guy having lunch.

It was pretty hot and still over here.  This brief shade was appreciated.

Dan looks like he's wearing lederhosen.  It's the straps to the hydration pack.

Pretty wildflowers!  I think these are a type of sweetpea. 

No one else was around, so we let Ta explore.

Close up of the sweatpea.

Some were not as pink.

Thistles!

Ta wanted to stop in the shade on the way back.  We didn't do the full loop as there wasn't one. There stopped being a path, so we turned around.

Big poof!

I dunno what this is, but it's pretty.

Inside and out!

I was with the flowers! 

Looking down on where we were hiking. 
I got this photo looking for a geocache.  I did not find it.  It was an unpleasant experience.

Ta was worn out after all her exploring today.  She made a nice heater at night while camping.

This concludes our adventures for today.

May 29th

We packed up the next morning and saw this crazy thing.  It's a Jerusalem Cricket also known as a Potato Bug.  They are not from Jerusalem, not true crickets, not potatoes, and not true bugs.

 I think Ta liked camping, but was happy to go home.

This concludes our adventures for today.