Tyler's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Tyler's 31st birthday. We invited everyone over and had a shrimp boil. Tyler also made some yummy homemade ice cream for desert. It was so nice to be able to celebrate his birthday with good friends. Thank you to everyone that came!

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Spring in the Desert

Spring time in the high desert was beautiful!  The poppy's filled the canyons.  These pictures do not do the beauty justice. 

A few more picture's from Santa Monica

Here are some picture's that I have been unable to get posted due to them being "real" photographs & the lack of a scanner. My amazing Dad found a fabulous hand held "wand" type scanner and surprised me with it. Now I can post all kinds of pictures!

These are from our trip to Santa Monica Pier. We ate at a great Mexian resturant at the very end of the pier. They took some souvenir pictures of us dinning.

Santa Monica Pier



Tyler & I spent 2 days in Santa Monica.  We really enjoyed the Santa Monica Pier.  There was so much to do and the view of the ocean is amazing.  We got into Santa Monica late in the evening the first day and we needed to find a hotel, so we didn't get to see much of the pier that night.  We did eat at Bubba Gumps and walked to the end of the pier.  For some reason all the pictures I took that night on my phone won't upload.   

The next morning Tyler & I got up early and headed toward the water.  (I can not wait until it warms up enough to lay out & swim!!)  We walked on the beach, found a few shells and got a little wet.  =0)

Theme Park on the Pier

There is a theme park on the pier and we spent some time walking around and checking things out.  All I could think about is how busy this place will be during the summer!!  (I can't wait to be a part of that!)  We also sat to have our picture drawn. 

We had our caricature done.  This guy was really good.  He did both of our pictures in less than 5 min. 

Finished Product

As you can tell by the sign....Santa Monica is the end of Route 66.

View down the pier

Trapeze School

There were all sorts of vendors selling a variety of things.

Last store at the end of the pier.  My closet is bigger than this store was.  Tyler & I could hardly fit in it together.  HAHA.

Across from the Last Stop Shop was a great Mexican restaurant.  We had a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.  We can not wait to head back to this area.  We also just learned that you don't need a fishing license to fish from the pier.  Tyler & a few of the other guys are excited for that.  We are planning a trip for Memorial Day.  The guys will fish and I will lay on the beach all day!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! 

End of the Santa Monica Pier



A Whale of a Good Time

***Warning***

**Please be advised that you are about to watch videos that may in fact cause stomach discomfort.  Not due to the content, but to the fact that the person behind the camera SUCKS at filming.**

**Watch at your own risk**

Easter weekend was a great break from reality. We loaded up (early!) with some great friends, Matt & Heather, and went to Long Beach.  Our first stop was to go on a whale watching cruise. How fun!

Sarah, Matt, & Heather before the boat ride

Oh my goodness, what an experience this was! We had awesome seats in the front of the boat. The morning was a little chilly and I did not expect it to be so cold out on the water. Not sure what I was thinking...warm...coast...California...NOT! 

Matt, Heather, & I

A few days before we left Heather came home from work and proceeded to tell us about a conversation she and Matt had had earlier in the day.  They had been talking about whales and the whale watching cruise when Matt dropped some whale trivia.  Now, I wasn't present for the actual conversation so I have ab libbed it the way I believe it to have gone.

M:  Did you know when a sperm whale does his business with a lady whale he lets out like 700 gallons of sperm?

H:  WHAT?!? I don't believe that....don't you think it is more like 70 gallons?

M:  You know, maybe you are right.  That sounds like too much.

After Heather had told us this conversation, we couldn't let it go.  That was our joke all week.  Finally after our whale watching excursion I googled exactly how much.  Granted I might have found it on Wikipedia, but I did find where it says that a male whale will produce 400 gallons at a time.  WOW!  Tyler's comment to that..."How would you like to be the guy that had to measure that?  What do you use....a 5 gallon bucket?"  LOL.  We were all very surprised that Matt's whale fact was pretty close to the actual amount. 

The following pictures were from the boat ride. 

Coming out of the Harbour

The Queen Mary

Port of Los Angeles

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Oil Rig (duh!) 

This video is of the dolphins playing in the harbour.  This is the first time I had ever seen dolphins!  I fell in love with them!! 

The cruise lasted about an hour.  We were 30 min. into it before we saw some grey whales!  We were getting ready to turn around when they surprised us!!

 

Yea! Whales!! It's a momma & a baby.

(Heather- Is that Matt that says "WOOOHOOO" in the beginning of this video?)

We had so much fun that morning.  It is definitely something that I would recommend to anyone that ever has the chance to go.  I could not believe how large and majestic these creatures were.  I would love to go again. 

**In case anyone is wondering why Tyler was not in any pictures or mentioned in this post...he decided he would have more fun looking for motorcycle & hot rod shops in the Long Beach area.**

Stay tuned for more adventures from our weekend. 

The Pacific Ocean

**Warning** This post is mostly pictures**



Sunset on the Pacific Coast

The Pacific Ocean was a big thing for both Tyler & I.  Neither one of us had ever seen it.  We arrived in Santa Monica at sunset.  It was beautiful.  The picture above is from that night.  

The next morning we woke up and headed back to the  beach.  The ocean has always amazed me.  The size of it, the creatures that live in it, and that people in other countries are looking at the same huge body of water as I am.    

Tyler & I headed for the water.  We wanted to put our feet in so we could say we have been in the Pacific Ocean.  The waves were nice and small, not coming in very far, just enough to get your feet wet.  We got to the waters edge and the wave came in and it was huge.  Tyler & I were both wet to our knees & maybe a little more.       

I fought the Pacific & the Pacific won

Also, the water was freezing.  There were many surfers out, all in wet suits.  We spoke to one and he said that the water temperature was 54°F. 

Toes in the sand

Tyler kept looking for the Baywatch lifeguards



View from Malibu

We we headed back to the camper this was our last view of the Pacific.  What a great view to say good-bye to.  I am hoping that in the next few weeks (when the water warms a little) we can go back and spend the day at the beach.  

I will tell you all more about Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Pier in my next post that I am working on.