Fourth of July Weekend, Part 2

Another long delay in between posts, sorry! It's been a busy week. I started out at the client on Tuesday in San Ramon which is about a 30 minute drive from my apartment. So far it's going really well! The team seems like a fun group and I'll be out there for a month.

I'm catching up a bit but my mom and I did squeeze even more things into last weekend. On Saturday we drove down to Monterey, which should only be 2 hours from here but it was more like 3 with traffic. Monterey is right on the Pacific coast, which is BEAUTIFUL! Unfortunately I didn't think Monterey was that wonderful. It was super crowded and it was very very touristy. There's only so many stores with t-shirts and trinkets that you can look at. There are a lot of activities you can do in the area: biking, swimming, whale watching, and going to the aquarium. But we were only there for the night so we just walked around for a bit and decided to leave.

We headed south toward the 17 Mile Drive, which is the coastal drive through the Pebble Beach golf course property. There are beaches, picnic sites, and lookout points along the way, and the view was incredible. The last stop on the drive is the Pebble Beach lodge, where Judes and I got out to look around. No golfing for us though! Here are some pictures:
On Sunday we headed into Carmel-by-the-sea, which is at the end of the 17 Mile Drive, south of Monterey. It's such an adorable town! There's tons of great boutique shops, cute restaurants and bed & breakfasts, and it's right on the beach! We were smart to get into town early because by noon the traffic getting into the city was backed up for a mile. We shopped around for a bit, grabbed lunch, and then decided to head up highway 1 back to San Francisco!

When we got back to the Bay area mom and I had dinner in Jack London Square, right by my apartment in Oakland. On Monday we spent some time in the East Bay and then hung out by the pool for a few hours! We had sunny weather all weekend, but it was actually quite chilly. So we took advantage of the fact that it was finally up to 80 degrees. Around dinner time I had to say goodbye to mom and go back to the apartment to get ready for work in the morning. I'm so glad I got to spend time with her for a few days and see more of California.

I've got a busy weekend ahead and then Katie will be visiting next weekend! Wooo!