Darylynn.com-ments

We’re heading off to Carmel this morning and Audre will be holding down the fort with all the pets. Jessica and Ryan are coming with us. Should be interesting traveling with a baby. Carmel is about 4 1/2 hours away so I’m sure we’ll have to stop to eat and give Ryan a break from sitting in his carseat. If we’re lucky, he’ll sleep through part of the drive. I already warned Jeff that he better not drink a lot of coffee because if Ryan’s asleep, there will be NO bathroom stops! When our kids were little and we’d take road trips, they would always be sound asleep and then awakened by a bathroom stop. Why can’t men hold it as well as women? We’ll have Ryan’s little portable high chair, his pack-n-play to sleep in and, of course, his stroller among other things. We’re not used to all the baby paraphenalia! I have my video camera and my digital camera all charged up and ready to go as well as my iTouch loaded with new music videos and the movie Twilight. We have a little stand that holds the iTouch and it plugs into the cigarette lighter so you can watch it while you’re on the road and the sound comes out of your car speakers. I found that I have a photo set on Flickr of the area we will be in and you can see that HERE. Also in Thursday’s post, I have a link to my Carmel Cottages PhotoShow plus a video you can watch right here of Ryan playing with his new T-ball set. I’ve never seen him get so involved in any toy before. Also, if you haven’t visited in the last week or so, go back to last Friday’s entry to read about Jeff’s involvement with MJ. After this past week, he deserves a vacation! Happy Birthday, Dru! Enjoy Yosemite!

Jessica and Ryan came over yesterday so Jeff could do an oil change and make sure their SUV was road trip ready for Carmel on Friday. That gave us the opportunity to break out the little T-ball set that Jessica gave to Jeff for Father’s Day. Here’s a photo of Jeff giving Ryan a little lesson in how to hit the ball off the tee. Continue Reading »

Jessica was able to get Saturday off so she and Ryan are coming with us to Carmel. We will take their SUV because we need to have the car seat and room to carry a port-a-crib. Normally, Jeff and I would take my Cabrio convertible because that’s the fun car for cruising down Highway One through Big Sur. That is my favorite drive in the whole United States! I always hope and pray that it is not foggy because it is just spectacular on a sunny day. We like to either stop at Nepenthe for lunch or pack a picnic and stop at a pretty beach. It’s a bit of a tourist trap but it’s tradition. They are celebrating their 60th year of business. We are leaving early Friday morning and wouldn’t you know it… that’s the day of Michael Jackson’s memorial service at Neverland Ranch which is the same way we go on our way to Carmel. Why are our lives continuing to intertwine all of a sudden? I hope we won’t be sitting in traffic trying to get past the Santa Ynez Valley area. Jessica will bring her car over today or tomorrow so Jeff can do an oil change and make sure it’s road trip ready. I’m going to research online and see if I can find a fireworks show in the Monterey area. I know Ryan is afraid of loud noises but I think if we were far enough away where we wouldn’t hear loud bangs, Ryan would enjoy seeing fireworks. Here’s a photo of “The Lone Cypress” taken on the famous 17 Mile Drive in Carmel and home of Pebble Beach Golf Club. This is where our favorite Roy’s Restaurant at The Inn at Spanish Bay is. We will probably have to sacrifice our visit there since it’s not really a baby-friendly restaurant. That’s okay because there are lots of wonderful places to eat in the area. We will still take the 17 mile Drive and maybe have a drink on the Inn’s patio and watch the sunset. They always have a man in kilts play the bagpipes as the sun goes down. Continue Reading »