California Dreamin...

Ok... time to work on some new posts.  Sorry I've been such a slacker, but it's summer time and I've just been trying to enjoy it.. hope you have too!  Yikes, just looked at my ticker to the right..  one week to my first 1/2 marathon!  Look for a race report here soon :-)

Speaking of enjoying, we took a 2 1/2 week road trip to California in July.   What a GREAT trip.  It's the longest vacation I've taken in a long time, and certainly one of the longest road trip for the boys (they turn 8 later this month).

We left Colorado and headed to San Francisco for 5 days...   here are a few pics from this first part of the trip.

One of what seemed like a hundred pics of the Golden Gate :-)

You know we scored some chocolate

Goofballs at the top of Lombard Street

Parking garage in Chinatown.. they all had fortunes :-) 

San Francisco was so much fun...    I even found some time to run while I was there...   I couldn't pass up the chance to run with a lot more oxygen than I am used to!  I got several beach runs in...  we stayed right next to Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park..  I could get used to early morning beach runs!

From San Francisco, we worked our way down to San Diego, driving as much as possible on PCH1, hugging the coast.   Spent some time in Monterey, saw some Redwoods... and just enjoyed the casual drive down, and the spectacular views.

Steam train ride through the Redwoods... really cool

Pfeiffer Beach near Big Sur... what a great find for a lunch spot!

Nepenthe restaurant, near Big Sur.... talk about a view!

Eventually we made our way down to San Diego, where I have family, and we spent another 5 days there... so relaxing..

Cabrillo National Monument

Toured the USS Midway with my dad (retired Navy)

Yep.... vacationing is hard work!

I did manage to log more miles in San Diego.  Primarily in the Mission Trails Park system.  There are some really great trails in the area, including a run up Cowles Mountain.. the highest peak in San Diego.. ok, that's not saying much, but it was a good climb and a fun run down the back side..

On the way up Cowles Mt

I was told if you didn't touch the rock at the top it didn't count..

Bedrock sandals worked great!

View of the trail heading down the backside, into Santee

Ok... finally it was time to head home, but the trip wasn't over yet!  We decided to head home via the Grand Canyon.  That was really exciting as I had not been there before, and it was the first time for our boys as well.  We stopped there, and also spent some time at the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, and Gallup NM of course.

Grand Canyon.. and a goofy foot

Painted Desert, AZ

Wish we could see this lit up..

Driving along the old Route 66 was a treat

In Gallup NM of course.  And yes, we're related to the railroad paymaster that the town was named after... :-)

So.. there you have it.  That is how we spent a good part of our summer...  hope you all are having a terrific summer as well!

Stay tuned as I have a few more reviews that I am behind on, but will get posted soon.  Included are the Vivobarefoot Breatho Trail, GU Energy, Nathan QuickDraw Elite, and Injinji compressions socks... along with some give aways!

Thanks for following and reading...

Happy Trails!

Jeff
http://barefootinclined.blogspot.com/