Marianis Inn Santa Clara

... scenic drive over Hecker Pass. This brought us into Watsonville. Not much here so we headed down to Moss Beach for an excellent seafood lunch at Phil's Fish Market - www.philsfishmarket.com From here we headed to Castroville for some artichokes.

Now, we love this life on the road and have very few complaints about this lifestyle. In fact, the biggest issue that we have been ...

... planning for a solo trip, unless otherwise announced. What is the problem with a solo trip? The only person that believes I should do it is my dad, while my mother, sister, and girlfriend all think I am insane trying to plan a solo trip to south america... something about being "risky". HOwever I think anywhere is risky. So do you first save the money for the trip, plan the trip, or buy the supplies for the trip? Well, Ive saved ...

... appreciate everything I experienced there. Now that Spain is scheduled for this summer I thought I could do some light reading as a preemptive strike and avoid a repeat of Eurotrip '04 traveler's remorse. I'm not really a history buff - and I borderline have a terrible memory (which is why I started this blog) - so I'm avoiding the specifics and gearing my non-fictional reading towards more general "good to know" type information. Here's my reading ...

... That was exactly what I needed - a relax apart from camp, with people that meant a lot to me. On Friday, just like Beth said, she was at camp with her elder daughter Michelle. How good it was to see their faces! When we were talking, Ziggy walked next to us and Beth asked what were her plans for that weekend. She said she actually didn`t have any as somebody had just teased her. I can`t describe my happiness when Beth told Ziggy to join us."Now I know why I made two ...

... is COLD. Apparently summer can be colder than winter in San Francisco. I packed for summer - damn! Next. The beggars. For an Aussie this is confronting, heaps of them. Rattling cups. Some of them walk behind you virtually talking in your ear, telling that they are hungry, or sick or whatever. Many are obvioulsy people with mental illness, and they wander around talkiing to themselves. What really looks wrong is that people who are physically disabled are out begging too. That ...

... me with one other girl already there was a bit odd: Girl: "Hi, I'm Rosemary." Korean: "No." Girl: "Okaayyy." Korean: "Oh, your name Rosemary. That's a horrible name hah hah." Girl: "..." Wanting to stick around even less after being stuck inside so much the last few days I escaped out into the sunshine on a beautiful clear day leaving them to sort of talk. So finally out and about in San Francisco with one main aim on my mind, tram riding ...

... George. After checking out where we could and couldn't go in the RV (plus the places Hazel could and couldn't go, due to heat or distance) we didn't have many options so decided to visit them in one day, and move on. First stop, Badlands salt flats, the lowest point in the western hemisphere at 282 ft below sea level. HAZEL - You can walk out on a boardwalk to view them. Well you can, but I didn't get far, too bloody hot, so I sent my trusty scout ahead to take photos. Then on to ...

... to the Modern Art Musuem. I wanted to go for a tour of Alcatraz, (not desperately because I'd seen a fair bit of it on the movie when my brother watched it 173 times in a row), but Holly wasn't that keen so it will have to be next time. Best attraction: the GG bridge on a sunny day. Best food: Magnolia Pub & Brewery Haight-Ashbury Mark.

... brakes. After a big climb up Nob Hill, I returned to the Fairmont and all its opulence. As it would turn out, the suite that we scooped up was both very large and very nice (a living room, bedroom, two bathrooms, six phones etc.). I now officially ranked it #3 on my all time list of hotels I have stayed in. This was a good start to the SF travel leg. The afternoon started with visit to Chinatown. This turned into a major disappointment! SF is supposed to have one of the best ...

... car again up the hill and came back to the hotel and walked up two blocks to check out the Mary Elizabeth Inn that is for women only with meals included. It is very similar to the Eleanor Club where Susan will begin working one week from today! We then took a long walk around our hotel's area including the theater district, Union Square/Maiden Lane with its chic shopping and just a bit of Chinatown. While in the theater district we had falafel sandwiches at Jerusalem opposite the ...