Sometimes, plans just fall into place magically. That's what happened for us this weekend. The two of us, Kari & Jill, had a great weekend together---a rarity since we live over four hours apart and are both crazy busy with life. This past weekend we took an epic road trip full of laugh-so-hard-I-can't-breath silliness, treasure hunting, and memory-making.
Our weekend started on Friday, unexpectedly. While we had planned all along that Jill would drive from Grass Valley, California down to Kari's home in Visalia, California on Friday after work, it didn't turn out that way exactly. The two of us unexpectedly had to attend a family funeral in Modesto (halfway in between Visalia and Grass Valley) on Friday. Our original plan was to hit the road on Saturday morning, but since we were both at the funeral, our weekend got started a bit earlier...
We attended the funeral celebrating a man with a very big heart on Friday morning, and when it was over, we decided our weekend was going to start on Friday night instead of Saturday morning. So...
We drove down to Visalia to tend to these guys:
Kari's mutts, Manny and Wylie, had to be raced off to the boarder which closed at 6pm. We made it by the skin of our teeth! From there, we headed to San Luis Obispo. The drive was more eventful than expected as Kari got a nice fat speeding ticket (she deserved it after making fun of her husband who had been given a speeding ticket that very morning on the way to the funeral. Yep, two tickets in one day for the Hodgen household. Fantastic.) Jill was not helpful during the speeding ticket situation, by the way. Apparently, she thought it was hilarious. Kari was so stressed she needed Starbucks following the nice chat with the California Highway Patrol Officer...
We got a hotel room in San Luis Obispo and ordered pizza from a favorite college haunt of Kari's. Pizza and brainless television before bed. Perfect.
The next morning, we got up and did a little shopping along Higuera Street:
Then, we hit the road and headed south. We detoured through Avila Beach...
and stopped at the Avila Barn for a little poke around. Avila Barn is a great place to get homebaked goods, an awesome cup of coffee, fresh produce, etc. On this particular Saturday, it also happened to be swarming with kids and parents. Since we only encountered about three pleasant children while we were there (the rest seemed to be in various stages of temper tantrums and general unruliness), we quickly got back in our car to head on down the road.
(Jill's rooster buddy at the Avila Barn:)
We made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway. The weather was in the low 80's, the sun was shining, and it was just downright gorgeous. Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded why living in California is pretty nifty:
We cruised into Santa Barbara in the early afternoon. Santa Barbara is one of Kari's favorite places ever. State Street was full of too many shoppers, so we decided to find a spot for lunch.
We drove out onto the wharf so we could eat right on the water:
We found a great place to eat crab salad and have a little glass of wine. The view wasn't too bad, either:
Since our destination for the evening was Pasadena, we headed back down PCH after lunch. Not too far out of Santa Barbara, something shiny from off the freeway attracted Kari's eye. We pulled off and found the Summerland Antiques Collective having a sale! We spent a good amount of time browsing. Kari loved this bamboo piece:
Foo dogs, anyone?
Jill just about cried when she had to leave these chairs behind:
After browsing antiques, we arrived at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. If you ever plan a trip to Pasadena, you must try to stay here. It is beautiful---a vacation in itself! We love the little details at the Langham such as the predicted weather for the next day being hand-delivered to your room in the evening:
We enjoyed the hotel that evening, and then hit the hay. Jill, having never been to the Rose Bowl Flea Market before, was full of excitement. She made Kari get up very early the next morning:
A yummy breakfast...
and then it was time to bid adieu to the Langham...
We arrived at the Rose Bowl before the sun was up. Jill was pretty perky about hitting the deals early. Kari really needed a Starbucks...
The Rose Bowl Flea Market is full of wonders. Lots of art:
Some very weird things...
Some very wonderful things...
You must be willing to spend lots of time looking for the perfect treasure...
And you must be able to spot a "diamond in the rough..."
After the flea market had been thoroughly scoured, we finished our shopping up on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Both of us got some Christmas shopping started! We ended our shopping at Dots and took four cupcakes to go.
What a great weekend! It was nice to hang out and we both talked about what a blessing it is to actually like your sister and consider her a good friend. We are quite blessed! (The only things that would have made the weekend more special and fun? If Mom {Babs} and our sister-in-law, Meagan, would have been able to join us.)
Check back later this week and we'll show you what each of us purchased this weekend while treasure-hunting!
Also, just six more days to get your entry in for the Babs Blog Design Challenge! We love what we've seen so far...keep 'em coming!
Jill & Kari
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