honeymooning

After the wedding madness we opted to try and leave on Monday. After getting the car checked out for our California Adventure, new tires were needed. (And other such repairs, that waited until now). On the road in the late afternoon after saying goodbyes to our parents. First stop? Target. For a new camera. On our way to Sequoia. We almost just passed right through due to weather forecasts, but hoped for the best...and the best is what we got. We camped in the lower grounds and crashed as soon as we got in. Woke up on Tuesday to a beautiful morning and we headed out to see some trees and some amazing views. I tried to run up stairs at 7,000ft elevation...didn't work so well 3/4 of the way up. Drove through the park from the South Entrance (where we camped) to the West entrance and headed up to Yosemite.

We arrived right before the sun left the valley and drove in with amazingly clear views of Half Dome, El Cap, the Falls and all the other amazing cliffs/trees/views that Yosemite Valley offers in such a relatively compact area.

The first night was spent at Camp 4. Yes we got a spot and didn't have to be in line at 8:00am! We broke out the tandem for our first adventure ride on the valley floor to the store for some dinner food (romantic mac and cheese). Had a good nights rest and headed out to climb on Wednesday. We got a couple of climbs in and met a fun group of students from Canada who eventually helped us out on our last climb.

We gathered everything and were off to the Ahwahnee Hotel...the famous Yosemite resort. This was going to be the highlight of the trip for us but kind of ended up being a bust. There was construction going on and we weren't really treated like honeymooners. We did enjoy the bar and the El Capatini (yummy martini, first served after the first assent of El Captain) and got some champagne flutes so we could enjoy the bottle we brought. Room service on Thursday morning and we checked out and headed to the stables.

We took a mule ride through the valley to the rock fall area and back. It was a bit slow, but still fun. Kyle's mule kept farting and mine kept nipping at his. It was pretty funny.

Thursday night we headed back to Camp 4 for more fun and even met up with our Canadian friends. Heidi melted cordlette anklets for all of us and we had a good fire, conversation and alcohol flowing in site 30. Yosemite was an amazing place. We hiked to the lower falls and had fun scrambling around.

Friday, we said goodbye to Yosemite and drove west to the coast and to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Of course it began to rain but luckily most of the aquarium was indoors. We had fun being kids, loving the sea otters (so freaking cute!), and watching all the fish.

Friday night we drove to Big Sur and unfortunately it was all clouded in. Serious fog...we couldn't see 10ft in front of us. We ate at this amazing place that overlooks the ocean...and you couldn't see the ocean! Dinner was super delicious and we ended up staying in a cabin in a state park so we didn't have to deal with a very wet tent in the morning. We were exhausted, dirty, sick of driving and needed the comfy king size bed again.

Saturday we continued our journey along the famous Hwy 1 along the coast. Beautiful views and windy roads all the way to San Luis Obsibo. We stopped for lunch and then got on the tandem to join the Gran Fondo Ride of SLO. We road into town, "finished" the ride and road right back to the car. It was an adventure and both of us weren't really in biking shape, which made for an interesting "last hill" push. Working together is nice. You can't let your partner down. We pushed on and made it back to enjoy a beer overlooking the sunset on the Ocean.

Continuing on in the car down south to a campsite on the ocean. Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Dana Point to catch the Catalina Express over to the island. It was perfect for napping. Right off the shore of Catalina Island the driver slowed the boat and we all went to look at a killer whale! After arriving on the island and scoping out the hotel scene we found the perfect place.

Rooftop patio and hot tub overlooking the bay. Sold. Dinner at a yummy Mexican place and back to the hotel for some beers on the roof. Monday was spent walking around, lounging around, eating, reading, relaxing, eating, drinking and finding a tattoo artist (randomly!). We met with him in the evening and set up the appointment for Tuesday morning.

Oh boy, bring on the nervous and stressing out. Kyle isn't the biggest fan of needles or small rooms. Fun times ahead. Seeing him truly turn green. Coming as close to passing out without actually doing it. Trying to get the blood flow back to his head. Somehow he survived. He got a 1960s looking futuristic ray gun. He even got a serial number tattooed: 10162010. Our wedding date, which happened to be the same date as his tattoo artist, but 5 years prior. The afternoon was spent mingling around town and playing a game of mini-golf and one of the best courses we've ever played on. (I won). We got on the ferry back and that was it. Honeymoon over.

And in true Navy fashion...he had to go into work at midnight that night. He still had 1 day left of leave, but he got called back. Seriously? We couldn't even enjoy our own bed together. He had to go sleep on the boat for 2 days. That left me to fend for myself with the marriage license, drivers license, social security, etc. Basically a day of standing in line. Without my man. Such is the life of a Navy wife.

I have my dependent card, insurance, car decals...all that's missing is the "I love my sailor" sticker. :)

Kyle and I would like to thank everyone for your support! We had an amazing honeymoon and were able to make it happen thanks to the wedding presents from our guests! We would recommend honeyfund.com to any couple who isn't looking for the usual registries!