California Vacation - Part II

The second phase of our vacation we spent in Los Angeles with Jeremy's cousin Michael and his wife Mia and son Jack. We got up bright and early and rode the train down the coast. I had done this last summer and it proved to be a very economical means of transportation. For this trip it was $108 total for both of us to go from Gover Beach all the way to San Diego! You can't beat that!! In fact, our rental car from San Jose to San Luis Obispo cost us a whopping $150 for one day!! It was ridiculous! So the train is the way to go. Plus, you don't have to deal with California traffic, which is always an added benefit.

On the way down, I was able to get on the computer and do some blogging and playing. But that is only because Jeremy brought his air card. Unfortunately, the train did not have wi-fi. But there were outlets so my battery would last the entire time! We had our little seating section all to ourselves, which was also nice. We arrived in LA around 11:30 a.m., which was pretty good timing.

Michael picked us up and we met up with the rest of the family and went to lunch at this great little Mexican restaurant. After a quick change of clothes (because it was sweltering hot in LA! Completely different from SLO) we met up with some of Michael and Mia's friends at one of the popular parks in the neighborhood. It was beautiful! Really high up and overlooked the baseball stadium, as well as the city. There were a ton of people out playing soccer, but we chose to play bocce ball. SO MUCH FUN! And of course we had beer, lots and lots of beer.

That evening we went to a local place that had true deep dish Chicago pizza that Mia raved about. She is from Chicago and was complaining that no place had been able to mimic "true" Chicago pizza, until this place came along. I wish I could remember the name of it. The pizza was HUGE! I had one slice and was done. Then we had some time left before they had told the babysitter we'd be home, so we went to this little bar they like and sat out on the rooftop. It was a lot of fun.

The next morning we headed out again on the train, destined for San Diego. It was a short trip in LA, but it was great to see Michael and Mia and baby Jack!

I took a ton of photos of Jack. He was just so cute!!
(And yes, that is him with a beer. What can I say? The kid loves the stuff! Ok, don't get your panties in a wad - he did actually drink it!)



(I promise, it wasn't open!)










A few of the family:








Michael and Mia's friends:




The view from the park we went to. This is the baseball stadium:


And the LA skyline, complete with some smog!