Continuing from Day One of our weekend trip down to Big Sur and Carmel, here is Day Two! Sunday was a lot more relaxed, and we slept in at our cottage in the morning, had breakfast, and then spent a few hours at Carmel Beach before taking the scenic road home.

Excited about how few people there are!
Here I am, excited that there are so few people on the beach!

 

Settling down on the beach
Setting myself down at Carmel Beach

 

Surfers walking by
Surfers walking by

 

Feet outstretched
This is the life.

 

Blue sky meets blue waters
The Old Dan and the Sea

 

The water was indeed cold!
The Pacific waters were (as usual) cold!

 

Soaking up the sun!
Soaking up the sun!

 

A video Dan took of me on the beach… (I thought he was taking a photo of me at first — hence the posing.)

 

On our way back up the 101, we stopped by Castroville to pick up some fresh produce for Dan’s parents for watching Mio.

Roadside sign
Castroville is known for their artichokes!

 

Artichoke stand in Castroville
Artichoke stand in Castroville

 

Dan picking out some produce to take home
All locally grown fresh produce

 

Red peppers and cucumbers

 

Lemons!

 

Strawberries

 

Artichokes!

 

Nectarines... yum!

 

The cashier

 

Castroville Artichoke Festival poster from 1999
Castroville Artichoke Festival poster from 1999

 

We continued to make a few stops here and there as we drove up the coast, to admire the views of the ocean.

Stopping at a beach in Santa Cruz

 

Initials in the sand.
Initials in the sand.

 

Roadside cliffs
Roadside cliffs

 

Lighthouse
A lighthouse we passed...

 

We passed through Half Moon Bay on our way home, and grabbed a bite to eat there as a late lunch/early dinner. We wanted some cheap but good Mexican food, and found just the place: Happy Taco!

He sure looks happy!
The taco sure looks happy!

 

Dan sipping his horchata
Dan sipping his horchata.

 

Dan's two taco plate
Tacos!

 

Dan loves his Mexican!

 

Wet burrito with shrimp!
Wet burrito with shrimp for me!

 

Hungry and ready to eat!
Hungry and ready to eat!

 

We arrived in San Lorenzo in the evening to pick up Mio, and she seemed to have had fun during her weekend at the grandparents’. But when we came through the door, she looked up and immediately reached her arms out to be held by me — she missed me! And of course, we missed her too. It’s back work for Dan this week, and I’m trying to adjust to being a freelancing WAHM (work-at-home-mom). It’s not going to be easy to balance work and family within the home and keep it separate, but I’m excited about new opportunities and more time spent with Mio.

This past weekend was really rejuvenating and enjoyable — I don’t think we’d had that much fun in a while! I think besides both Dan and I just really needing a vacation in general, we also really needed that time for just the two of us. Of course we love Mio and cherish the time we spend with her, but I think that any parent of a young child needs a break from time to time. Between working exhausting hours at work (Dan has been pulling late nights at work until 11pm and on weekends the last couple of weeks due to a deliverable), and coming home to immediately switch gears to be Mommy and Daddy — it feels like working a double shift! It’s really important to every healthy relationship to take some time away from the baby to go on a date night or take a little trip to just be a couple again, because it’s hard to find the time and energy to really appreciate each other when you’re running around so focused on taking care of your child. We really appreciated how easy things were again — we could make frequent quick stops while driving, and hop back in the car… you just can’t do that when you have a child with you, since you have to unbuckle your child from a carseat, take out the stroller, make sure you have enough snacks, the whole drill. There’s also so much stuff you have to bring along when you travel with a baby, so it was nice to just be able to pack a duffel bag between the two of us and travel lightly! We’re really grateful for Dan’s parents for taking care of Mio so that we could enjoy our mini road trip together, and of course I am very thankful for Dan who helped make it happen, and whom I got to share such great experiences with! I continue to look forward to what other adventures await in our family’s journey.

Dan and I by the sea
Thank you hubby for a fun and memorable weekend!