A Week of K.A. in CA

Over the past week I have enjoyed the company of David and his brother Ken here in sunny San Diego! This was Ken's first visit to California so we tried to pack it with as many exciting activities as possible, the most exciting one of course being my marathon. ;o)

Ken arrived late Saturday evening before my marathon. David and I picked him up from the airport and quickly whisked him off to Little Italy in San Diego for a nice carbo-loading pre-marathon meal. It was getting late and I was tired and hungry and needed to get to bed early, so we were basically looking for any restaurant that would seat us immediately. After four unsuccessful attempts, we finally found a winner! The name of the place? Hmm, I can't remember, but I'd go there again if I could find it. Dinner was great and I felt that I had succeeded in consuming my body weight in bread and pasta. Hey - I *had* to carbo load! It wasn't just because I wanted to!

The Allen Boys' 1st San Diego Photo

After dinner we all headed to bed early, and then the next day was consumed with the marathon. (Please see previous blog entry for details on that great event!)

The next stop on our So Cal tour for Ken was a trip to LA.

The plan: to walk around Venice Beach to check out the freaks, have lunch, go see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and to then go to Universal Studios.

The reality: a walk around Venice Beach, an overpriced and poorly made lunch, a walk down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then the long drive back to SD to enjoy a home cooked meal by yours truly. We ran out of time for Universal Studios and due to the cost of the ticket it wasn't really worth going just for a couple hours. Sorry Ken! Next visit I promise!

Allen Boys at Venice Beach

David & Monika at the Chinese Mann Theater

Almost forgot! While we were walking down the Walk of Fame we noticed that the movie "The Proposal" was having its premier across the street! We were in the area for about an hour but not long enough to catch a glimpse of Sandra Bullock and my future husband Ryan Reynolds. Oh well!

The Proposal Premier Near Hollywood & Highland

During the next few days of the week (while I was at work) the boys entertained themselves during the day and I tried to have something planned for the evening. On Tuesday night we went to the Padres/Phillies game at Petco Park. Sadly for my Padres (well, not that I'm really a Padres fan) the game was a total spanking and they lost 0-8 against the Phillies. It was still a pretty good game though and we had good seats, good concessions, and good company.

Ken & David Oozing Enthusiasm at the Padres Game

The next night (or did I miss a night? Maybe it was Thursday night..?) we went over to Coronado Island after I got off work and took the dogs with us to let them explore a new area.

As we walked around the beach we noticed that there was a dog beach at the end of the path by the military base. It was an unfenced area and I (of course) was extremely nervous to allow my crazy furballs to run free for their first time in an open area. They rarely leave my side in the fenced in dog park I normally take them to, but I was still paranoid of the "what if" factor posed by having no fence around the place. David talked me into giving the girls some freedom .... so the leashes and harnesses came off! And then .... disaster struck!!! No, I'm kidding. David was right, nothing bad happened. The girls loved running around in the sand and were bouncing around all over the place and never strayed too far from our side. Big sigh of relief!

Mika & Kona Chasing David Down the Beach

Ken Ignoring the Beautiful Beach & Texting - Tsk Tsk!

On Friday the So Cal tour was about to end and was going to switch to the Nor Cal tour. Friday morning we left San Diego around 9:30am, only 1/2 hour behind schedule. Pretty good for Monika time! For the first time in a while I decided to leave the dogs behind even though we would be driving and they could have come in the car with us. We had a lot going on Saturday and Sunday and they would have ended up being home alone anyways, so they got to stay behind with their favorite pet sitter Jodie. They told me upon our return that they had a great weekend and got to spend much more time at the dog park than they get to when I take them. ;o)

We took the long way up to San Francisco via the 101 instead of the 5 and stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch. It was fun to show the boys around my old alma matter and I was really excited to have lunch at my favorite eatery in Isla Vista - Silvergreens!! I think David and Ken thought I was being silly about making such a big deal about having lunch at Silvergreens, but I recieved a flurry of emails, texts, and facebook replies about Silvergreens (vs Freebirds - next time Freebirds!) after telling my fellow Gauchos that we were stopping in IV for lunch.

To answer everyones questions - Silvergreens is bigger now, has an expanded menu, but still has our staple favorites the Chicken Ranch sandwich, Thanksgiving Turkey sandwich, and the El Capitan salad. Oh Silvergreens! I miss you!

I forgot to take pictures while we were there (I was too overcome with excitement about lunch!) but we had a nice view of the main street and watched all of the Gauchos bike by to and from school. After leaving SB we hopped back on the 101 and headed North to make it to San Francisco by dinner time. We made it into town around 8:30pm and went to my favorite Japanese restaurant - Kitaro's! Mmm... fast service, great prices, and great food! (As I re-read this post to proof it, I noticed a food theme in my blog. Are you thinking I'm a pig? So I like to eat!! I run alot, don't judge me!)

The next morning it was Birthday BBQ preparation time! My dad and I share the same birthday (June 10th!) and were having a joint birthday celebration in Golden Gate park. To get ready we needed to hit Costco, the grocery store, set-up the site, pick up my dad, and make this all happen in the two hours we had left after waking up and having breakfast. It didn't quite happen as planned or as scheduled, but in the end everything worked out. Whew! For being such an organized person I felt like a flustered mess all morning!

The BBQ spot at Speedway Meadows was a little hard to find and not marked by name, so a number of people showed up late after circling the park lost and confused for a while. Luckily everyone managed to find us in the end! We also got really lucky with the weather! There was rain all over California earlier in the week and the early forecasts were showing showers for Saturday. Noooo! As the week progressed though the forecast for Saturday went from showers, to mostly cloudy, to partially cloudy, and then finally on the morning of Saturday we saw sunshine! By late Saturday afternoon we had full sunshine. Yipee! This was great for the BBQ .... but unfortunate for Ken's sensitive East Coast skin. Not everyone can bronze like sugar melting in a pan the way I do. ;o)

Another Smiling Portrait of the Allen Boys

Well, One Allen Always Smiles With ME

After moving to Arizona back in 2002 my visits home to SF were few and far between. Whenever I did finally make it home, it was always hard to find the time in a two-day period to catch up with everyone. Since moving to San Diego early last year I've been able to come home a lot more often since SF is "only" a 500 mile drive away, but I still haven't been able to keep up with all of my friends the way I've wanted to. Luckily for this weekend I was able to see friends from high school, college, and beyond!

Lowell Girls Class of '94 (&Logan - future Lowellite!)

More Lowell Girls & Wee Ones

I was also very excited that Tamara (my friend from my first job out of college at Silma) and her beautiful daughter were able to make it up to the city! I don't want to age us by counting how many years it has been since we worked together and last saw each other, but its been a while! Tamara also ran the Rock 'n' Roll marathon last weekend for Team in Training and not only completed her first full marathon, but raised a ton of money while training for it! Go Tamara! She also already has her sight set on her next race. I love it! Another marathon adictee!

Silmite Alumni

UCSB Girls - Go Gauchos!

Gaucho Girls in the Sun (And David's Legs)

One of the great things about sharing my birthday with my father is that I get to hear each year how I'm "the best birthday gift a father could have". I mean really, who can tire of hearing that? :o) My dad took on Master Griller duties this past weekend in the park and guess what his reward was? His name with mine on a Hello Kitty cake! I'm sure it was his first (and favorite) Hello Kitty cake after all of these birthdays. My first HK cake too actually! Thanks Christina!

Me & My Dad (And our cake!)

Hello Kitty Birthday Cake

Did you notice that Hello Kitty is actually a marathon runner? She's busting through the finish line, barely breaking a sweat. Must be that cute sweatband she's wearing!

After the BBQ we went back to Christina's to rest for a bit and then guess what we did? We ate again! What else would we do? Are you scrolling back up to pictures of me now to see if I've gained 10 lbs since you last saw me? haha. David, Ken and I met Jenny for some yummy Thai food and then went to a strange bear lodge for drinks. A discussion ensued at one point about the validity of the jackelope race. Is it real or not? Huh Jenny? Can't say the energy level was too high among the group after a long day in the sun so we didn't exactly close the place down.

The next morning was another sunny day and the last few things on the list were: a run in Golden Gate Park, a quick (and I mean QUICK!) tour of San Francisco for Ken, and then the A's/Orioles game with my dad.

We only had an hour to cram in all that is wonderful about San Francisco (totally not enough time!), so I made the executive decision to cut the tour down to two notable San Francisco locations: the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard street.

David & Ken "Smiling" at the Golden Gate Bridge

David Cracking a Smile for Me

After seeing GG Bridge and then driving down Lombard Street, we went to pick up my dad to go to the A's/Orioles game at the Oakland Collesium. The drive should have only taken about 20 minutes, but for some reason there was really bad Bay Bridge traffic and it took us almost 1 1/2 hours! Ahh! I turned the game on in my car and we listened to the innings tick away as part of the fastest game in history! So frustrating! By the time we got to the game there were only two innings left. The good part: parking was free, easy, and we had great seats. The bad part? Did I mention we just drove for an hour and a half only to see 30 minutes of the game in person? Oh well...

Oakland ended up winning 3-0 and all three runs were made in the first inning, so all we really missed out on were 6 innings of strikes anyways. Yeah, I'm going to keep telling myself that. :o( Boo.

Support for the A's, Orioles, & Red Sox - Wait, Red Sox?

The baseball game was basically the end of the fun for the weekend. We dropped Ken off at the airport, dropped my dad off at home, and then David and I hit the road to drive back down to San Diego.

Overall it was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun. Hopefully Ken did too! California Rules!