California road trip Day 12 - The day of the canyon

 Day 11 was an all-day driving day.   Crystal and I didn't do a write-up for our grand canyon day, but I really wanted to post some of the pictures we took. 

We got up early, grabbed a coffee from Philz Coffee (mmmm) then hit the road.

It was VERY dark when we got to the grand canyon.  It is a no-light pollution zone so it is pitch black driving in.  No lights and a very big fall somewhere in the distance.  

Fun.  Someone has a sense of humor.

We got up well before dawn.  It was cold guys.  Like temps in the 40s cold and it was overcast almost all day.  We went to the overlook point and set up our tripod.  Crystal manned the 'big camera' while I took pictures with my phone camera.  (We can compare Canon 70D and the Samsung S22 later!)

Watching the sun slowly come up was a magical experience. 

Now, to be honest, the grand canyon is why I didn't finish posting my blog pictures.  I could never decide on what the best pictures were for the grand canyon.  I have hundreds.

We walked up and down the canyon and spent all day. 

The pictures up close to the canyon were freaky!  It was hard to look down for sure.

Some day I plan on hiking this trail!

So right at sunset, the sun came out. 

Day 10 - Downtown Pasadena

We woke up early so we could see the sunset.  Crystal was still having some hip issues so she let me run ahead and try to get the perfect wave picture. I climbed out on the rocks and took pictures of the sun coming up with the waves splashing around me.  It was so peaceful.

 

Our last morning ocean pictures - alas!  We didn't want to hang around the venture hotel as we were excited to go to downtown Pasadena!  We had tea party lunch plans and wonderful dinner plans!

On the way, we decided to stop at Malibu, as one does. 

I feel the best part of downtown Pasadena is just walking around and looking at everything.  And that is exactly what we did. 

We had a princess tea party luncheon at Chado Tea Room was an amazing affair! The scones with clotted cream were so tasty! 

Crystal was in awe!

The teas were amazing and we just loved the plates and cups. 

 

It was so fun watching everyone else who was in for a tea party as well :)

Then a wonderful meal at Entre Nous French Bistro.  We were super lucky to get in as I didn't have reservations.  We had no idea where we wanted to end up, but we enjoyed it!

Then we walked slowly back to our hotel, our last night in California. Who knows when we will be back?  Hopefully soon!

California road trip Day 9 - Drive to venture and the day of the Santa Barbra fire

We've had a lot of people concerned about our trip since we had to drive through the fires of Santa Barbara.  We saw smoke but we were never in any danger. 

We woke up in our amazing presidential suite.  Our morning picture is from our balcony!

After breakfast, we came back and fooled around taking pictures around the room like the silly peeps we are :D

We enjoyed our ocean view and listening to the waves for as long as we could.  Checkout was at 1:30 and at 1:29 we left the room and waved goodbye.  

I had to get a picture of this sign.  I love it!  

The drive to venture was only a few hours so we didn't have to hurry.  

We stopped and got a few pictures of the smoke from the freeway but this is as close as we ever were to the fires. 

By this time, Crystal was having some hip issues from sitting in the car so once we got to the hotel, we needed to do some yoga stretches.  We hit the hotel gym, stretched out, and sampled their cold water.  Pro-tip, many hotels have chilled and filtered water available in the exercise room. 

We got a few pictures of the beach at sunset then ordered fast food and relaxed for the night.  The highway 1 portion of our trip was over.  Tomorrow we jet over across L.A. to old town Pasadena.  For tonight though, we can listen to the waves for one more night.