Sam wasn't so sure he wanted to leave SB!
Maybe too much California Cool time?
This is a very late update as we have been extremely busy these past weeks.We are in Kauai with Sam and Sea-Sea safe and sound. More about the journey...
Big Sur, Ragged Point Resort - The views up and down the coast from the resort were phenomenal. Steve tried to get some good shots. I'm not sure he had the best light. Below are pictures from my I-Phone. Sam and Sea-Sea got to eat outside at the restaurant with us. They got along with the manager and everyone else. They tend to get lots of hugs wherever they go. Monarch butterflies and hummingbirds were everywhere. I always wanted to see the monarch migration and had my chance. There were also hundreds of elephant seals basking in the sun near the Hearst property. The drive up to Carmel was just one incredible ocean view after another.
Carmel River Inn,
Carmel and Monterey - Though nice grounds for the dogs, the "cottage" was expensive and pretty much felt like you were at Outdoor Ed in the clapboard cabins. The good part of this leg of the journey was seeing family.
All four of us got to spend time with my sister, Connie, my brother-in-law, Tom, and their girls, Calene, Erin, and Tawni ( We also met their boyfriends). Connie and Tom love this part of California and were great tour guides. We did Carmel Beach, a famous dog beach, where Sam adopted a little girl and played with her. He also got the "Brewsky's, otherwise known as "Labrador Butt Tucks." He ran wildly up and down the beach. Sea-Sea followed another lab that she thought was Sam. Poor old girl! No Clint Eastwood in Carmel. Oh, well!
We spent time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, hiked on the Monterey path with family, and spent time at Asilomar State Beach.
Calene is in the biological science illustration program at UC Santa Cruz (The Banana Slugs!). She's working on a dive boat on weekends. Tawni is busy at Cal State Monterey Bay. Her schedule is filled with student government responsibilities, as well as her full course load. She had the best Halloween costume ever. Tawni and a friend made Fem bot costumes. They looked the Austin Powers role parts.
Our greatest surprise was that Erin got engaged earlier in the week! We got to meet Kevin in Monterey. Erin and Kevin drove all the way from Fresno to see us. Lucky us! We were able to celebrate the engagement with the entire Luczo family at a nice restaurant. They are both at Fresno State University.
Oakland - Ugh! This is where our adventure was no longer smooth sailing. We got our vehicles to Matson, the company in charge of containers, cars, and all things going to Hawaii. However, there was a dock strike. We were told we would need to wait a few days, but that wasn't possible as the Dept. of Agriculture appointment for the dogs couldn't be changed. Matson worked out an arrangement by the end of the day to get us into a lot. Our cars would later be towed to their facility. The people there were nice about working with us. But, it was a long, long day at the docks. Right now, the car and truck are sitting in Honolulu waiting for a full barge to come over to Kauai.
The Flight - It was quite an event checking in the dogs in San Fransisco. It took over an hour at a very small gate with very large dog crates, plus 4 pieces of luggage to step over and around. At least,
we were checked in at the same time. I'll give United credit for that and the people were nice. Sam got sick on the flight. He was very sorry about the situation. He's our experienced flyer so we think he thought he was abandoned. Plus, their time without being able to relieve themselves was over 7 hours. Since he's fairly new to us, Sam definitely likes to stay near by. He's doing much better now. Sea-Sea was our trooper. She made the flight just fine.
Kauai - We made it to Kauai only to be introduced to a major winter storm. 5.5 inches of rain poured down in 24 hours. And, the storm went on for a few days.
Bad News - The fear lurking in the back of my mind of the house being rented for 2.5 years and not being taken care of while the owners were gone came true.
Good News - The owner (Wendy) is here and taking care of things.
There was a brown water alert where no one was to swim from the North Shore down to the airport on the east side after the storm. It wasn't safe to swim.
Wendy introduced us to her gardeners - lovely, friendly people. Hazel has become my mentor. I've learned to hack away weeds on the island. I'm learning about palms, orchids, Heliconias, and centipedes. There are also a few poisonous plants and frogs on the property. Wild stuff!!!
11/13 Kauai Update: The weather has been gorgeous. Sam loves swimming in the ocean and retrieving. Sea-Sea stands in the salt water panting and smiling. Sam is our Kauai Chicken Chaser. We're waiting for him to catch one very soon. Kristin is teaching me about cleaning red dirt, mold, and mildew, as well as how to keep ants, cockroaches, and rats in check (prevalent on the island). We went shopping for island survival goods and my mind is still spinning from the information.
We've enjoyed seeing Kristin and John. They are so much fun and keep us laughing! More later...
