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Published On: Mar 17, 2007 02:40 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Mar 17, 2007 02:40 PM
Trip to Monterey In August 2006
Our Family Trip to Monterey, CA where we stayed
at the Monterey Presidio Military Base.
Our last family trip of the Summer was to visit
Monterey, CA in August 2006. Since it was over 100 degrees F (40 C) in central
California we thought that a quick trip to the California coast would help to
cool us off! It actually ended up being cooler than we thought it would be. We
went from wearing T-shirts and shorts to sweatshirts and pants! It was 65-70
degrees almost every day that we were in Monterey and the evenings were actually
a little too cold for us. I had only packed one sweatshirt and one sweater for
myself. Brian only had a long-sleeved shirt and none of us had jackets to wear!
I'll have to remember that the next time we go to Monterey in the
Summer!
We ended up staying at the Monterey Presidio Military Lodging . Would you believe that we stayed in Monterey in a 2 room suite with kitchenette for only $64/night? At least being in the Army has a few privileges.
As we drove down to Monterey (it was a 5 hour drive with traffic) Brian was able to get a hold of a sergeant in charge of his unit. Brian was told that everything seemed to be in place for Brian to ship out to Monterey's prestigious language school on October 5th! We were elated! We would sell our home and then move to base Housing in Monterey. Base housing only ran about $500 a month and utility bills were included! I had already concocted a wild scheme to sell our home in Davis and then to put the profits in a money market fund for one year and a half while Brian was studying at Monterey. I also figured that I could use my new Wine Credential from UC Davis to get a job at a local Monterey Winery. I had it all planned! We slept well that night and were preparing for a nice day at the beach tomorrow.
The next day we started by checking out tidepools at Monterey's beaches. We observed hermit crabs walking around with shells they had grabbed. We also saw many turban shelled snails and seaweed. We didn't see any starfishes or sea anemones--much to Laurana's disappointment. But still it was magical and Laurana was really starting to appreciate the many wonders of the sea. After looking at tidepools we headed into downtown Monterey for lunch and had "Fish and Chips" at our favorite Sports bar in downtown Monterey. Then we headed to "Ghiradelli's ice cream shop " for a hot fudge sundae. I'm quite a hot fudge sundae connisoueur and I can tell you that a Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae is the best that you can get! After a nice hot fudge sundae our daughter ran around on the beach below. We found a small crab claw and some shells.
Picture on Left: Brian and Laurana at a tidepool in Monterey
Picture on Right: Laurana and a friend checking out the downtown Monterey beach.
The next day was spent almost entirely at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in downtown Monterey. I'm so happy that we have a world-class aquarium right in our backyard (albeit a 5-hour drive from our backyard!). Laurana's favorite exhibits are the "touchpools". At the touchppols she can touch a starfish, a sea snail, and a stingray (stinger taken off). She also had a lot of fun in an aquarium where kids could crawl under the exhibit and actually look at the fish from underneath. She also loved the jellyfish exhibit. They look so serene floating around their tanks--I just wouldn't want to put my hand in there!
Picture on Left: Laurana touching a starfish at a "touchpool"
Picture on Right: Laurana looking at the stingray aquarium from underneath. She was part of the exhibit!
Picture on Right: The enchanting jellyfish at the Aquarium.
After our wonderful trip, we were still looking at trying to finish the paperwork required to get Brian into Monterey's language institute. First, Brian had to pass a language test and we also had to apply for lodging at the on-base housing. We ended up getting a test scheduled for Brian last minute on Monday right before we left. When Brian took the test he said he was tested on a made up "ficitous" language that combined Hebrew and Chinese. They would tell him some made up language rule and then would quickly say the answers. Brian had to just as quickly figure out the right answer. He said that after he took the test he knew that he had applied the wrong rule for at least 10 answers. He was not happy with the results! When he got his score he had a 77. An 85 was the minimum score just to learn Spanish (which he already knew) and certainly not for Arabic, which needed a minimum score of 110! (Brian had been testing to learn Arabic at the Monterey Language Institute.) And if Brian wanted to test again he had to wait 6 months. And after 6 months the funding to allow him to go to Monterey would probably be gone.
So after an entire weekend of thinking that we were going to live in Monterey our hopes were dashed. Then we sullenly drove back to Davis, CA. But hey, as Sharon said, maybe I shouldn't be too upset...as she said, we are living in "paradise "!
We ended up staying at the Monterey Presidio Military Lodging . Would you believe that we stayed in Monterey in a 2 room suite with kitchenette for only $64/night? At least being in the Army has a few privileges.
As we drove down to Monterey (it was a 5 hour drive with traffic) Brian was able to get a hold of a sergeant in charge of his unit. Brian was told that everything seemed to be in place for Brian to ship out to Monterey's prestigious language school on October 5th! We were elated! We would sell our home and then move to base Housing in Monterey. Base housing only ran about $500 a month and utility bills were included! I had already concocted a wild scheme to sell our home in Davis and then to put the profits in a money market fund for one year and a half while Brian was studying at Monterey. I also figured that I could use my new Wine Credential from UC Davis to get a job at a local Monterey Winery. I had it all planned! We slept well that night and were preparing for a nice day at the beach tomorrow.
The next day we started by checking out tidepools at Monterey's beaches. We observed hermit crabs walking around with shells they had grabbed. We also saw many turban shelled snails and seaweed. We didn't see any starfishes or sea anemones--much to Laurana's disappointment. But still it was magical and Laurana was really starting to appreciate the many wonders of the sea. After looking at tidepools we headed into downtown Monterey for lunch and had "Fish and Chips" at our favorite Sports bar in downtown Monterey. Then we headed to "Ghiradelli's ice cream shop " for a hot fudge sundae. I'm quite a hot fudge sundae connisoueur and I can tell you that a Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae is the best that you can get! After a nice hot fudge sundae our daughter ran around on the beach below. We found a small crab claw and some shells.
Picture on Left: Brian and Laurana at a tidepool in Monterey
Picture on Right: Laurana and a friend checking out the downtown Monterey beach.
The next day was spent almost entirely at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in downtown Monterey. I'm so happy that we have a world-class aquarium right in our backyard (albeit a 5-hour drive from our backyard!). Laurana's favorite exhibits are the "touchpools". At the touchppols she can touch a starfish, a sea snail, and a stingray (stinger taken off). She also had a lot of fun in an aquarium where kids could crawl under the exhibit and actually look at the fish from underneath. She also loved the jellyfish exhibit. They look so serene floating around their tanks--I just wouldn't want to put my hand in there!
Picture on Left: Laurana touching a starfish at a "touchpool"
Picture on Right: Laurana looking at the stingray aquarium from underneath. She was part of the exhibit!
Picture on Right: The enchanting jellyfish at the Aquarium.
After our wonderful trip, we were still looking at trying to finish the paperwork required to get Brian into Monterey's language institute. First, Brian had to pass a language test and we also had to apply for lodging at the on-base housing. We ended up getting a test scheduled for Brian last minute on Monday right before we left. When Brian took the test he said he was tested on a made up "ficitous" language that combined Hebrew and Chinese. They would tell him some made up language rule and then would quickly say the answers. Brian had to just as quickly figure out the right answer. He said that after he took the test he knew that he had applied the wrong rule for at least 10 answers. He was not happy with the results! When he got his score he had a 77. An 85 was the minimum score just to learn Spanish (which he already knew) and certainly not for Arabic, which needed a minimum score of 110! (Brian had been testing to learn Arabic at the Monterey Language Institute.) And if Brian wanted to test again he had to wait 6 months. And after 6 months the funding to allow him to go to Monterey would probably be gone.
So after an entire weekend of thinking that we were going to live in Monterey our hopes were dashed. Then we sullenly drove back to Davis, CA. But hey, as Sharon said, maybe I shouldn't be too upset...as she said, we are living in "paradise "!
Posted: Sat - September 2, 2006 at 08:45 AM