Despite the coldest summer they have had in a decade or so... Monterey treated us well! We spent yesterday morning walking/hiking along the peninsula coast, stopping to watch the waves and take pictures. (Yes, there is a jacket tied around my waist. No, I don't want to talk about it.)



A beautiful break in the clouds yielded this odd patch of blue sky and blue water. Not sure if it was a taunt or just a sign that we should keep walking... but it was pretty amazing.



After a fabulous lunch = sweet ass Mediterranean vegetarian platter at a funky "International Restaurant" (there were flags on the menu in case you didn't couldn't identify Russia, Mexico or America in typeface), we rolled our falafel loving selves to a little coffee shop for a little WiFi/non-motel couch R&R.

Sufficiently caffeinated, bookworm-ed and tech-ed... we drove down to Carmel-By-The-Sea. We were a little late to do a tour of the mission, but got some beautiful photos from the outside.








Then we hit up downtown Carmel. SO. PRETTY. (As were the vintage Ferrari, Bentley and Maserati cars driving around. After the tour-de-auto-chic... we decided that the Boxter is the VW Bug of the Porsche world.)

Had it not been for B, I would have given myself a real quick caffeine-induced heart attack at the plethora of adorable coffee shops (seriously. I wanted a cappucino at every one, just so I could sit in their little gardens!) ... (and seriously!? with the adorable otter!?)


It was a truly beautiful little town and I can't wait to come back and visit again.



Hit up Santa Cruz this morning to check it out as it will be the nearest beach, but they proved severely lacking in the sunshine, WiFi and public bathrooms departments, so B declared it a miss for the day. We're back in Santa Clara, chilling and plotting our next move. Back to D.C. on Friday (at 6 am. dag.) and we'll pack up from there!

A quick side note: Thank you all for your beautiful and kind words both in the comments section and on Facebook. We miss you already and can't wait for you to come visit us in what we are so excited to call our new home!