After the hula festival, we spent some time adventuring in California.
First stop: the Jelly Belly factory. All tour participants must wear the hat, but we also got some free jelly beans, so it was worth it.
We headed east into the mountains to Arnold to visit with family. Amy was probably around Cashel's age the last time we visited, so it was lots of fun to be there and see everyone.
Getting some lessons from Uncle Robb.
He's a pretty good teacher!
Fishing needed more patience and quiet than Peter could muster, so we headed off to explore the other side of the pond.
Ready for dinner - Cashel caught two of those guys!
Next we spent a day in San Francisco, including a visit with more family.
Hang on around curves!
Peter especially loved riding the "trains with no walls and no seatbelts."
An excellent impulse purchase.
These were the small sundaes!
Then we headed south to Gilroy for the Garlic Festival. It was huge and aromatic, and on Dave and Amy's bucket list. We of course had to spend some time in playland.
Cashel is growing out of the kiddie rides.
Garlic ice cream! Surprisingly tasty - we went back for multiple samples.
Cashel got to sit in on a garlic braiding session. You can't tell, but she's sitting next to the Garlic Princess of Gilroy. "A real princess!"
Cashel really blissed out in the misting "rain tents" they had set up to cool off festival-goers.
Yes, that's a giant flaming garlic sculpture. Or as Peter had it, "a garlic volcano."
Heading north out of the fog and into Sonoma.
We got Cashel a big kid camera and she loved taking pictures everywhere we went. Perhaps a Cashel-eye-view web update is in order?
Adding to the Sonoma ambiance.
Our first encounter with the redwoods!
A car was idling behind me while I took this picture. Peter is urgently warning me to get out of the way. He's very safety-conscious.
It's super kitschy, but we had to stop at Confusion Hill and see the gravity house. This is another spot Amy remembers from childhood road trips.
We stopped at the Founder's Grove for some really amazing redwood encounters. These are the roots of a fallen tree.
Exploring some tree houses.
Obligatory car-driving-through-tree photo.
Enjoying old-town Eureka by carriage.
Enjoying a California sunset on our last night of vacation.
It was a wonderful trip!
