We started off the first full day of our trip by showing the boys around Cal Poly, where Aliciana and I went to collage. Then we went for a hike through Poly Canyon and up to the top of the mountain containing the “P”.
The hike was beautiful but a bit longer than I remembered. We saw tons of wildflowers along the way, along with wild turkey and some cows. The views from the top of the ridge are amazing!
Gavin wanted to start his birthday in the pool, so the boys and I had a lot of fun swimming together at the hotel. Then we headed out to walk around downtown San Luis Obispo.
We stopped by Cal Poly to take a photo in front of the entrance sign, and in the process I had to save a poor college girl who was being accosted by two wild turkeys. I don’t remember turkeys existing on campus back in my day, but I managed to scare them off.
We finished off Gavin’s 11th birthday by eating pizza at Klondike, a favorite of ours in Arroyo Grande. Then we had some birthday cake back in the hotel room.
We spent the morning in the pool, the afternoon at beautiful Avila Beach, and dinner at Firestones in SLO.
So, with the last hour of sunlight we had left, we decided to wrap up the day at Dinosaur Caves Park in Shell Beach. I got some good photos of my family, and Connor playing on the park toys, before throwing around the baseball.
We spent the afternoon at Morro Bay, exploring the embarcadero, watching the local wildlife, and visiting the Rock and its beaches. The otters, seals, birds, and squirrels we out in force.
In the evening, we walked around the Farmer’s Market in downtown SLO. We even stopped by Bubblegum Alley so the boys could make a contribution to the walls, which they thought was cool and disgusting.
It was time to head back to San Diego, so we spent the afternoon in Solvang on the way back down south.
The boys had fun wandering around some of the Danish gift shops, including the House of Amber, which had a little museum about amber and Vikings. Then we walked down the the Elverhøj Museum where we learned about Solvang’s founding by Danish pioneers and the heritage of Denmark.
The boys wanted to see an Angels game to celebrate their birthdays, so we headed up to Anaheim for an evening game verses the Mariners. After the game, we also got to see an awesome fireworks show.
Unfortunately, the Angels lost 5 to 6, but we got to see some baseball history. Albert Pujols got his 1,993rd career RBI, passing up Babe Ruth, and placing him at 5th in the all-time RBI leaders.
We gathered at my sister-in-law Kristel’s house to celebrate Easter with the Loera clan and some of her husband’s family. We even got cupcakes and sang to Gavin for his 11th birthday.
Easter egg hunting chaos:
I took the boys to see Butterfly Jungle at the Safari Park, which is an aviary where they have different species of butterflies flying around inside with you.
While waiting in line, one of the zoo keepers was offering samples of mealworms and crickets to taste. Gavin went for the mealworm, and said it tasted like popcorn. Connor was disgusted.
Connor had a little graduation program for his Life Lessons classes he participated in though the school. He showed off his karate skills and the instructors demonstrated the different character lessons they taught.
Gavin had a great game, getting several hits and looking amazing out in the field while playing 3rd and LF. The Bandits won the game when it was called due to a mercy rule: 17 to 2.
The boys had fun at Tia Kristel’s house celebrating Mother’s Day and Connor’s birthday.
Another beautiful day at the Safari Park, hanging with wallabies, goats, and gorillas.
Gavin wrapped up his clarinet career with his final performance of the year. I think the band really improved since their first concert.
