The breakfast at the hotel was awesome. Made to order omelets were included along with a bunch of other stuff.
After we filled up on food, we grabbed our stuff and checked out. I had never been to San Luis Obispo and was excited for the day. The girls were a little bummed that we had to check out of our hotel, because they LOVE hotelling...
Our first stop was a drive on the beach. Yup, you read that correctly. There is ONE beach in CA that you can actually drive your car on. Daniel was super excited for this part of the trip.
This was a picture taken from the inside of our car as we were entering the beach...
Right near the water, how cool is that??!
Driving on the beach was a pretty awesome experience. There were a bunch of people camping on the beach and there were places on the beach where you could rent ATVs and things like that. It looked like a pretty cool place to camp! Daniel of course would have loved to be able to do some car stunts, but we wouldn't let him. At one point when he revved the car a bit, Priyana said, "Dadda, we have a baby in here!"
After driving on the beach, just as I thought they would, the girls wanted to get out of the car. So, next on our list was a short stop at the Dinosaur Cave Park for the girls to let out their energy. Veena was taking her first nap of the day, and continued sleeping while the girls played at the park for a bit.
Sariah wasn't much interested in pictures, but Priyana was being little Miss model. She keep asking me to take pictures of her, and I happily obliged.
She wanted me to take a picture with Anthony the whale for her Nishen.
They had a great time expelling some energy, but we had things to do and only stayed about 20-30 minutes before getting back on the road.
Next stop, Avila Valley Barn.
The Barn was a quick car ride form the Dinosaur Cave Park.
I loved this little barn. It was so cute and quaint. We spent quite a bit of time here.
This is a rooster that apparently acts like a chicken.
We got to feed the super cute animals there...
This cow was super sweet... I think he liked Daniel the most, maybe he could sense that he was a vegetarian? Pavlov's conditioning was definitely at work. Even if this cow was on the other side of his area, if he saw a human get up to come to the trash can that is right by the door, he would slowly walk over. At first we wondered why he was doing this and then we realized that he was asking people for their finished corn on the cobs.
We got to eat some tasty corn...
We ate our packed lunch in front of the ice cream shop...
The barn was awesome and we all had a super fun time!! And luckily that rain was no where in sight!
Our next stop was a playground on the beach! I found out that Avila Beach has swings actually on the beach. Drive on the beach and swing on the beach? All in one day?! Yup. My girls LOVE swinging, so I knew we had to experience this. We were very lucky to find parking right in the lot.
The girls thought it was pretty cool...
Veena's first time on a swing!
She liked it!
We also played at a playground nearby. It had a cute pirate theme.
After the kids got out some energy at the park and the baby was fed, we got back into the car for a little "treat stop" before heading out of SLO....
The Madonna Inn!
This place is crazy!!! I had never been before and my dear friend Susan recommended we add it to our itinerary. I am so glad that we did. The woodwork inside was amazing and there was even a motion censored waterfall in the men's bathroom (urinal). Yes, I got a chance to see it... when we went to use the girls restroom there was a line for the men's. I asked what was going on and was told about the waterfall and encouraged to go see it. lol.
We got dessert and coffee. The dessert was overpriced at best, but still worth it to experience the Maddona Inn and see at least part of the inside.
I think I'd love to eat dinner here one time. It is probably gorgeous at night with just the white lights shining.
Sorry, didn't get a picture or video of the waterfall in the men's bathroom.
After the Madonna Inn, we got back on the road for the 2.5 hour journey to Visalia!
All three kids took a nice long nap in the car. Sariah woke up to go pee while we were in the middle of nowhere, and I of course had to take a picture of the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful!
We got to the Holiday Inn Plaza in Visalia, Ca and the kids were so excited because, like I mentioned before, they love hotelling.
We checked in and were surprised when we got into our room because we had a view of the indoor pool! It was so super cool!!!
We decided to eat at the hotel's restaurant since we were all eager to get into the pool and because we didnt want to get back into the car. When we got to the restaurant, another surprised awaited us... Kids Eat Free!!! The girls were so excited to be able to order anything they wanted off the kids menu. Normally when we go out to eat (which is rare) we bring the kids food from home. We do this for a few reasons.. 1. So that they can eat healthy and 2. To save money. We usually bring them something like Organic Mac and Cheese... something they normally wouldn't have at home, so they too feel like they are getting a treat. Needless to say, they were thrilled to be able to order anything they wanted.
Priyana absolutely LOVED restaurant food. Sariah, not so much.
After dinner, we got dressed for the pool. It was round 2 of trying to get Veena actually in the pool for her first time. Looks like she was excited...
But once we got to the pool we found, again, that it was just too cold to bring the baby in. So, she and Dadda just watched us. The girl and I had a great time.
We went back up to the hotel, had showers and then pretty much feel asleep as soon as we hit the bed.
Oh wait, I take that back. Kids were given iPads before bed during our vacation (they rarely even touch them when we are home), and they kept their eyes open long enough to fall asleep watching a show.
What a fabulous day in San Luis Obispo. Tomorrow we gotta get up super early because Sequoia National park awaits!
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