November 16 - December 8

We'd like to begin this post with an apology to you all for not keeping up with our travels. Because we are so far behind, we're going to briefly summarize these last couple weeks. We want to thank every one of you who have helped us along this adventure, all of the family and friends we've visited along the way, your love and support we are so grateful for, THANK YOU :)

After our visit in Santa Rosa with the Moosman family, we headed for Vacaville, Ca to see our good friend Dena. Our first evening there we spent painting a huge canvas with Dena and our new friend Joanna. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and let our creative juices flow, while listening to "mood" music, we had SO much fun doing this :) Here, you can see the product of our collaborative creativity. The next day Dena gave us the tour of the arts school she's working at, it was incredible to see, and so inspiring! Ben and I visited the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, Ca. At the end of the tour there was a section of discount candies and things, and we found a 25pound box of beans for 5 dollars!! We couldnt pass up such a good deal and plan on handing out little baggies of goodies along our trip. Just before heading out Dena took us to a huge farmer's market where Ben and I loaded up on extremely affordable produce, yum! We also snagged a few fresh lemons from the tree just in front of Dena's home.

We were on the road again, this time headed for Mountain View, Ca just south of San Francisco to visit our good friend Parker. We crossed over the bay into San Fran and found ourselves in loads of traffic, but it was moving pretty steadily, just an experience! We spent the evening with Parker and his girlfriend Megan, who so kindly cooked us a delicious dinner. We also enjoyed a soak in their hot tub. It was a short visit, but was great seeing our friend. The next day we were on the road to Martinez, Ca to visit Emily's Uncle David and Sandy. David works as the equipment manager of the Cal Berkley football team, and it just so happened there was a game that weekend. David was able to get Ben and I tickets to the rival game against Stanford. We decided to take the Bart (rapid transit system) to downtown Berkley, and what an experience! The cars were packed with fans heading to the game. Once we arrived in Berkley we wandered down the famous Telegraph Ave people watching and window shopping, many interesting sights to see! Not to mention the crazy parties going on down fraternity and sorority row. The stadium was packed, 70,000 people attending the game. Neither of us had been to such a large spoting event, it was a blast, and we had a great view of the field from our bleacher seats. That evening David, Sandy, and Em's cousin Lindsay treated us to Thai cuisine (our favorite!) We had an enjoyable meal chatting and catching up.

The next morning, on the road again toward Santa Clarita, Ca. This is where Ben spent about 2 years after highschool. First things first, we visited the old Starbucks he worked at while living there, he even recognized many of the old standby regular customers, after all these years! :) That evening we spent with Bens friend Ryan. His family offered us a yummy dinner upon arrival, and with our bellies full the three of us went out to enjoy a beer or two. The next morning Ryan was busy with his commitments so we headed on down the I-5 through the heart of LA. Passed through Hollywood, Anaheim (right by Disneyland) then took a trip to Huntington Beach. We played with Sadie on the beach for a while, then hopped on our bikes and cruised the boardwalk which stretched right along the beach.

That evening we arrived in Irvine, CA where Ben's friends Ricky and Clint live. Ricky so kindly opened his home to us and provided so much for us during our 10 day stay. We cooked many meals together, buzzed around town, went to a HUGE local market where we purchased Sham Wows for our trip, and ventured to the beach. We also spent an evening with Clint and his fiance Jules, had a delicious meal and watched the Matrix for the first time (very cool) Ricky let us borrow his car and we braved downtown LA looking to finish up Sadie's health certificate requirements for crossing through so many countries.

At the consulate of El Salvador we discovered there were several more necessary stamps that we had not planned for. At the Guatemalan consulate we ran into complications as well. Without getting too detailed, we ended up having to take Sadie into another vet, have another (very specific) certificate filled out, then took it to be notarized, approved by the county clerk, then to the secretary of state for an apostille. We also needed the USDA verification of her health certificate as well as rabies document. Then finally the stamps for Guatemala then Nicaragua. This unexpectedly extended our stay and delayed our plans of crossing the border. (we like to believe theres a reason for this :)

We are now the proud owners of two new surf boards. One we found for a great price at Costco and the other was given to us by our good buddy Clint for an incredible price. Now Homey is stylin with surfboards strapped to the top. Surfs up dude!

Special thanks to Ricky for all he has done for us, we couldnt have done it without you man! We are so lucky to be blessed with such good friends.

Now in San Diego, CA we are tying together all loose ends and preparing completely for crossing the border. We are heading for a campsite about 5 miles from Tecate, where we will be crossing tomorrow morning. We arent sure what kind of internet access we'll have the next week or so, but we'll post an update as soon as possible. We love you all, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Next time you hear from us, we'll be on the beautiful beaches of Mexico!!!! Happy holidays :)