back from california

i'm back in canada now after 10 incredible days in california! heidi and i took the 16 hrs drive down to meet up with michaela and florian, who came from germany to visit the westcoast and see some national parks, canyons and all the other good stuff!

we started off in danville, where we spent three days at ben and sarah's (thank you so much for your hospitality you guys!). lily has grown up so much since i saw her last! she's such a cute little lady!

our two days in san francisco included visiting the academy of science, the golden gate bridge, union square (where we had a great dinner at the cheesecake factory... after two hrs of waiting in line...) and of course a cable car ride! this city is a lot of fun!!

our next stop was the yosemite national park, where we spent two days and did a lot of hiking in the burning sun, which was of course pretty exhausting but also rewarding. the scenery is simply fantastic and there is nothing better than being back in the hotel room at night and looking back on a wonderful day you spent together!

off to monterrey and carmel, where we encountered the typical cloudiness at that time of the year. still had lots of fun in these cute towns. and a great dinner at bubba gump! florian loved the shrimp and michaela seemed to love the theme of that restaurant chain. you won't find anything like that in germany!

the next day we spent driving down highway number one and enjoying the beauty of the coastline featuring rocky cliffs, the cutest and slowest gas station in all of america, the best hot chocolate in all of america at the exact same gas station and an impressive estate called the hearst castle, where we had a guided tour in which we could realize what you can do if you have too much time and too much money and the strong will to show off your wealth :-)

we spent the las night with the german visitors in santa barbara. they continued their trip to the national parks, bryce canyon, the grand canyon and vegas and we made or way up to danville the next day to spend some more time with ben and sarah. we watched "dinner with schmucks", a hilarious movie with steve carell, the two guys from hangover and one half of the flight of the concords. fun times!

now we're back to job hunt and i'll certainly keep you updated what happens next!