Hayes Mansion and the California Coast

We were super-lucky to priceline a hotel for our stay at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. We had never even heard of it, but we got it for $50 total. It was beautiful!!! We wished we weren't staying for such a short time-- we didn't even get to use the pool, which was gorgeous! Our room was AWESOME though, with a flat-screen TV, a fridge, a beautiful bathroom, all the amenities you would expect. We got ready for the reception there and then didn't get back until after midnight. Ceci and Lala were out by then, but Bella and I walked around together checking it all out, which was fun. After a great night's sleep, we got ready and then wandered around some more, exploring the mansion part of the hotel, such as the piano parlor. We then had their buffet breakfast which was delicious. We wished we could stay a whole night more! But we had to get to our church meetings!







After church, we met up at my Tio Hector's place. We hung out, had lunch and hung out some more. (I had a great time looking at my cousin Tara's beautiful wedding pictures with my cousin Lisa!) Then it was time to get going. Craig wanted to drive through Carmel and Big Sur!








We had a beautiful drive home. Carmel is GORGEOUS, I wish we could have stayed there a week. But all we did was get lunch at this cute store there and drive around the town for about 20 minutes. What a super-cute town. We then went down the coast which was mostly foggy, but still so beautiful.










Just before it got dark, we got to San Simeon to see the Elephant Seals!! It was really cool to see them. One of them did a really cool barking thing that I wish I would have videoed, but didn't. They were so neat to see! We really enjoyed watching them. It got dark, and so we did our best to get home quick-- (about 3 more hours?) What a fun trip we had!!