Fairfield to Salinas

After a fun evening and delicious meal with Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins, (whom I have no pictures of for some reason!) a dip in their hot tub after the boys were all in bed and a good night's sleep, we got on the road again.  This time headed for Salinas, CA of Steinbeck fame.  Once again arriving just in time for Doug's pre-scheduled meeting, we dropped him off and went on our merry way...
to...
TARGET!!!
Yes, that's right.  I made my first visit to that fabulous store of my dreams.
First things first, lunch for the boys:  We stopped at the food court and got three hot dog kids meals.  Now, due to my new 'trying-to-be-slightly-healthier' status, I don't buy hotdogs anymore.  But the kids are still welcome to eat them when we're out or at a BBQ or friends house etc.
So they sat munching happily away while I ate a turkey sub.  Sometime mid hotdog, Max asked "Mom, what are hotdogs made of?"
"Well," I said "It's kinda gross.  They take all of the leftover meat stuff they don't use from the animals, like the guts and stuff, then they grind it all up, add a lot of salt, and turn it into a hotdog."
Max's response?  "Hmm!  Well, they sure do taste good!" continues eating
In the mean time, Sammy is turning sorta green and spits the rest of his out--practically throwing up-- complaining of a suddenly sick tummy.  It was pretty funny.  Can't say I'll be sorry if one kid stops liking hot dogs.   (They've never been my favorite thanks to my sixth grade teacher Mr. Wilkerson telling us a similar story in class.)

And then I proceeded to spend $450.  ($150 of which was later returned...for the record.)

It was bliss.

Doug is terrified to move back to the states.

I told him it would all be worth it when he saw me in my hot new clothes.

He was understandably skeptical.


(I should mention some of that $450 was Doug's biking stuff.)

After Doug's Salinas meeting, we managed to track down some MORE dental school friends.  Our former next-door-neighbors the R's.

Steve was two years behind Doug so they weren't in the same class, but Max and their oldest Samantha are the same age and played together pretty much every day for two years.  It was amazing to see the beautiful young lady Samantha has grown into, see cute "Benny-Boy" again, and meet TWO new brothers.  They lovingly offered to let us stay the night to prevent Doug falling asleep at the wheel on the way to our hotel, and we had a great time staying up late playing "Colosseum" and talking.

Thank you R's for opening your home to us at the last minute!  It was a great visit!