What Would be Most Relaxing?

We've been torn about traveling over Memorial Day weekend. We don't have too many long weekends to travel and we hate to waste one (hopefully one of the last in LA) sitting at home when there really are amazing places to visit in CA. On the other hand, we've been needing a three day weekend for months and really want time to RELAX.

Mostly, I think we're debating Monterey and Paso Robles. We still need to fulfill our life goal of staying in each room at The Old St. Angela Inn! I called the Inn and got Diane and she said business hasn't been good and they're offering low rates even for the holiday weekend. I felt so bad. I tried to offer hope that the summer will hopefully pick up and then things will get better and people will start traveling again soon. It makes me want to go there even more now so we can give them business. They still have the Crow's Nest, Bayview, Newport and Nantucket open for the weekend. Crow's Nest or Bayview would be great. Too bad the Gilday's are busy that weekend. One thing's for sure: If we go to Monterey, we're not going on the Carmel wine trolley!

Then there's Paso Robles wine country. We were just there last November, but it was so nice and pretty and we only just scratched the surface seeing all the wineries. We just opened a great bottle of wine last weekend that we got there and it makes me want to visit. It's a shorter drive than Monterey, but it doesn't have The Old St. Angela Inn there.

I suppose Monterey would be relaxing too. Walk to the beach or the Pacific Grove main drag or just sit at the Inn and eat obscene amounts of good food. Hmmm.

Glad We're Not on Qantas!

Did you hear the story about real life snakes on a plane in Australia? Twelve baby pythons were making a trip within Australia on Qantas. When they landed, there were only 8 snakes in the bin. They weren't able to find the rogue snakes so they had to fumigate the plane.

Scary.

Wonder if we get this show in the US?

Have you seen Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent yet? Take a couple minutes and watch - it's awesome.

Our AU plans

We're still very early in the planning stages, all that's booked is airfare, but as of now, here are some of our plans...

We're flying into Sydney on Richard Branson's fun new airline V Australia. We'll spend three days/3 nights in Sydney. We'll take a tour of the Opera House (too bad they're not having High Tea when we're there), check out the harbor, royal gardens and the The Rocks. That's all within walking distance of our hotel. Then we'll rent a car to go to the Blue Mountains for some hiking. Depending on time, we may also go to their famous wine region, Hunter Valley.

Then it's off the the Great Barrier Reef for 3 nights. We haven't decided on the island resort yet, but I'm leaning toward Hamilton Island. This will be the chill portion of our trip: beach, snorkel and no kayaking. I want to make it to Whitehaven Beach, which looks beyond beautiful.

And then, our final leg is to Brisbane. We'll check out some cool beach communities people have told us about and some other things that are TBD. And then, no trip to AU is complete without the Australia Zoo! I was a fan of the croc hunter from the beginning - it'll be sad, but so fun. I cant wait to cuddle & take pics with a koala! In Sydney and on the reef you can have breakfast with koalas! I think we might have to do that both places - so cool. Think one will fit in my carrryon?

Speaking of customs, would you believe we won't get a stamp in our passports in AU? They do electronic visas instead of passports. It's a bummer - maybe we shouldn't even bother going. :)

We're gone from June 24th - July 5th. For some reason, after we booked the airfare, even though there are lots of things to figure out, I'm not really worried any more. Instead, I am sooooo excited!