Mystery Trip

Last week Friday, I went on a mystery trip, planned by my sisters.  I have two sisters who live in California, as well as a sister-in-law who lives in Michigan.  The two west coast ladies planned a long weekend for the four of us, and Joy (my sister-in-law) and I didn't have a clue about any of the plans.  Including, I might add, our airport destination.  So when I arrived at the airport on Friday and was checking in, I got a very confused look when the guy checking me in asked where I was going, and I said, "um, well, I don't know!"  I knew we were going to California, and quickly learned that I was heading to Palm Springs!  I had been sent a packing list, as well as the time I needed to arrive at the airport, and my confirmation code. 

My layover was in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  I wondered if Joy might have had her layover there too, and if we would be on the same flight for our last leg.  But I didn't have very much time to think about it or look for her, because when I arrived from Indianapolis, I had less than an hour to get to my next gate.  Of course that's plenty of time, but still a little stressful for this mama who rarely flies.  As I approached the gate for my second leg, I started looking for Joy.  I scanned the crowd, not seeing her.  I was a little bit disappointed that she wasn't there.  Then somebody moved, and there behind him, was Joy!  She also wondered if we might meet up, and had seen that there was a flight coming in from Indianapolis.  She had been tempted to meet me at my arriving gate, but with the short layover, not knowing if I really would be on that flight, she'd decided to just wait.  It was fun to meet up.  We were able to switch seats to sit next to each other for the flight from DFW to Palm Springs.

After landing in Palm Springs, we were met by Julie and Jodi, and then we headed to Julie's (and Nick's) house.  When we arrived, we were given an envelope.  The paper inside said this:

this rhyme is as short as Sofia
and will serve to reveal an idea
each event that we do
has its own limerick too
let's all have some warm spiced                                

So....we enjoyed some sangria and relaxed for a little while before heading to bed.  We had been told we'd have an early start on Saturday.  Saturday morning we ate a delicious breakfast and were on the road by around 7:45.  We were given envelope #2, which included the following limerick:

at eight in the morning we'll go
forgetting the blizzards and snow
heading south in the car
we won't travel too far
we're off to go see                                   

This one took a little while for us to get.  We figured out that it was the name of a city, but do you have any idea how many cities in California could rhyme with "go" and "snow?"  Well, we eventually figured it out: San Diego!  It's a couple of hours from Nick and Julie's house, and as we got closer, we were given envelope #3:

a large naval outpost afloat
its hotel has a guest list of note
you won't find a car
on Coronado's black tar
to get there we must take a                                


boat!!!  it turns out the girls were mistaken about not being able to take a car, but we enjoyed a ferry ride from San Diego to Coronado Island, and spent the next 3 hours or so just walking around the island.  We started on the east side of the island, facing the city, and made our way around to the west side, on the Pacific.  We rolled up our jeans and put our feet in the frigid water.  We found a few shells to take home to our kids.  We drank coffee and shared lots of laughter.  We figure we walked about 5 miles on the island.  Then we went back to the ferry and headed back to the car.  Once there, we were given limerick #4:

Balboa's a great place to munch
and eat some red grapes by the bunch
not far from the zoo
it's a beautiful view
next up is a grand picnic                                


So we drove to Balboa Park.  It was quite difficult to find parking, but eventually we did, and enjoyed a delicious lunch overlooking a gorge.  We had chicken salad and croissants, fresh strawberries, grapes, sweet potato chips, chocolate covered pretzels, and maria cookies with nutella (which we proceeded to dip almost everything else into as well).  After lunch, we walked around the park, admiring the many museums and grounds.  We walked through the botanical gardens and over to a bridge with a stunning view.  When we were ready to start heading back to the car, we tried to complete the loop we'd started, but were unable to because of the many gorges keeping us from our destination.  We ended up doing a lot more walking that day than our bodies are used to.  We were sore!!!  From Balboa Park, we headed to our hotel, the Sofia hotel, which was right downtown San Diego.  After settling in a bit, we were given our next envelope:

we're beautiful girls at the core
on the outside let's work a bit more
we'll get dressed up and cute
and then find a good route
to Daisy's for dinner for                              

Four!  So we got dressed up a little and walked to Daisy's bistro, which was just around the block from the hotel.  We had a delicious dinner (flat bread with hummus, flat bread pizza, marinated skirt steak with roasted potatoes and corn, and a sampling of 4 different amazing desserts: cookies, sundae, butterscotch pot de creme, and blackberry cabernet sorbet.  After stuffing ourselves, we waddled back to the hotel, got comfy in our jammies, played a game of Bohnanza, and gave ourselves facials.  Before bed, we were given our next limerick:

inspired by a Biblical tale
make sure you hang on to the rail
it might be quite cold
but we're sure to behold
the sight of a giant grey                                                         


Yes, the next day, my birthday(!!) we were going to go whale watching!  We had been told to pack a hat, scarf, and mittens, and Joy and I both thought they were for spending time in the mountains.  Nope, they were for whale watching!  So on Sunday, we started with a breakfast of homemade lemon and lemon blueberry scones with lemon curd.  So yummy.  Then we packed up, checked out, and made our way to the marina for our whale watching tour.  We had a three hour tour, and it was so much fun!  We saw three grey whales, as well as several dolphins.  The weather was beautiful.  It was a little chilly on the ocean, but not so cold that we were uncomfortable.  After the whale watching, we had lunch at a fun taco shop near the ocean.  It was delicious, authentic Mexican fare.  After lunch, we got back on the road, heading north.  And we were given our last limerick:

with reds, whites, and blushes divine
those varietals picked off the vine
we'll take a few sips
and pay with our chips
it's time to go sample some                              

You got it, we went wine tasting.  We went to Temecula, where there are dozens of wineries.  And the scenery is breathtaking!  It reminded me of pictures I've seen of Tuscany.  Rolling hillsides, rows of grapevines, palm trees, cyprus trees, SO beautiful!  Unfortunately, the winery we chose was not so beautiful, but we still enjoyed our time sampling the wines.  After the wine tasting, we made a quick stop at HomeGoods and then made our way back to Nick and Julie's house.  Nick and Ben had made us a delicious (birthday) meal of steak, salad, and risotto.  Julie made chocolate lava cakes for dessert.  It was a memorable birthday!!  We spent Sunday night and Monday in Redlands, with Nick and Ben, the brothers-in-law, as well as Eva and Sofia, my nieces.  Monday was a very low-key day.  We played some games, went for a walk, hung out together.  It was relaxing.  Tuesday morning, I was up at 4:30 to catch my 6:55 flight home. 

What an amazing weekend!  Thanks again, Julie, and Jodi, for all your work putting that together.  And Joy, Julie, Jodi, Nick, Ben, Eva and Sofia, it was fun to spend some quality time together.  I'm starting to think about the fun things we could plan for you guys on a mystery trip to the mid-west! 

I'll have to post more pictures when I get them from Julie and Jodi.  I didn't take a camera, and was trying to take a picture of the whale with my phone, but it was too slow.  So this is actually a picture of Julie's camera, with the picture she had taken (zoomed in).  We weren't actually as close as it appears.  :)