The last few weeks have been a little crazy and I haven’t posted in forever!  I wanted to share some photos from our trip to CA for Eric’s spring break. It was a last minute decision that we were going to drive to CA, but I am so happy Eric talked me into it. Driving in the car two weekends in a row for about 17 hours each way isn’t my kind of vacation, but the drive went by surprisingly fast and we had a great time visiting family and friends which made that drive worth it.

On the drive to CA it was sunny with blue skies until we reached CA where we drove right into a huge winter storm in the Truckee mountain pass. Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive! Go figure we’d hit crazy winter weather in CA and not in ID or OR. Besides that crazy storm we had some great weather in CA. Eric’s got a pretty good tan going on from golfing that I’m jealous of.

One of the funniest moments from our trip was one night I was looking in my Dad’s pantry and noticed he had soo much expired food. He is a really clean and tidy person but for whatever reason he hadn’t gone through some of the items in his pantry in literally decades… we were dying laughing finding random bottles and jars from like 2012, 2004, 2001.. and then the kicker was when we found this can of baking powder in the verrry back from JANUARY 1983!!!  Catching up over yummy salads, fresh pressed juice and lots of sunshine with some of my favorite girls.

The highlight of the trip to CA was going to Carmel with my parents. In the past my mom and I would take an annual mother daughter trip there every year while I was growing up. We have all of our favorite places to eat, shop and walk around. This time my Dad decided to tag along and it was so fun strolling around Carmel-by-the Sea with them, eating, relaxing and not being in a rush to get anywhere or do anything.  I really needed that little trip, I just love the smell of Jasmine and sea salt that hits you right when you arrive, it is instantly calming. The beach there is gorgeous, it is one of my favorites, and there are so many cute homes and businesses that look like they’re from a fairytale.

Cutest little gallery wall in the Kate Spade store textures

We went to the beach the first afternoon and it was so gorgeous and sunny, the perfect beach day…
 Mom in her happy placeI got pretty lucky to have them as parents 30 minutes into our walk on the beach, that fog rolled in and you couldn’t see anything, but it is one of those places where no matter what the weather is, it’s always beautiful  Mom in shopping mode with little Bambi hanging out in her backpack.

Cypress Inn great room, I love the wooden beams and black accents  Could this be my house please?
We brought my Mom’s dog Bambi with us, she is the cutest and just hangs with us wherever we go. Carmel is the most pet friendly place I’ve ever been so that makes it easy to bring her along. My Mom’s new craft hobby, she showed me how she makes birdsThere were succulent plants everywhere you looked, I wish I could have a garden full of them.
 “Hours fly, flowers die, new days, new ways, love stays”  After Carmel Eric and I headed back home to ID, but we had to make one last pit stop 🙂 On Sunday we decided to take the last 6 hours of our drive easy. We shopped around in Boise in the morning, and stopped in McCall for a relaxing lunch at the Shore Lodge. The lake there is still frozen over. We can’t wait to go back in the summer and sit on the patio here and paddle board on the lake. Pastrami, fontina, caramelized onions.. yes please  

Thanks for stopping by CB EATS! Hope you enjoyed this little peak into our trip. More recipes will be up this weekend.

xo CB