Cambria

When we realized we weren't going to have enough time to make our trip to Paris work, we were both pretty bummed for about 30 minutes. Then during all the hustle and bustle of Lila's birthday we decided that we should just take off and go away anyway. We already had sitters lined up and the little girls were packed and excited about slumber parties with their friends.

We weren't really sure where we were going to end up, but we rented a car, said goodbye to the kids and hit the road!

I had never been to Hearst Castle or Solvang and was interested in seeing both so we headed in that direction.

On our way we ran into some traffic, so we took a detour. It was surprising to discover that driving without kids is actually enjoyable! 

While driving along on our detour we were stumped by these trees. We couldn't tell if they were a fruit or nut so Nick pulled over and we got out to investigate.

After cutting through two different layers we figured out that they were pistachios!!

Then we drove about 1/8 of a mile and saw a huge PISTACHIO sign!

Oh well, it was fun to figure it out by ourselves!

Our detour road

We ended up spending the night in Cambria and I fell in love! I can't remember if I've ever been there before but I loved it. 

We got into town as the sun was starting to set and checked into a cute little Inn.

For dinner we found an Italian restaurant that we both loved. We ordered minestrone and a bread platter. It was perfect! I wish I could have some right now.

The town had a scarecrow contest and everywhere we went there were tons of them. We took a few pictures of our favorites to show the kids.

We usually don't enjoy eating out as much as we do eating at home, but I have to admit that with the exception of a couple of meals, we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves!

Here we were about to eat a delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict.

We had to take a picture of this scarecrow because as soon as we saw it we thought of Nick's grandma! 

Are we right?

Nick and I go on date nights pretty often and we have even been on trips without kids, but except for our honeymoon we haven't been away without kids or without friends for so long. It was so fun to be completely alone without a thing to be done or a place to go. It really reminds you about how much you have in common and how much you like each other!

We spent about 2 hours walking through antique shops which is something I didn't know we would both enjoy so much. After that we wandered around and found an old cemetery.

I can't wait to go back to Cambria both with the kids, and without!