California Recap, Part I

Long time no post!

It was really nice to get away from everything (work, the cold weather, the Internet) for a while this past weekend when Craig and I traveled to Sacramento, California for four days. While it wasn’t the best circumstances to be traveling (we had a funeral to attend), it was nice to have a break from life and be reminded of what matters most–family, friends, and the relationships we have with each other. 🙂

Thursday, December 2, 2010

At 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning, Craig and I left for the Anchorage airport to catch our 2:30 a.m. flight to Sacramento with a layover in Seattle.

I do NOT sleep well on planes, but I was completely exhausted and actually slept a little on our 3-hour flight to Seattle. Can you believe it takes 3 hours just to fly to Seattle?

We had a 3+ hour lay-over in Seattle, so we walked around a bit, people-watched (love doing that!), and then grabbed some breakfast.

I had a cup of Perfect Oatmeal at Starbucks. It was okay but nothing beats my own homemade oatmeal with a million toppings! I also had an iced decaf Americano with half and half.

I chose the dried fruit option and added a little sugar and cinnamon from the condiment bar.

There wasn’t much oatmeal in the bowl, so I also had a Luna protein bar to help with my hunger. These are decent for a protein bar.

Craig had a breakfast bagel sandwich from The Great American Bagel Bakery that was sub-par, but it’s kind of to be expected in an airport terminal.

On the flight from Seattle to Sacramento, I kept busy with some reading. I had to finish these issues because the new ones are coming out soon. Yes, I’m one of those people who reads my magazines from cover-to-cover.

Craig’s reading for the flight. He loves his history!!When we got to Sacramento, we went to get some food at Round Table Pizza. I forgot my camera so don’t have any pictures, but I had a huge salad and two pieces of veggie pizza.

Afterward, we spend the rest of the afternoon/evening with Craig’s family.

Friday, December 5, 2010

I was super excited to go running in the much milder temperatures of California!! When we left Alaska, it was 7 degrees, and it must have been in the mid-40s during my morning run!! I was so excited and loved every minute of it. PLUS, the sun started to rise around 6:45 a.m.!! 🙂

After an awesome 7-mile run, I got ready for the funeral and grabbed a quick breakfast.

whole wheat sourdough bread + peanut butter (x2)

And a sweet, juicy grapefruit.

The funeral was a beautiful service with hundreds of people celebrating memories together.

After the funeral and post-ceremonial gathering, we headed to a Mexican restaurant.

I loved the atmosphere and design of this Mexican restaurant.

On a side note, half the time while we were in California, I forgot it was December and that Christmas was quickly approaching. But decorations like this quickly reminded me of the holidays. 🙂

I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, so I tried to find something light. I had two tacos.

– a Fish Taco

– and a Chicken Taco

I liked both of them, and they didn’t leave my stomach churning afterward, which is always a plus.

Once again the reminder of the day was spent with the family.

That concludes the first two days of our trip. I will be recapping the last two days of our trip tomorrow!