Cali Blog Tour - Half Moon Bay

The last part of our road trip was a trek to visit with Rinda. Carrie and I were so excited as we left my mom's house that morning and headed toward the California coast. Like Mel, I've known Rinda for almost two years, having met both of them in an online class we'd all participated in.

As we drove to the coast I was feeling so blessed and happy to be meeting yet another blog friend. Three in one weekend!!! I'm a lucky girl.

We knew we were getting closer when we saw BART - the subway system that goes into San Francisco. We traveled along side of the train for quite awhile, until Carrie finally out ran it. :o}

The San Mateo bridge was a little scary to cross. See the gray stuff right over the edge? Yeah. That's water! It looked like the bridge was sitting right on top of it!

Rinda had invited us to come straight to her house and the plan was to take off from there and see the sights of Half Moon Bay. We got to meet her sweet little Gypsy dog, and had the pleasure of leafing through her art journals. Let me tell you, seeing Rinda's art in person was a real treat! We loved every bit of it!

We headed out to see the sights but Rinda said there was something she wanted to show me first. It was a decorated mail box she drives past every day. :o) So cute!

My aunt had told me about a place called Half to Have It. When I asked Rinda about it she was all too happy to take me there. I could have spent hours poking around at this place! Here are some pictures I took that day...

Rinda and I each considered buying one of these large sunflowers although neither of us did. I'm still dreaming about them...

And these adorable mercury glass mushrooms? I did buy one of them!

Carrie: "Oh my gosh! These mushrooms are SOOOO cute!"
Me: "Ooooh...you're right! I'm gonna' get one. Can I buy one for you too?"
Carrie: "No...I don't have any where to put it."
Rinda: "How about your bathroom window?"
Carrie: "I don't have a bathroom window."
Me: "In a plant?"
Carrie: "No plants either..."

I knew she wanted one, but she succeeded in convincing me otherwise. Then on the way home later that day she says, "I should have got one of those mushrooms." Argh! Gemini.

I loved these glass balls and regret not picking a few of these up for our new patio space. I really need to save some money and go back...

I loved these strands of beads with the bells at the end. I took a picture to remind me to make some once my beading stuff resurfaces from the move.

Vintage sand pales and shovels. Should have grabbed one of those too! Ugh!

And yes, I did bring this guy home:

So, when Rinda dragged me away from "Half to Have It" we headed into the downtown area and took in the sights. Work it Carrie...

We enjoyed a delicious lunch together and then hit some more shops. Here's another self-portrait of the three of us. Rinda and I bought flower "frogs" at this store.

Half Moon Bay is such a lovely town. I loved every bit of it.

We stopped at a nursery and got a bouquet of flowers to take home to my mom.

And stopped by the beach for a few photos...

Love my girl C.

And I love this photo of Rinda:

We have a few of these shots - with both of us laughing about something. We did a lot of that on this day. :o)

We bid Rinda farewell and headed back to my mom's house for the night. I hated to leave, but the clock was ticking and we wanted to be home before dark. The drive back to Mom's was beautiful and oh so bittersweet.

We got a little lost on our drive back to Mom's house...there was a bit of tension {eh-hm} and then we discovered that we were actually on the right track - just a different route. I loved landing back at my mom's that night and being able to tell her about yet another amazing day we had.

The next morning we were up before the sun was and headed out for a 11-hour drive back home. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun in one weekend. Having the opportunity to meet three blog friends {Margaret, Mel, and Rinda} was so wonderful, being able to spend time with my family was a real bonus, and doing the whole thing with my Carrie? Priceless.

♥