A few January happenings...

"WINTER" BBQ

A couple Sundays ago we met up with some friends in our favorite spot - Mission Bay - for a little cook out.  It was a beautiful San Diego winter day with temperatures in the 60s. It was a little windy so we had to wear jackets but we won't complain. :) Here are a few pictures.

Franzi, Violette, Fabian, and Joey.

The spot.

A nice sunset.

From the other direction.

Teaching the foreigners bocce.

Ah, the sky.

And a pretty moon!

GOODBYE FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT!

January 13th marked my last day at work. I'm excited for my future adventures but I'm really going to miss my coworkers! I took this picture at lunch time the last week of work in the little office courtyard. I'll miss you Fabian and Franzi! 

VEGAS!!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRANZI!
To celebrate Franzi's 30th birthday (and my last day of work!) we drove to Vegas for the weekend. This was my first time going to Vegas of legal age (twice before on family vacations) so I was looking forward to experiencing it as an adult. Here are some pictures of the weekend. I didn't end up taking very many so I only have a few random ones.

We left at lunch on Friday and headed into the desert. Franzi was so excited!

The always beautiful (but kinda boring) drive.

Arriving at the Monte Carlo.

Fab and Franzi.

On Saturday we spent the day walking around the strip. Here are the fountains in front of the Bellagio.

Here we are on  one of the MILLION escalators, moving sidewalks, and stair cases all over the strip.

Ah, jello shots. This made me miss my dad. No I didn't have one - it was like 1 pm!

Walking through the Venetian.

Another moving sidewalk. Franzi loves the asian V for victory pose...

Later that night we got cleaned up and headed over to the Haufbrauhaus to help Franzi feel at home on her birthday. The original HBhaus is in Munich, right near where Franzi is from. The one in Vegas is an exact replica with traditional music and everything.

And giant beers, of course.

Franzi's cousin told them it was her birthday and she was called on stage. She was so embarrased!

But happy about the free black forest cake!

After the HBhaus we went over to the Hard Rock for a bit where Joey was on FIRE at the craps table and then went out dancing back near our hotel. No pictures of any of that...Then, we ended the night with some slots. Fabian won $14 off $1 but other than that, no big wins.

Sunday morning we checked out and drove the 5 hours back to San Diego. Everyone was exhausted. 

Not the crazy Vegas weekend I expected but definitely fun. 

THE NEVER ENDING 4 MILE HIKE

Today me and my friend Stephanie decided to go on a short hike. We went to a nearby state reserve for our easy 4 mile hike. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, we got SUPER lost - like 10 times - and it ended up taking us almost 4 hours! Here are a few pictures of the adventure. 

The first time we realized we were not going the right way...It didn't seem like we should have to climb through barbed wire to continue on the trail...

Then we realized we had been off the trail for quite a while - and trespassing on private property! Oops. I was so confused! And our map was terrible!

We finally realized how to get up the mountain and finally got a nice view of the lake.

Shortly after, we ran into a biker that told us that we were way off track and we had a LONG way to go...Awesome.

About 20 forks in the road later, we were more confused than ever. What a terrible map! We just knew we had to get to "cactus hill" and some kiosk but we weren't sure that would ever happen...

But finally, we found cactus hill! We were super excited although I have to say the cacti were a little underwhelming. Nothing like my favorite cactus garden in Balboa park.

And then a few more confusing forks later, the kiosk. Woooo! 

At the kiosk we ran into a guy on a horse who also told us we were super far from the parking lot but we didn't care, at least we were on the right path! 

All in all, I think we walked over 8 miles...so much for an easy Sunday hike! But I guess getting lost always makes it more exciting...

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So that's a little bit about what we've been up to. Not too much to tell really since it's been pretty quiet since the holidays. Mostly I've just been working hard trying to get my network up and running and Joey is getting ready for school. He had his first class on Wednesday but things will really get into full swing this week. I will keep everyone updated.

Have a great week!