Monterey

On August 7 we found our way to church here in Turlock.  While we were there, we started talking to the bishop, and he happened to mention that he went to high school in Kanab, UT.  We were all a little stunned because that's where my mom grew up and to hear about that little town clear out in central California was unexpected!  It turns out that this man moved there after my mom left for college, but his father still lives there and is good friends with my grandpa.  This bishop definitely knew several members of my mom's family and had only good things to say about them.  We later discovered that I plugged in my address wrong on the website to find the meetinghouse, so we didn't even go to the right ward.  But because of this, my dad kept referring to this whole experience as a "tender mercy."  I guess we were meant to be there!

After church we did a little more exploring and made our way down to Gustine, CA where I heard I might be working this year.  Boy is that a small town.  It wasn't hard to find the elementary school... and of course my parents wanted a picture!

Next we drove from Gustine to Monterey.  On the way there, we stopped off at San Juan Batista.  We walked around the Old Mission, founded in 1797.  It was an amazing building!  And the town was seriously a step back in time about 200 years... except for all the modern cars driving around!

We made it to Monterey and walked down Fisherman's Wharf.  We met up with my friend Christina (my hiking buddy from last year) who is living there now.  For a few months, I really thought I was going to working in Monterey this year too, but it didn't work out.  So it was fun to see how things could have been!  We drove along the coast and through town to get a feel for Monterey.  Definitely a quaint tourist town... I liked it there, but I do have to say I'm glad I'm not living there.  It seems like a fun place to visit, but not for me to live.

Our drive back was TORTURE.  I think it took us a good 4 hours to get back (should only be about 2 I think).  There is only one road that goes inland from the coast, and we were with the whole weekend crowd trying to get back for work on Monday.  Luckily my dad happened to be driving my car for that portion of the trip!

We did pass by the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area, which is a HUGE reservoir hidden in the hills.  It was really pretty! 

We were so glad to make it back to Turlock for the night!