An Actual DAng-Adventure

That's right, we have children, but we escaped on our own adventure without them!
(Of course, when the kids get older and read this.. Kids, it's ok, we actually love you very much. Just because mommy and daddy want to take a trip every once in a while without you doesn't mean we don't enjoy spending time with you.)

Dad and Lee were in town between Christmas and New Year's. Yes, we do enjoy spending time with them too, but really, we hadn't spent time away from the kids overnight since July 2007. Oh wait, that was away from the kid, singular. It had been that long.

So Dan and I went to San Luis Obispo to stay at a gaudy hotel with a mediocre steakhouse.

The Madonna Inn is quite kitschy. But of course, since Dan and spent our honeymoon at similarly kitschy places, your stereotypical honeymoon spots of Niagara Falls, the Poconos, and oh, yeah, Fermilab, we had to try this place out. It is known for its 110 different theme rooms. There is a Caveman Room, a Victorian Room, and various other rooms. We stayed at the Hide-A-Way. It had rock walls, but that was really about it. It was no Poconos apple room.



We opted to have dinner at the on-site Madonna Inn Steakhouse. It was fully decked out in flocked Christmas Trees. The service was good, but it was kind of weird that our baked potatoes came still wrapped in the tin foil that they were cooked in.

Dan at Gaudy Steakhouse

After dinner we went to a movie. At a theater. Because that's just not something you can do with kids. We even saw the PG-13 movie, Sherlock Holmes. And since "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" was the last movie I previously viewed, it was quite enjoyable. Afterwards, we ended up back at the on-site Madonna Inn bar for desert which was also underwhelming with terrible coffee on the side.

The next day, Dan and I took a morning swim in the lovely outdoor heated pool which was part of the spa aspect of the Madonna Inn. It was steamy as they keep the pool at 80 degrees, but the outside air was quite cool. And it had a great view.

View at Madonna Inn

We skipped over to San Luis Obispo for a tasty, non-gaudy breakfast, then continued our adventure to San Francisco. We had considered going back home to manage the kids, but they were having a blast with Grandma and Grandpa at the Getty, so we kept going north. On the way, we made a pilgrimmage to TiVo World Headquarters. They were closed and didn't seem to have a gift store. I tend to have bad luck visiting the world headquarters of large technology corporations, like the time Neal and I went to Microsoft and couldn't get a tour.

Neal Wondering Where the Tour Starts

Before we left TiVo, we got this nifty picture of Dan there.

Dan at TiVo

San Francisco was neat. It was an exciting trip for Dan. We got to see a fungus store, and a very steep hill.

We also got to see Coit Tower, like on Little Einsteins. Plus, here is what Haight Ashbury looked like.

Thanks to Mike and Liz for the tour and entertainment!