When Arthur was a senior in high school, he was awarded with the Frank H. Buck Scholarship. I won't go into detail on the scholarship, but let's just say that Mr. Buck has been very generous with us. Last weekend, all "scholars" were invited to attend a retreat at the Asilomar Conference Grounds near Monterey, CA.
Asilomar is located right on the beach at the end of a forest.
The keynote speaker for the first night was Yul Kwon, the winner of Survivor Cook Islands. Yul, who is from the Bay Area, is also a Buck Scholarship winner. We thought we would have time before dinner to pick up our camera, but ended up not getting a chance. So, I don't have pictures of Yul so I am adding this random shot I found.
Arthur got to talk to him quite a bit. We even sat at his table at dinner, so we are basically best friends with a Survivor winner now!
The next day, I was feeling a bit under the weather, so Arthur and Tyler went on a whale-watching excursion. He has requested to fill you in on all the details. I am sure you will be quite entertained.
The last day, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which was a huge hit for all of us.
Even though Tyler is pretty good at being toilet-trained, we still have to remind him to use the bathroom fairly often. Before we left Monterey for the long drive home, Arthur and I begged Tyler to use the bathroom. He would have nothing to do with it. We stopped for gas, and once again, he refused to go. We dropped by the store and he just shook his head "no". We knew we wouldn't get far without having to stop for him. Sure enough, about 1 1/2 hours into the drive home, a shrieking voice from the back yells, "Mommy, I go pee-pee!". This means we have about 3.5 minutes to get him to the nearest toilet.
We pulled over at a random rest stop on the San Luis Dam. When we walked in, the place was swarming with police officers, sheriffs, and other "government-looking" workers. We didn't know what all the fuss was about until we walked outside and someone clued us in. We couldn't leave without waiting it out and sure enough, look who made an appearance.... (click on the pictures to zoom in)
We pulled over at a random rest stop on the San Luis Dam. When we walked in, the place was swarming with police officers, sheriffs, and other "government-looking" workers. We didn't know what all the fuss was about until we walked outside and someone clued us in. We couldn't leave without waiting it out and sure enough, look who made an appearance.... (click on the pictures to zoom in)
Although we were only about 10 feet from him, we didn't get a chance to formally meet him. I know he made eye-contact with me at least twice, though. So, we are basically best friends with the "Governator", too.
Oh and here is a fairly nice family portrait in front of the reservoir:
Oh and here is a fairly nice family portrait in front of the reservoir:
11 comments:
Out of curiosity, what did the Governator have to say?
Sorry you were feeling sick, Kerri! I've always wanted to go on a whale watching tour - I hope the boys saw some.
I can't believe you guys ran into the Governator on a bathroom break! I feel your pain on road trips with toddlers. I tried to make Penny go potty in the bushes somewhere in the middle of the Nevada desert last week and she accidentally sat on a cactus. That didn't end well.
Kimberly, he was talking about the water crisis in CA. It is a hot topic in Northern CA. I remember reading about it all the time when I lived up there. People are pretty upset at us LA folks for stealing all their water. It is interesting to note that now that we live here, the water crisis doesn't seem to be such a hot topic.
Here is a link to his speech if you are more interested http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/speech/6964/
That's awesome. Your trip looks great and seeing the Governator is awesome too. Paul ran into him at a restaurant just a few weeks after moving here to CA. I guess it was at Arnold's restaurant in Venice, so not so out of the ordinary to see him there. Paul got his autograph (this was back before he won). Anyway, looks like you had fun.
Thanks, Kerri. Yeah--ironic that we So Cal desert dwellers who use all the water are the least concerned about shortages. That is, until rationing restricts our right to overwater our lawns.
Welcome back! I missed you. :)
I want to be a frank buck scholarship winner...geez - what a cool place to go! this post is cracking me up. looks like a fun trip! tyler knew all along he was setting you up to see arnold. :)
Kerri- you guys always have some fun trips! Thanks for sharing!
I can't reach my toes! I got a pedicure. :)
We go on long trips through the desert where there are no rest stops and my son refuses to pee in a bush. So after he peed in his car seat I came up with a solution. I bring the little plastic potty. When he has to go I set it on the side of the road, he uses it, and I dump it out and clean it with an antibacterial wipe. No more pee in the car but unfortunately no sightings of the Governator!
I met our proud Governor about a year ago in Santa Monica. I was waiting for a car unveiling in Santa Monica when I heard a ruckus behind me, turned around and saw a row of black Suburbans. Somebody was walking by me in my peripheral vision. I turned around and there he was. "It's nice to meet you, Governor!"
"It's nice to meet you, too."
I'm sure you can imagine exactly how it came out of his mouth. Awesome.
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