Friday 3 September 2010

I went all the way to California and all I got was this lousy sweatshirt!



Yes, I know, I'm a BIG disappointment aren't I? And I only bought the sweatshirt for an extra layer as somebody had told us that it got cold camping in the Yosemite National Park at night (and they were right - down to about 10C in places).

Problem was I was too busy:

cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge (hidden below by sea mist!) in San Francisco:



Seeing the tallest trees in the world:



Visiting the oldest living things in the world (more trees) - some as old as 4000 years:





Camping in the hottest place on earth - Death Valley:



Scuba diving:



Rafting:



Surfing (just look at Mr J and P go - the theme to Hawaii 5-0 just springs to mind doesn't it?):



Whale watching (or rather feeling immensely sea sick in my case) - we glimpsed the largest living thing - a blue whale (no photos, those darn blue whales move rather too quickly).

Now if you're still with me and haven't switched off in disgust at my measly efforts at thrift shopping, I have to admit I'm exaggerating slightly when I say that the UCLA sweatshirt was the ONLY thing I bought from the magnificent thrift stores that I did visit. On our second to last day in California, I visited the Thrift Centre in Santa Cruz (yes I did say CENTRE) yes, not some piddling shop or even store but a CENTRE. Two floors of....STUFF (actually two floors is not unusual in thrift stores). Plus EVERYTHING was HALF PRICE that day (that's not unusual either). So I did manage to find..... (don't get too excited everyone...):



a large piece of fabulous crimplene (50 cents; about 30p) which I hope to incorporate into some patchwork ensemble (well, it was going to be a patchwork picnic blanket but by the time I get round to doing it, it will probably be deepest winter). And......



some barkcloth cafe style curtains complete with cheery yellow curtain rings ($4; about £2something).

Hope you all had a lovely summer. Can't wait to catch up with all my favourite bloggers. Ta-ra dear readers.

16 comments:

  1. Wow! I am exhausted reading all your activities..I think I need another holiday now. You sound as though you had a fabulous time and a thrift store thrown in as well..can't be bad.

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  2. What a fantastic holiday you had, and that thrift store sounds to die for!!
    Jo xx

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  3. Welcome home! Looks like you had a great holiday, love the crimplene - very groovy!

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  4. Looks like you had a wonderful time.
    Julie xxxx

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  5. Welcome back! Fab photos and utterly lusting after the crimplene, gorgeous! xxx

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  6. Sounds like you had a great time - I remember going whale watching and also feeling really sea-sick! You can't go wrong with thrift store!
    x

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  7. Hello, I'm so glad that you are back, I've missed you.
    Looks like you had a great time! I'm still insanely jealous.
    x

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  8. Glad you had a good time in California, we haven't been home since we moved from there 7 years ago. Loved your pictures. Northern California usually doesn't get warm until September, I can remember being a child and bemoaning the fact that as soon as the weather warmed up it was time to go back to school.

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  9. Phew! What a great trip and I now have thrift store envy.

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  10. Fab photos!!! Looks amazing!! Oh I just love the thrift finds!! Welcome home!!xxx

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  11. Welcome back. I missed you, but looks like you have been a little busy. What fun!

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  12. I'm so glad you made it back in one piece! You were gone so long, I was starting to worry.

    It looks like you had a FABULOUS time! Did you guys ship camping stuff over or did you find some to rent?

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  13. What a fabulous holiday , love the fabrics:)Linda

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  14. gorgeous crimplene! (though I had to check what crimplene actually was...!)
    Looks like you had an amazing time!

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  15. Hi Loo, Glad you had a good time, it looks fantastic. Jane xx

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  16. This holiday sounded like the ones we used to take before having our girls - we would go to Las Vegas & catch the buses and go off the Strip to look for Antique centres & thrift shops .......Friends thought we were mad.We always managed to come home with something ...... and we had a great time.:)

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