Chocolate lava cake (thanks George)

Cinnamon rolls

Christmas in Santa Cruz

Though we tried valiantly, we were unable to make it past Salem, Or. We returned to Santa Cruz via the 1 and have enjoyed a pretty fine Christmas here in the at times sunny, at times rainy, central California coast. Seen below, Mark and Cate open their gifts for each other (books! mostly cooking themed), make a Christmas themed cocktail using a frozen cranberry concoction (Granita!). We've got pork shoulder, white bean dip, mashed potatoes, Deviled eggs, cinnamon rolls, and a chocolate lava cake being worked on as we write. Also, awkward Christmas portraits!!! Christmas - woo-hoo!!!

Merry Christmas!

Preparation of the traditional holiday pork shoulder. Note Marks's
prize winning ugly sweater.

Cranita for Christmas cocktails (because we're far from home)

San Francisco, CA

Westport Beach, CA

On the 1. Don't have to make another turn until our driveway.

Weott, CA

Fog beats snow

Eureka!

We made it to eureka! It's lovely.

Pistol River, OR

Coos bay bridge (again)

Reedsport, OR

Florence, OR

I-5 south

Heading back to California. More snow is expected in Portland. Chains
are required. And even if we were allowed to put chains on our rental
car, chains are currently sold out in the region. So we decided to
head south. We are pretty disappointed we won't be making it to
Seattle for christmas again this year, but are enjoying our tour of
the Oregon coast.

Still snowing in salem

Snowed in in Salem.

Coos bay, OR

Oregon coast

How the settler's must have felt

After driving all day through driving winds, fog, and (at times) torrential downpours, we arrived at Gold Beach around early evening. After a lovely dinner, we partook of a bit of John Hodgman's Information before settling into sleep. Upon waking up, we were greeted by the glory of an Oregon coast in the morning. Majestic clouds, ferocious waves, and a quaint lighthouse shone forth.

Inn of the beachcomber

Gold Beach, OR

Spinners

Gold Beach, OR

Redwood highway

Benbow, CA

Entering Hopland

San rafael bridge

Oakland

It's raining.

Return of road trip live blogging

San jose. 49ers vs Rams on the radio. Scintillating. The stadium has
been described as a mausoleum and the official just made the best
tackle of the game.

Reindeer races

Still bionic

Mere minutes before screw extraction

Exciting new development at mission and laurel

Coming soon: taqueria vallarta

Thanks Jessica!

Ladies night

Snow!

Ladies night

6+ years

Lab cleanup

Steak!

We decided to take the leftover bottle of wine from Monday's
celebration out for a nice steak dinner

Flowers galore!

The final tuna tuesday

Train to new haven

Woo!