Back from Cali-forn-i-a

Just got back form California and it feels good to be home after over a month of traveling. Yosemite was amazing. If you haven't been there yet better go check it out. The waterfalls this year were extra big because it snowed like a mad man this past winter. (It was crazy good skiing) We didn't do any camping but we stayed at some pretty nice lodges and hotels. It was a great time. After Yosemite we went to Lake Tahoe and Squaw Valley. It was very strange to go to one of your favorite ski resorts during the summer when there are only small patches of snow. We had a big snowball fight thanks to the great snow fall this past winter. We eventually made it back to the bay area where Andy and I went on a music shopping spree. I spent about 150 dollars on CDs and Andy spent just over 100. It was a little crazy but was so needed.
One day we went to the Jelly Belly factory which was filled with tons of screaming children. This made the visit take much too long so we could only visit two wineries after the factory tour, but we still managed to get a bunch of free wine at the tastings. Back at my Aunt's house we built a killer fence to keep the deer from eating her flowers. It took several days but we had plenty of new music to listen to while we worked.
One day we went to Alcatraz which smelled like seagull poo because they now rule the island. It was very strange and kind of lame but I got some cool pictures. One night after working on the fence we went to 826 Valencia which is a writing center with a pirate supplies store in the front part. It is very cool, check it out if you are in San Francisco. There are new locations in New York, Washington and soon to be Chicago. Each writing center has a different store up front, like superhero supplies and spy gear. It is all very amusing at the same time extremely serious.
We finally finished the fence the morning before our flight, it took forever because my aunt lives on a hillside so we had to build all sorts of retaining walls. Plus like a billion other little problems kept us from finishing quickly. We all had a really good vacation in California but now it is time to get back to the daily grind.