July 28th, 2007

Four days on the road with a 3-week old baby. Yeah. Ok, well we wanted to go visit Mimi and Dirk because they still hadn't seen Elliot.

He actually did great in the car, barring a few whimpering episodes that prompted rest-stops to feed him.

On the way up we had lunch in San Luis Obisbo and did some baby-clothes shopping, scoring some really cute camouflage shoes.

We drove on, eventually reaching Carmel and our little hotel, The Wayside Inn. It was right in the heart of Carmel so walking to shops and restaurants was easy.

Ross and I did a scuba dive at Point Lobos on Tuesday morning, checking out the vast kelp forests there.

Chris and Ross also got to see the Aquarium for the first time, and we had dinner at the Fish Hopper on Cannery Row.

That night we visited Spencer and Deborah Lindsay at their house in Pacific Grove.

Wednesday was more shopping in Carmel, a trip to the beach, and finally a really good visit with Mimi and Dirk on their boat in Moss Landing.

They finally got to meet their grandson, which was great to see.

The next day we drove down to Big Sur and had breakfast at Deetjens restaurant, one of our favorites, then headed to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Beach for some relax-time.

The drive home on Thursday was long, but we all made it safe.

-Rob and Nicole

After arriving from Canada, Ross gets to pose for a few shots with his new grandson.

We stop in San Luis Obispo for lunch and some baby clothes shopping.

Elliot gets indoctrinated to the cult of Apple by the illuminated pulsing logo. We should probably start saving for his first Mac soon.

We stopped in at Julia Pfeiffer State Beach again. Some millionaire dude had landed and was walking around with his date. After they shot some pics, they kissed and flew away. The beach is inaccessible by land... Must be nice.

Ross and Chris pause for a little portrait at the beach.

"Who's the cutest baby?" (SMOOCH!)

"Dad, you're staring. Dad... stop!"

Elliot grows weary of the attention and sighs, "No more photos or signatures today, bring my pedicurist and call my stylist and tell her to get her ass to my dressing room in 10 minutes. Ahhh, amateurs..."

Mimi finally meets her grandson for the first time.

Dirk shows off his recording studio and audio gear for doing voice-over work.

After a combined 8 hours in the car seat, Elliot stretches out on the sheepskin

A couple of days before we leave, Chris Adams, Rob's cousin, gets to meet Elliot for the first time.

We're off! Driving is made easy with a couple of helpful folks in the back, attentive to every whimper and grunt from the car-seat.

The Orbit-Baby stroller really makes life easy. We love it almost as much as our baby. Here's some more info about it.

Here's a shot of the privileged ones making their noisy exit.

At the peak of their shopping frenzy, Nicole and her mom are overcome by the sudden urge to hug each other, then the shopping continues...

Nicole inspects some of the boutique children's clothes offerings while Chris examines the price tags. Not pictured: Rob wondering why a baby's shirt costs more than his own.

"Ohmygod shopping for miniature clothes is so much fun I think I could just pee myself!" Squeals Nicole.

"Yeah, come to think of it, why should that baby be the only one that gets to have all the fun?" Ponders Chris.

Spencer makes faces to a delighted Elliot.

Elliot looks up at Mimi while hanging out on their boat in Moss Landing.

Chris touches some of the living things at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

On the way home, the gang poses in front of the beach.

The next afternoon, we take some more shots with the baby.