More on travel with a bit of emotional stuff. Enjoy!

I am going to start off this blog entry with some emotional stuff I've been dealing with. Well, it's kind of emotional, but it depends how you look at it. Anyways, it is emotional for me. Before leaving Sacramento in November I had lost about 30lbs. In August I was the heaviest I had ever been. I felt ugly, fat and I was disgusted with myself for "letting myself go." That is when I set the goal to lose 50lbs. It was August 2nd to be exact. I was very dedicated and strict with my eating habits and exercise. I was losing almost 10lbs a month. That is pretty good for anyone who is trying to lose weight. I wasn't starving myself or exercising at the gym for 5 hrs a day. I simply walked for 4 miles six days a week, which takes about an hour and 15mins to do, and didn't eat over 1500 calories in one day. I never missed a day of walking and I think I might have went over on calories once or twice in a three month time span. I was eating a ton of fruits, vegetables, and nutritious stuff. My clothes started to feel comfortable to wear again and I even was able to get rid of some clothes that were too big. I had a really good routine that worked for me. Well, now that I'm on the road traveling that routine has basically dissolved. I haven't lost any more weight for about a month now. I have been fine on exercise because Alex and I walk or bike ride everyday pretty consistently, but the eating hasn't been so good. We have been eating at cafes and restaurants almost everyday. Eating out is almost always more calories than making your own food. It is hard not to eat out when traveling. I also haven't been as self-controlled when choosing what to eat on the menu. The other day I got fish and chips, that is a horrible thing for someone to order who is trying to lose weight. The entire meal is fried and then the tartar sauce is loaded with more fat. So, I'm feeling very conflicted. I love food so much. Everyone has some sin that they struggle with, whether it be gossip, stealing, lying, lust, or whatever, and mine is gluttony. Food is always on my mind. Alex has really been a nazi when it comes to eating lately. He has lost about 40lbs now. We both started our weight loss venture at around the same time. He is the one putting on the kibosh when I want to get a pastry or a cheeseburger. He makes me feel really bad for wanting to eat out so much and that's where the emotions come in. The other day I suggested going somewhere to eat and he got in a really bad mood. I asked him what was wrong and he was mad at me because he felt like I have given up on losing weight. Then I got upset because he was upset. Ugh. I reassured him that I haven't given up, but that I am struggling. I'm actually glad that he has been there to keep me in check, although it is not always fun. I really hate it that I love food so much. My twin brother is the opposite. He actually forgets to eat sometimes. Obviously food is not always on his mind. Well, that's the end of my food/emotional rant. Now on to more of our traveling adventures....

San Luis Obispo was fun. It was graduation week for the college students. The city was a little more crowded than usual. We headed down to Pismo Beach and that was a ton of fun! The sun was out. It got up to 80 degrees. Alex and I laid out on the beach for a few hours. It was so awesome! It is December and we were able to lay out on the beach in our bathing suits. It makes me wonder if people in SoCal know what its is like to experience different seasons. For the most part the weather is always warm. We watched the sunset on the beach and it was a beautiful thing. Another cool thing about Pismo was we went to a church service and almost everyone in the church went out of their way to introduce themselves to us. They were very friendly. We talked with the pastor for a little bit about our trip and he took us aside after the service to pray for us. I thought that was really neat.

Soooo sunny

Cool spider webs

Pismo Beach Sunset

After Pismo we went to the little town of Solvang. My Road Trip book calls it a "Tourist Trap Town." It was established in 1919 by Danish emigrants. The entire town is designed based on Danish architecture. It felt like we weren't in America anymore when we were there. I would definitely recommend going there if you have never been.

Danish Architecture church. Built in 1919

One of many windmills in the town

Before going into the town we went to Anderson's Pea Soup restaurant. I think that is where the restaurant first originated. They have many restaurants around California. I had to get their famous pea soup and it was good, but not as good as my Mom's pea soup.

When we were in Solvang we went to The Hans Christian Anderson museum and learned a little bit about his personal life. He is famous for all the fairytale stories, like Princess and the Pea, Hansel and Gretal, Cinderella, etc. He had a rather lonely life when it came to romance. He fell in love with three different women during his life and all three of them rejected him. He was a handsome man, but I think he was too subtle in showing his affections. He would write letters and poems to these women that hinted at his love for them, and in the meantime the were off getting ready to be engaged to someone else. Then when it was too late Hans would openly express his love. He died a bachelor, never to be married. By the way, that is a true story, I didn't make this one up:)




We have been in Santa Barbara for the last few days. It is a very beautiful city. It is known as the Red Roof City because most of the buildings are  of Spanish architecture. In 1929 there was an earthquake in Santa Barbara that devastated most of the town destroying over 600 buildings. After the earthquake the town decided that the buildings had to be rebuilt in Spanish style Architecture. It give the town a Mediterranean feel. It has been overcast yesterday and today, so that is not fun, but no rain. We met up with an old friend of mine from high school, Sarah Davis. It was really cool seeing her. We went to a lovely Mexican Restaurant. We rode our bikes down the beach trail and went by Ty Warner's house. He is the maker of beanie babies. His house was pretty big. We actually found where he lived from a local, I didn't actually know who Ty Warner was until the local told us about him. We have a week of traveling left until we will be back in Sacramento for Christmas and New Year's. I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends!   

Maander's cousin

On the wharf

You can see some of the red roofs in this pic.