Hollister has hang gliding lessons: [link]

(I'll just keep mentioning that. Between the DH and I we could probably tell you which instructor's lesson to take.)

vw, as mentioned, you look so happy! (Toto looks hungry. Starving, even. He told me to tell you.)

It really was just so much fun. And everyone just let me have so much fun. Once all the foods and drinks were out (and bunches of people helped with the last-minute stuff there too), I didn't do a thing. My mom and dad and J's mom and dad just did everything so we could chill out and have a good time...to the point where my parents put away all the food and washed all the dishes (BLESS THEM!). So, I have NO dishes to do today! Honestly, that's like the best present ever!

And Toto is still as cute as ever.

Isn't he, though? And he really was pretty good. We had him outside for a bunch of the party, and he just LOVED that. Oh, and he showed everyone that he knows what "Toto, cleanup in aisle seven" means. So funny.

Toto looks hungry. Starving, even. He told me to tell you.

I bet he did! I had J's little sister take down a box of treats to give him some because the grill was just torturing him. I said, "You can give him five," and she spread those five out the rest of the evening. And she couldn't figure out why he was following her EVERYWHERE. So cute.

Nicole, near Hollister, in Gilroy, are the outlets: [link]

Pinnacles National Monument is also down there: [link]

eta: Henry Coe State Park was also good for hiking: [link]

Thanks, Sparky! I've marked your second post with the shops and the parks.

I'll have to save hang gliding for a time when I'm not still recovery from surgery. I *wish* I could do it because it looks like so much more fun than parachuting. (Not to mention less chance of me landing on my ass and breaking my coccyx.) But... not this time. Pout.

Both those parks can get hot in the summer, so you'd need to carry water.

Unfortunately, Hollister itself isn't exactly a hopping town. Gilroy is bigger, but its claim to fame is the garlic it grows. [link]

It looks like Bonfante Gardens has become Gilroy Gardens Theme Park: [link]

Note the mascot is a head of garlic.

Note the mascot is a head of garlic.

Ha! I kind of love that!

Mmmm, garlic.

So, I have NO dishes to do today! Honestly, that's like the best present ever!

That IS the best present! I wish someone would come do my dishes. And I didn't even have a party. Yeesh.

Gilroy. Isn't that where Spike and Andrew went?