(This is actually only part 1. What we did on Sunday. Part 2, which will be all the pics we took together, portrait-like, will be Feb 2. Stay tuned)

Sunday we drove up to San Luis Obispo to visit my cousin Courtney …

Andrew and I really love traveling together … so we kind of treated this like a mini-road trip … Got up at 6a. Left by 730a and were on the road up to SLO.

We stopped for breakfast in Summerland…. mmm … lovely Sunday morning breakfast. Near the beach. Not long after sunrise …

Andrew got Eggs Benedict+crab cakes .. I forget what the ‘clever’ name for it was, but he liked it …

We got to SLO around 1030 or 11a …

Courtney had not yet finished straightening her hair, so she did that and then gave us a tour of the house. Where 5 college girls+3 dogs live. In what was originally a 3 bedroom house.
Not a joke.
Courtney’s room is the back half of the garage … you really need to see it.

First stop of the day was downtown SLO …. where Courtney got breakfast….

We went to Yogurt Creations… very like Menchie’s. I won’t waste time comparing them…. but it was nice to treat ourselves…

P.S. Courtney is just like Andrew and unable to ‘match’ flavors …

After frozen yogurt, we stopped by the Cal Poly store downtown where I got a hooded sweatshirt, and Andrew got a t-shirt.
Can’t wear it to work anymore, but I do love my hoodies …

Next stop: Courtney’s work.

She’s worked at the Woods Humane Society for about 2.5 years. This is Courtney, giving us an example of what she has to do every day.

We got a tour and visited a bunch of animals …. Courtney will be leading a Critter Camp this summer for 9-12 year olds, if you know/have anyone you want to send up to SLO. It’s a day camp where they learn how to handle dogs, basically …

We saw all kinds of dogs and cats. Kittens. Puppies. Good ones. Obnoxious ones …

I want a cat.

And Andrew is definitely allergic to both dogs and cats. It’s pretty official. Poor thing ..

After that, we got a tour of SLO Campus. Except pretty much it was a tour of the Animal Science major’s version of campus.

Courtney is an Animal Science major. Pretty much the ONLY ‘city girl’ in the program. …. hilarious to me. She’s this tiny little blonde that drives an old Toyota Corolla – amidst all the cowboys/cowgirls who grew up on a ranch driving big ol’ trucks…..

First stop – Sheeps. (is that the plural form?)

Courtney told us about how she had to get her sheep to ‘sit’ when she was taking the class. I can’t even describe it …

There were all sorts of folding chairs in this … barn. All in a circle in the middle. … that’s where Court had class. … Then all the big trucks and Courtney in her little Corolla left class on this one-way gravel road….

Very very different from ASU.
Obviously.

Next stop: Cows.
Courtney doesn’t really know anything about the dairy cows. Only the Beef cows. Ironic, since she’s a vegetarian. … Apparently, there’s some severe bad blood between the industries. Who knews?

None of these cows knew her, though, and wouldn’t come close …

Next stop: Pigs.

P.S. We skipped the poultry because they are severely dirty/smelly/gross according to Courtney. And I am more than willing to take her word for it.

I don’t think I ever knew pigs were SOO big. … Oh my word.

Courtney told us this story about how for her class, they were ‘herding’ pigs … and one of them was a little wild, so she assumed one of the bigger guys in her class would take care of that one…
nope.
That wild pig came running right to Courtney and through her legs, which actually lifted her off her feet since the pig was so big!
… Carried her a little ways (the pig obviously still being wild and probably freaking out a little bit at the big thing on it’s back)… until Courtney finally fell off face first.

Hilarious.
And actually very similar to an event in Anne of Avonlea.

Which reminds me, the whole time we were there I kept thi
nking of the Pioneer Woman. Courtney definitely needs to read that blog … she might actually understand some of that beef stuff that the rest of us know nothing about.

Next stop: horses

Courtney freely admitted to knowing nothing about these …

More cows.
This is where Courtney prepped her cow for showing.

True story.

She got 3rd place out of 6th….

This is one of the “Ag buildings” … as in Agriculture. As in the school of Agricultural Science – or whatever it’s called. As in where Courtney has several classes …

The Friday edition of the school paper HAPPENED to still be on the newstands … and it HAPPENED to be the edition where Courtney is quoted …

Stopped for some Mexican food. Because apparently Andrew can’t go a day without it .. .

Then back to Courtney’s house. They have a big mirror all along one wall in the living room…

Lastly out to Pismo Beach for beach time and dinner … but we drove by a pile of trash and Andrew saw records …

Seriously, if you know anyone giving away old vinyl … . Andrew will take it.

We got to the beach right at sunset …

Look at that gorgeous light …

The Splash’s Cafe at Pismo Beach had a 2 hour wait. Seriously, a line out the door and down the length of the building.
Ridiculous.

So, we hopped in the car and went to the Splash’s Cafe in San Luis Obispo … and had yummy seafood …

We were in the car and on the way home by about 730p …

Long lovely day …