Our time in Santa Monica was over and it was time to pick up the car rental at Avis. Why does it always take so long to pick up a car? Even though our rental car was a KIA Soul, I was THRILLED when I saw the license plate was from Washington State because I’m obsessed with wanting to live in Seattle. I didn’t mind pretending I lived in Washington for all the times we looked like lost tourists on the trip.

We stayed in Aliso Viejo (Orange County) with Kraig’s cousin Patrick that lives there with his girlfriend Michelle.

We checked out Huntington State Beach aka Surf City on our first day.

Made a pit stop at Mutts for lunch…and the bar crawl sorta began.

And then another stop at Pelican Hill Resort for some Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc.

We went to Nick’s Laguna Beach for a pre dinner drink and ate at Watermarc for dinner. We ended at The Rooftop Lounge for a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.