At the end of October Kevin and I took our very first road trip together (not counting Wendover) to Northern California. His aunt and uncle graciously let us crash at their place for a week as we came and went as we pleased. Thanks guys! We had a blast!
The first couple of days we lounged around the house and hung out with the Rupps. I had only met Jeff and Linda a couple of times, so it was nice to just relax, take it all in and get to know them better. I definitely got a fair share of knee slapper stories - mostly from Jeff. He attempted to persuade me to watch Hellcats and was convinced that both Kev and I would be hooked. Needless to say, we were not and have no plans of watching that show in the future. No offense Jeff.
Our first blogworthy tourist trap visited was the Winchester Mystery House located in San Jose. Amazing. I may be quoting the story wrong, but basically the widow of Mr. Winchester (the famous gun manufacturer/retailer...something) started going crazy and kept building onto her already extravagant house because ghosts/spirits told her to. I believe that by the time she passed, there were 180 rooms total - incredible. There were staircases that led to the ceiling, doors that would open to a drop-off, closets that would just be walls.
We were not allowed to take pictures inside the house so took about a gazillion pictures of the outside. It was a huge bummer - quite a few of the windows were stained glass by Tiffany and Co., the woodworking throughout the entire house was unbelievable and to think that it was all done by hand and not by machine is just mind-blowing.
The landscaping and grounds were immaculate and well cared for. There were numerous fountains, shrubs, wild flowers, etc.
What a fun trip! :)
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