End of November Catch-up

We have spent the time since my last post with John's sister, Joeen and her husband Ben. They have a beautiful home in Seal Beach,  California and we had a great visit! We explored downtown Seal Beach and discovered some wonderful restaurants and an unbelievable bakery----yes there seems to be a pattern in our ability to uncover really good bakeries!!!---maybe its a gift!! The pier on Seal Beach is at the end of  Main Street  and we were there on Saturday evening for the Christmas Tree lighting and "snow" they produced for the kids to play and wait to see Santa. It was actually quite chilly at the beach..not at all what I was expecting for southern California. It was quite a different experience to see the Christmas tree lighting followed by sunset over ocean----stunning!

Note to self--don't wear jacket with reflective stripes in flash photos

We spent Thanksgiving day in Simi Valley with Ben's family. His brother Dan had volunteered to have Thanksgiving dinner at his home for the first time this year  and we all had a wonderful day----he said it was sort of  like  a 'dry run' for next year--- and it will long be remembered! We were a little concerned when we arrived and the front door was locked and Ben had to go around back and come through and let us in----Dan had gone to pick up  their mother! Joeen and I helped do the last minute food prep (with the help of  Dionna, Joeen and Ben's grandaughter)....and we would all have to agree that Marie Callender's Holiday feast is delicious. Dan insisted on doing the dishes, which I guess is his normal role on the holidays---and that was great. There were enough pie selections for dessert to make  your head spin---so it was necessary to do the annual 'combo platter' of  desserts! I fell asleep in the car on the trip home!~ It was so nice to have a 'family' for the Holiday and John and I really appreciated being included.

On Friday we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Clemente---along the way we drove through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,  and Dana Point----unbelievably beautiful!We met Joeen at the Harbor at Dana Point for a late lunch and then drove back on the freeways with a quick  drive through San Juan Capistrano. It is so nice to see the bright blue skies in November!

Saturday Joeen's daughter, Nina, and her husband Don came to visit with Dionna and we once again ventured downtown Seal Beach for a great lunch at the Beach BBQ--great food! and shopping!!

On Sunday we met my cousin Toni Rae for lunch----she is my dad's sister's daughter and we had not seen each other for lots of years so it was fun to catch up on family history.

At the beginning of the week we will be heading east to be in Indiana for the holidays....
now we are resting in El Centro, California....Debbie and John

November 21 and 22, 2010

We visited the small community of Solvang, California yesterday. The town is designed to be a replica of  a  Dutch community----and there are windmills and bakeries on every corner! We managed to find one  bakery that had to-die-for peach almond scones----and felt compelled to buy some to take back with us for breakfast tomorrow.

This morning  we moved to  Lake Cachuma which is about 35 miles from Santa Barbara.  I walked around the park this morning and enjoyed the views of the lake with the mountains that had a light dusting of snow. After lunch we decided to explore Santa Barbara and made the short drive across the mountain to the coast. We walked around a little downtown then drove over to the pier. From there we drove along the coast until I decided I needed something to drink and stopped at a park along the beach that looked like it had a snack bar. We walked along the beach and spent time exploring in the tide pools from low tide. I have included several pictures of birds for Dad---hopefully he can tell me what they all are! The snack bar turned out to be a nice restaurant so we sat on the deck right on the beach and had a delicious dinner and  watched the sun go down over the ocean...another great day.

Lake Cachuma

Beach at Santa Barbara

Pier at Santa Barbara

Sea urchins in a tide pool

More sea urchins--out of a pool

A feather had caught on some sea weeds!

Resting at Lake Cachuma.....Debbie and John

Paso Robles, San Simeon and the Hearst Castle November 19-20

We moved south from San Juan Bautista to Paso Robles, California. We explored around the area and visited a couple of wineries. The landscape is beautiful in the valley--mountains all around,  fields full of a variety of vegetables and vineyards with perfectly straight rows of grape plants in a wide variety of gorgeous fall colors! We saw deer and several fields of cattle and horses. It is a  very agricultural area---there are even areas when your views of the mountains are blocked, that the fields and wooded areas could be a part of the midwest.

The next day we got up and drove towards the coast to San Simeon and scheduled a tour of Hearst Castle---built by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920's, it is an amazing estate built high on a mountain overlooking the Pacific that was a playground for the rich and famous in the 1930's. There are photos of such stars as Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Carole Lombard......all enjoying the generosity of Mr. Hearst. The home was given to the state of California and is now part of their state park system and is as it was during its heyday. Very opulent and luxurious---even by today's standards!

We had lunch in San Simeon in a restaurant where our table overlooked the Pacific and then visited a section of the beach where elephant seals migrate each year. Right now the beach is covered with  young males that are fasting and resting up for their migration to the north and west. Large mature males are beginning to arrive and are volleying for supremacy on the  beach. Pregnant females will be arriving shortly, give birth and stay at the beach with their  young until  March at which time they will just leave their young and start their migration. The young will stay around longer and teach themselves how to swim and catch fish. Docents patrol the area all the time when the seals are on the beach---to answer questions and protect the seals! We saw one  group of volunteers put a net over one of the seals that they thought had some plastic around its neck---it turned out it was just a scar--but they were going to cut it off if it had been plastic.

Winery in Pao Robles

First view of the Pacific driving to San Simeon

View from the restaurant

Two large males in the center pool

Heast Castle

Indoor pool at the castle!

 Resting in Santa Maria, California...Debbie and John