Big Sur, California , November 18, 2010

What a gorgeous drive down Highway 1 along the Pacific Ocean today! It was partly sunny on our drive to the coast, but again the fog and clouds rolled in for our drive to Big Sur--but it was still beautiful! We pulled over multiple times for 'Kodak' moments and enjoyed lunch  at a restaurant that sits high on a cliff  overlooking the coast----it has been there since 1949. It was so cool today they had a fire going in a big open pit in the middle of the dining room and we sat with our backs to the fire looking out at the awesome views!

At one over look I got out of the car and heard the barking of seals---it took us the field glasses to actually spot them so far down, but if  you look closely  you can see them in some of the photos ----they are tan colored and laying all over the tops of some rocks! We also 'followed' some large dolphins on their way south along the coast---these pictures are a little fuzzy since I had to zoom so much to get them!

Resting in San Juan Bautista......Debbie and John

Look closely for the seals

Seals

Seals!

Dolphin migration

These cows have no idea  how lucky they are to be grazing by the ocean!!

November 17, 2010 Carmel California

Today we drove over to Carmel, California. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a short drive to the coast. I snapped a couple of pictures out the window as the ocean first came into view and then we arrived in Carmel and walked around in the charming downtown and ate lunch on the patio of a small cafe. Then we decided to drive down the hill to the beach area and fog started rolling in. When we first got on the beach I was able to take a picture of some homes on a small peninsula and in a very few minutes we could not even see the homes for the fog. The few pictures I took on the beach almost look as if they were taken in black and white---that is just how it all looked with the dense fog.

When we drove  away from Carmel it was a very short distance until we were back in the sun! Where we are staying is nestled between Gilroy, California --the garlic capital of the world, and Castroville, California which is the artichoke capital of the world! Much different agricultural landscape than we see in Indiana!

Resting in San Juan Bautista, California.....Debbie and John

November 16,2010

Yesterday we had a lazy day in Napa----we drove up the valley to the small town of Calistoga and on the way stopped at a winery known as 'the Castle'. An apparently extremely wealthy wine maker wanted to build an authentic Tuscan castle in  Napa Valley and this Castle is the culmination of that dream. He brought as many of the building materials he could over from Europe and had the structure built as historically accurate as possible. The pictures below will show some of  the results of  his endeavors!

Last night we had a delicious dinner in a restaurant downtown along the Napa River with Shirleen and Ed. It was a beautiful evening in a beautiful setting---a really nice way to spend our last night in Napa. As an added treat we drove to town in Ed's 1960 Studebaker...fun!

Wine barrels at the Castle

W

The Great Hall

View from the Castle

Entering the restaurant

This morning we got ready to take off and after overcoming a few 'issues' with the Jeep made our way to San Juan Bautista where we are settling in for a few days to explore Monterey, Carmel and the Pacific coast highway!
Resting in San Juan Bautista...Debbie and John

Napa, California November 14, 2010

For some reason the time change to Pacific time has taken a toll on me----it gets dark a little after 5 and by 8:30 I am done!  Therefore I have not been posting each day! Since my last post we moved  from Bakersfield to Lodi, Callifornia and spent the night at another Harvest Host winery---this time we arrived before they closed and were able to taste some of the wines and added a couple of bottles to our 'collection'!

The drive from there over to the Napa Valley was beautiful. There were hillsides covered with windmills, golden grass covered hills dotted with cattle, and green forest areas with bald, dirt and rock covered mountains in the background--------a huge variety of scenery!

We arrived in Napa at John's cousin's home and got situated in her drive and will be staying here until Tuesday. She has a beautiful piece of tree lined property with a small grape vineyard. They moved the historic home on to the property from downtown Napa----disassembled the home and essentially rebuilt it on this location---it looks like it has always been here. It is a peaceful quiet place that we are thoroughly enjoying.

Yesterday we drove up the valley and visited a few wineries and had lunch in St. Helena and walked around the quaint downtown---beautiful day!---lots of tourists this time of year. The wineries themselves are each unique--the vineyards have been harvested and are turning vibrant fall colors and there are still lots of flowers blooming everywhere. Sunny and 70 just cannot be beat.

Lodi Winery

Shirleen's home

A few Malbec grapes left on the vine

Napa persimmons at Shirleen's

Napa Winery

Downtown St.Helena

View of Napa Valley from a winery

Napa sunset

Resting in Napa, California...Debbie and John