Vacation 101, and now the pictures

Hey Everyone,  The Pictures from the trip are now up on Shutterfly, and myspace you pick, if you want a link to the full article I'm still editing it but will post it on the home page soon.

 

 

 

www.cemseller.shutterfly.com

Vacation 101: Part 4

That's it we're done!  Ok but before I get there where did I leave off?  Oh yeah Dennis the Menace and the park.  After I sat down the computer Kari went to get Jacob in the mood to go and I went across the street to check out the Historical Catholic Cemetery, it is very cool.  There's something about cemeteries that have no monument rules, they have more character.  The trees in this place were unbelievable they each had large trunks that went up into very pronounced white branches.  At the end of each branch lived the green leaves spread out like flat like a plate spinning at the ends of a jugglers hands. The neatest thing about this one is that I couldn't find one Mausoleum Crypt without flowers on it, now that's memorialization.  I think the reason memorialization was so prevalent is that it seemed the park didn't forbid fake flowers, this allows their families to come by every once in a while and update their tribute rather than weekly.

 

After leaving the park and cemetery we headed from there down to Fisherman's Wharf.  Smaller of course than what we found in San Francisco the night before but still nice.  After a short walk down to the end of the Pier checking out all the restaurants samples of Clam Chowder we finally settled on a restaurant based more on the lack of wait than the quality of their Chowder.  After being sat we ordered the standard Chowder filled sourdough bowl, Fish and Chips, and Calamari.  There wasn't much else to do here so we headed back to the room a little early (about 10) and went to bed planning on the Aquarium the next day.

 

Monterey's Aquarium beats the out the hype of itself, it's very cool and absolutely awesome for kids.  Unlike a lot of aquariums the Monterey Aquarium specializes in 'hands on' exhibits that keep the kids interested, including learning how fish swim through the water, touch pools, and an interactive video demonstration.  The facility is immaculate with tons of volunteers that are just there for the love of what they do, they help get everyone involved and are extremely knowledgeable.  I think Jacob enjoyed the Game Show/educational program "All about Otters" where he got selected to go on stage and become a scorekeeper.  Unfortunately his need to be the star outshined his ability to follow directions and he tried to take over as host rather than keep the tallies on the scoreboard. 

 

Between Jacob's efforts for the Academy Award and having to nearly beat him to get him to leave whatever exhibit we were at we ended up spending more than 5 hours at the aquarium which is shocking in and of itself, I think 3 years ago when we visited Long Beach Aquarium we spent all of about 2 hours there before we were bored and out of attractions.  After leaving we went down Canary Row which is adjacent, at this point our parking was at it's max so it didn't matter anymore how long we spent down there, besides we got nowhere to be tonight.

 

Canary row is typical offshoot area any more.  They have tons of gift stores that all sell the same stuff.  We stopped by a few and after getting tired of Jacob asking for something from every store I decided to give him $13.00 and told him he could spend it any way he wanted but once it was gone that was all there was and he wouldn't get to buy anything more the entire trip.  He spent a little on a book from the Aquarium and at one of the stores bought a $1.00 pirate sword, but the biggest purchase he had cost him nothing.  A street artist was standing silent and perfectly still on a box in front of one of the stores, Jacob looked up at him, then me and said "Dad look, he looks fake."  I told him that I he's quite real and I bet he'll prove it pretty soon. Jacob noticed a hat with some cash in it near the box and reached into his pocket searching for some money.  Kari quickly reminded him "If that's the way you want to waste your money."  I jumped in and said, it's fine Jacob do you think he's worth it, and Jacob looked up and said "Yes."  I went ahead and put a dollar in for him, at which time the Artist proved is liveliness and startled Jacob.  As Jacob pulled away the man showed his appreciation by hooking him up with a full wardrobe of balloon sculptures.  Jacob looked like a little balloon Pirate for the rest of the day, in full garb, a Pirate hat, Sword, Belt and Even pet dog.

 

I picked up a shot glass for my collection and Kari toyed with some items in the Garlic & hot stuff shop but choose to treat us to a nice dinner instead.  For which we choose a local place called Linguinie Louigies Seafood, Pasta and Pizza, where we got much better Fish and Chips than the night before.  The restuarant only opened a few years ago but has such a great backstory that it's highly worth stopping by if you're in the area.  After dinner Jacob and I went down under the pier and checked out some tidepools and saw some of the same animals we had seen in the Aquarium then we slowly started walking back to the car and wished we had saved room for another one of the Ghiradelli Hot fudge sundaes.

 

This morning it was time to go home and we took our time getting out of the Hotel, we had a rough night.  The hotels in the area don't have A/C and our room was hot even with the windows open on this particular evening so neither Kari or I slept well and we left about 30 minutes after regular check out at eleven thirty.  Not ready to give up the vacation and just go home we stick to PCH and stop off at a few spots along the way.  First up were a few vista points off the freeway just to take some pictures and dream of putting a house out on the perfectly untouched natural cliff.  I begin to think how selfish it is to want to destroy such beauty and how much we should value the laws that keep people from tearing up all of our natural vistas.

 

Next up we stop off at Ragged Edge Cliff Resort to eat some sandwiches and stretch our legs.  This is a really neat little resort nestled in the Ventana Wilderness Park about 20 miles south of Big Sur, we liked the resort but couldn't really figure out what you'd do if you stayed there.  It's a 200 ft drop off the cliff to the ocean which has practically no beach and I'm sure none at all at high tide.  I didn't see an horses or an other normal Hotel items like pools or spas, so if you stay there make sure you have an idea of what you'll be doing to waste away the days. 

 

While we are there a lady mentions to Kari that Elephant Seals are beached just Down the road a little bit and there are volunteers there telling the history of them and answering questions.  Jacob has been great at checking out wildlife and asking scientific questions about them so we stop by for a while and check that out, the volunteer was really nice and answered all Jacobs questions.  I didn't realize how big those Elephant seals are, big lazy beasts just laying all over that beautiful beach where I could build a house (oops refer back to previous paragraph).  It's getting really late and as you can tell we haven't really made much progress and we've promised Jacob a shot at jumping out and going into the ocean for a bit so when we finally get to Pismo he gets his shot.

 

Pismo beach is awesome like the beach in Carlsbad the beach slowly rolls out to the ocean without any noticeable drop offs, in his jean shorts Jacob is able to walk out quite a way and not get them wet, this is short lived, Kari finally gives in and lets him go for it.  The sand at Pismo is some of the finest sand I have ever felt, it's soft and just feels great to walk in, I am not a big beach person but am almost wishing we could stay longer.  It's Wednesday so the beach isn't too crowded and we stay only for a few minutes and pull Jacob out and head back down the coast.

 

Final stop, Jacob has never seen Solvang and Kari wants to get something from one of their famous bakeries.  After getting off the freeway I couldn't resist getting a cup of Split Pea Soup from Split Pea Anderson's.  I never liked split pea as a kid, my mom used to make a huge pot of it every once in a while and it would be around for dinner for a month, she had acquired a 5 gallon drum of split peas somehow and as with Cabbage Burgers, and Lemon Pepper Chick split pea soup became one of my Mom's staples.  Now I haven't had good split pea soup for years and it was great to have this, I gotta get my Mom to make me some soon, sounds good now, she makes it with Sausage, mmmm that's the stuff.

 

Jacob is uninterested in Solvang and the place is practically closed because it's after 6:00. Kari was lucky to find one bakery even open, at this point we switch sides so I can make these notes before we get home, looks like it will be after 10:00 and I got work tomorrow so if I don't do it now I'll never get them down. 

 

So let's see how our "Last Minute Budget Vacation Went".  We had a Cash and Room Budget of $1400.00.  I had budgeted for 900 miles and we ended up doing well over 2000 for my gas budget is totally out of wack.  I had down about $188.00 and we spent 350.  We came in $145.00 under budget for food and hotels so it was about a wash at $1600 total.  Here's what we did in a nutshell.

 

Sailed for a day

Spent a day at the beach

Cruised the harbors of:

San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, Morro Bay, among others

Saw no less than 10 National Historic Monuments

Went to one of the top rated Aquariums in the country

Saw some of the most beautiful country in the world

Spent a week with my family without any TV or phones ringing off the hook

Got a way to intimate knowledge of the music on my wife's Ipod.  (Yes she won that battle).

 

Thanks all for sharing with me how much you enjoyed these writings, I edited this one a little so this is as good as my grammar gets, sorry.

 

Tim

 

PS I'll work on getting pics up over next couple of days for you to check out.

Vacation 101: Part 4

That's it we're done!  Ok but before I get there where did I leave off?  Oh yeah Dennis the Menace and the park.  After I sat down the computer Kari went to get Jacob in the mood to go and I went across the street to check out the Historical Catholic Cemetery, it is very cool.  There's something about cemeteries that have no monument rules, they have more character.  The trees in this place were unbelievable they each had large trunks that went up into very pronounced white branches.  At the end of each branch lived the green leaves spread out like flat like a plate spinning at the ends of a jugglers hands.(Picture attached) The neatest thing about this one is that I couldn't find one Mausoleum Crypt without flowers on it, now that's memorialization.  I think the reason memorialization was so prevalent is that it seemed the park didn't forbid fake flowers, this allows their families to come by every once in a while and update their tribute rather than weekly.

 

After leaving the park and cemetery we headed from there down to Fisherman's Wharf.  Smaller of course than what we found in San Francisco the night before but still nice.  After a short walk down to the end of the Pier checking out all the restaurants samples of Clam Chowder we finally settled on a restaurant based more on the lack of wait than the quality of their Chowder.  After being sat we ordered the standard Chowder filled sourdough bowl, Fish and Chips, and Calamari.  There wasn't much else to do here so we headed back to the room a little early (about 10) and went to bed planning on the Aquarium the next day.

 

Monterey's Aquarium beats the out the hype of itself, it's very cool and absolutely awesome for kids.  Unlike a lot of aquariums the Monterey Aquarium specializes in 'hands on' exhibits that keep the kids interested, including learning how fish swim through the water, touch pools, and an interactive video demonstration.  The facility is immaculate with tons of volunteers that are just there for the love of what they do, they help get everyone involved and are extremely knowledgeable.  I think Jacob enjoyed the Game Show/educational program "All about Otters" where he got selected to go on stage and become a scorekeeper.  Unfortunately his need to be the star outshined his ability to follow directions and he tried to take over as host rather than keep the tallies on the scoreboard. 

 

Between Jacob's efforts for the Academy Award (Picture 2) and having to nearly beat him to get him to leave whatever exhibit we were at we ended up spending more than 5 hours at the aquarium which is shocking in and of itself, I think 3 years ago when we visited Long Beach Aquarium we spent all of about 2 hours there before we were bored and out of attractions.  After leaving we went down Canary Row which is adjacent, at this point our parking was at it's max so it didn't matter anymore how long we spent down there, besides we got nowhere to be tonight.

 

Canary row is typical offshoot area any more.  They have tons of gift stores that all sell the same stuff.  We stopped by a few and after getting tired of Jacob asking for something from every store I decided to give him $13.00 and told him he could spend it any way he wanted but once it was gone that was all there was and he wouldn't get to buy anything more the entire trip.  He spent a little on a book from the Aquarium and at one of the stores bought a $1.00 pirate sword, but the biggest purchase he had cost him nothing.  A street artist was standing silent and perfectly still on a box in front of one of the stores, Jacob looked up at him, then me and said "Dad look, he looks fake."  I told him that I he's quite real and I bet he'll prove it pretty soon. Jacob noticed a hat with some cash in it near the box and reached into his pocket searching for some money.  Kari quickly reminded him "If that's the way you want to waste your money."  I jumped in and said, it's fine Jacob do you think he's worth it, and Jacob looked up and said "Yes."  I went ahead and put a dollar in for him, at which time the Artist proved is liveliness and startled Jacob.  As Jacob pulled away the man showed his appreciation by hooking him up with a full wardrobe of balloon sculptures.  Jacob looked like a little balloon Pirate for the rest of the day, in full garb, a Pirate hat, Sword, Belt and Even pet dog.

 

I picked up a shot glass for my collection and Kari toyed with some items in the Garlic & hot stuff shop but choose to treat us to a nice dinner instead.  For which we choose a local place called Linguinie Louigies Seafood, Pasta and Pizza, where we got much better Fish and Chips than the night before.  The restuarant only opened a few years ago but has such a great backstory that it's highly worth stopping by if you're in the area.  After dinner Jacob and I went down under the pier and checked out some tidepools and saw some of the same animals we had seen in the Aquarium (Picture 3) then we slowly started walking back to the car and wished we had saved room for another one of the Ghiradelli Hot fudge sundaes.

 

This morning it was time to go home and we took our time getting out of the Hotel, we had a rough night.  The hotels in the area don't have A/C and our room was hot even with the windows open on this particular evening so neither Kari or I slept well and we left about 30 minutes after regular check out at eleven thirty.  Not ready to give up the vacation and just go home we stick to PCH and stop off at a few spots along the way.  First up were a few vista points off the freeway just to take some pictures and dream of putting a house out on the perfectly untouched natural cliff.  I begin to think how selfish it is to want to destroy such beauty and how much we should value the laws that keep people from tearing up all of our natural vistas.

 

Next up we stop off at Ragged Edge Cliff Resort to eat some sandwiches and stretch our legs.  This is a really neat little resort nestled in the Ventana Wilderness Park about 20 miles south of Big Sur, we liked the resort but couldn't really figure out what you'd do if you stayed there.  It's a 200 ft drop off the cliff to the ocean which has practically no beach and I'm sure none at all at high tide.  I didn't see an horses or an other normal Hotel items like pools or spas, so if you stay there make sure you have an idea of what you'll be doing to waste away the days. 

 

While we are there a lady mentions to Kari that Elephant Seals are beached just Down the road a little bit and there are volunteers there telling the history of them and answering questions.  Jacob has been great at checking out wildlife and asking scientific questions about them so we stop by for a while and check that out, the volunteer was really nice and answered all Jacobs questions.  I didn't realize how big those Elephant seals are, big lazy beasts just laying all over that beautiful beach where I could build a house (oops refer back to previous paragraph).  It's getting really late and as you can tell we haven't really made much progress and we've promised Jacob a shot at jumping out and going into the ocean for a bit so when we finally get to Pismo he gets his shot.

 

Pismo beach is awesome like the beach in Carlsbad the beach slowly rolls out to the ocean without any noticeable drop offs, in his jean shorts Jacob is able to walk out quite a way and not get them wet, this is short lived, Kari finally gives in and lets him go for it.  The sand at Pismo is some of the finest sand I have ever felt, it's soft and just feels great to walk in, I am not a big beach person but am almost wishing we could stay longer.  It's Wednesday so the beach isn't too crowded and we stay only for a few minutes and pull Jacob out and head back down the coast.

 

Final stop, Jacob has never seen Solvang and Kari wants to get something from one of their famous bakeries.  After getting off the freeway I couldn't resist getting a cup of Split Pea Soup from Split Pea Anderson's.  I never liked split pea as a kid, my mom used to make a huge pot of it every once in a while and it would be around for dinner for a month, she had acquired a 5 gallon drum of split peas somehow and as with Cabbage Burgers, and Lemon Pepper Chick split pea soup became one of my Mom's staples.  Now I haven't had good split pea soup for years and it was great to have this, I gotta get my Mom to make me some soon, sounds good now, she makes it with Sausage, mmmm that's the stuff.

 

Jacob is uninterested in Solvang and the place is practically closed because it's after 6:00. Kari was lucky to find one bakery even open, at this point we switch sides so I can make these notes before we get home, looks like it will be after 10:00 and I got work tomorrow so if I don't do it now I'll never get them down. 

 

So let's see how our "Last Minute Budget Vacation Went".  We had a Cash and Room Budget of $1400.00.  I had budgeted for 900 miles and we ended up doing well over 2000 for my gas budget is totally out of wack.  I had down about $188.00 and we spent 350.  We came in $145.00 under budget for food and hotels so it was about a wash at $1600 total.  Here's what we did in a nutshell.

 

Sailed for a day

Spent a day at the beach

Cruised the harbors of:

San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, Morro Bay, among others

Saw no less than 10 National Historic Monuments

Went to one of the top rated Aquariums in the country

Saw some of the most beautiful country in the world

Spent a week with my family without any TV or phones ringing off the hook

Got a way to intimate knowledge of the music on my wife's Ipod.  (Yes she won that battle).

 

Thanks all for sharing with me how much you enjoyed these writings, I edited this one a little so this is as good as my grammar gets, sorry.

 

Tim

I'm a Rockstar at the drive in

SoCalTraffiCast - 07/07/07 - Episode #027

Driving with the Rockstar Energy Drink and Tim reviews his Drive In Movie experience

Rubidoux Drive In Movie Theater

Rockstar Energy Drinks Rule

 

Go to www.socaltrafficast.com

 

 

Vacation 101: Part 3

Yesterday we pounded it out.  Leaving the Town and Country Motel around 10:00 we planned on going all the way to our most Northwestern target.  Just the others side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  That means we'll be in the car for what we figured would be about 3 to 4 hours which like my Mileage and Gas estimates were obviously not located in reality.  To make matters a little worse we would not be travelling on the most interesting of roads anymore.

 

Still we had the California Gold Treasure Keys to keep us occupied.  Our first stop proved unfruitfull at a California Welcome Center in Paso Robles.  The center, well more like a kiosk, was open but was without an attendant and there was no sign of the Treasure Key cards we sought.  Still we loaded up on some new pamphlets and magazines wth Hotel and entertainment discounts in it.  The Budget trip is going off well!

 

We made a stop in a town Called San Miguel, and if you've ever been there it one ups the so called "One Stop" towns with a literal "NO STOP" town.  You exit the freeway drive through town and get right back on the freeway.  If you ever do this please do hit the brakes in front of the San Miguel Mission and through some money their way so they can repair earthquake damage and Retro Fit the main chapel and other important structres and re-open the entire mission to tourists and Historians that travel through.  They have been working on their goal of 1.5 million dollars for the better part of 7 years and are not even half way there.  These missions are a key part of our California history and it would be a shame to loose such a valuable piece of history and architecture.

 

After a short while we finally turned to our electronic media to get through the not so glorious roadside of the 101.  Kari and I each with our individual Ipods blaring and Jacob deeply entranced into a movie in the back seat.  Not to say that the Eucalyptux trees and the outstretched farms aren't beautiful in themselves but they are not the awe-inspiring conversation starting visual stimulae of the last few days so back to our comfortable electronics we go to pass the time.

 

We decided to drop out bags off at the Motel we choose out of the discount book in Santa Clara, we've come up with some loose plans now and once we drop off the bags we are going to drive up through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate, hit Fisherman's wharf and the next morning go to the Winchester Mystery House before heading down the PCH to Monterey.  Whew that sounds like a lot considering we are pulling into Santa Clara, about 95 miles south of San Francisco at 4:00 in the afternoon.  But that's what driving tours are all about.  I think of them as Land Cruises, you only pull into port for a short time, make the most of it.

 

The Drive over the Golden Gate was fine, it's the first time the Jacob had done it so we definetely wanted the experience, it took about an 45 minutes all told on Sunday afternoon and cost us a $5.00 toll.  The next time I'm going to rent bikes and ride over and back, it will be cool to check out the structure up so close.  After the Golden Gate we are on Lombard Street and toy with the idea of finding the area where it goes almost straight up and winds and curves around (as Bill Cosby once said) the flowers where the people died trying to get up it.  I think Bill was funnier.

 

Fisherman's Wharf is fun and typical of any Wharf except for the beautiful views of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz Island.  Every time we've been there we've focused on just a couple of things that we want to do.  1st getting fed; Fis and Chips, Fried Calamari, Shredded Crab and Shrimp Cocktail, and a Beer.  Oh yes how sweet it is.  2nd a trip to the Museum of Mechanics on the wharf where they have coin operated games dating back to the mid 1800's that are just spectacular, almost all work and for 25 cents you can participate in history. 

 

Finally a walk down to Pier 39 and around the Harbor to check out all the sailboats we wished we owned.  This time we made one last stop at Ghiradelli square where just by the happenstance of getting a free parking spot near there we discovered on our way in and decided there's no way we'd miss it on the way out.  Besides polishing off the evening with a chocolate fudge sundae and hot chocoalte is absolutely necessary and the fact that it's made all out of Ghiradelli chocolate just makes it all that more enjoyable.

 

Jacob fell asleep on the ride back to the room, Kari and I real shortly after, Kari didn't sleep well the night before so she took some Tylenol PM and hit the sack.  The next morning we get things together and the Hospitality at the Howard Johnsons was great for a cheap room.  It was about a $90.00 room when you figure we had 2 tickets to the Winchester Mystery house thrown in.  The owner was the one working it, a nice Indian man who provided us with a broadband cord and extra towels when asked, again the parking situation was the best benefit, 3 feet from the room door, I love it.

 

This is the second time Kari and I have visited the Winchester house and the First for Jacob.  I wasn't sure how interested he would be in the tour aspect of the hosue but he was awe-struck over the tour.  He was right up front and listened to every word of the tour.  Kari said he does this a lot on tours and museums he has a passion for learning in this form so I'm glad we can provide him those opportunities.  Matter of fact the whole trip he's been asking to just go home and go to the San Bernardino County Musueum ecause bfore we left that was the first stop we made to get a California Gold Ticket and I told him that I would take him real soon.

 

The house is so much fun, if you are anywhere within an hour of you beaten path to San Jose you must stop by and take the 65 minute tour, it's not a long tour and comes with an options 20 to 30 minute walk around the garden, you won't be dissapointed.

 

We decided to go about 40 minutes out of our way back up towards San Francisco so we could catch the PCH above Santa Cruze off the 92, which is a Mountain road over the mountains.  Again we found a fruit stand and that replaced talk of Burger King for food, which makes me exstatic.  Also theywere selling freshly picked white sweet corn, I bought one to show Jacob you don't even have to cook it, just eat it right there.  He wasn't as excited as I nor did he have the taste for it, but it was all good for me.

 

This stretch of PCH reminds Kari of what she thinks teh Irish Coast would look like, I think most movies that are centered in Ireland were probably shot here so al of our western thoughts of that area stem from seeing our own California back yard.  The coast is beautiful, green covered cliffs to isolated unspoiled beaches, the whole area seems untouched by human hands with a few scattered Coast Side Farms growing Artichokes and other vegetables.  Jacob is getting tired of being in the car so we push on towards Monterey, stopping twice to try and pick up a California Gold Ticket, again with no luck, these suckers are harder than I thought.

 

Once we roll into Monterey we realize that not having a Hotel secured may be a mistake, it's the biggest week in the area with a big race being planned at Laguna Seca a local track. We hit up about a dozen places, either they were out of rooms or way too expensive.  I shot that we had at a budget room proved not there when we pulled up but got lucky at an America's Best Value Motel across the street.  Matter of fact right now we are relaxing about 7:30 pm in Monterey at the Dennis the Menace Park.  A kids play area designed by the artist that created Dennis the Menace.  It's really coool, Jacob is getting his car legs run out.

 

Looking forward to tomorrow, but soon we are headng down to the Wharf for Dinner, equally excited about that.

Vacation 101 Part 2

Pam and John's primary time share is located beachside in Carlsbad, CA.  We headed over there on Friday to take advantage of the amenities such as Free Boogie Boards, Beach Chairs, Umbrellas etc...  It's a nice resort but the benefit to them as John explained to me is that since it's right on the beach it trades well and they are able to take advantage of some upgraded rooms pretty much anywhere in the world because their's is so desired.  Nice.

 

I'm not much of a beach person but once John and I settled down and tapped into our twelve pack the beach got a bit more fun.  The kids were having a blast of course, the beach was perfect.  About 70 degree's water about 65 and the sand warm but not so hot you can't wlk on it.  John and I eventually were required to get into the water as the Bud Lights had finally perculated and were ready to be tapped.  Soon after this we found ourselves drawn to the gentle 3 to 4 foot swells that rolled into the beach.  We talked the kids out o the boogie boards and found that we still enjoyed the simpler things like riding a wave into shore.

 

I mention the beach was perfect.  when I say that I mean that the beach gently rolled out into the waves and the kids could touch all the way out to the swell line.  The waves broke twice once for the boogie boarders and few amateur surfers in the water and then again for the kids near shore so all could have a good time.  There wasn't one single rock to be found sticking out of the sand.  The kids could dig a hole just out of the surf or bury themselves under piles of cools sand.

 

All this time our wives had been partaking in the favorite sport of the opposit sex, shopping.  Finally came buy with fortunately only slightly lighter walltes and more stuff to haul back to the cars.  After the beach we headed up to the resort and jumped into the more controlled and less sandy environment of the pool to cool off and get all the sand out of the tight spots. 

 

That night we BBQ'd up some chicken and relaxed to get ready for our new destinations the next day.  The Lane's were heading home at the end of their vacation and ours was realy just starting.  Our plans, are 'as few plans as possible'.  I've written before that Kari and I like to jump in the car and go for drives and our meandering journey up the coast is just about to get started.

 

We are playing a little game along the way, I found a website sponsored by the state of California that has you go get Treasure Keys from numerous destinations and when they are logged into the website you may win prizes or get discounts off hotels.  We are hoping to get enough to get a free stay in San Diego in the next couple of months.  Our first jump out was Oceanside's Visitor Center and along the way we got delayed by a Parade of all tpes of fire trucks that were barrelling through the streets of Oceanside for no apparent reason except to amuse us.

 

The next stop is Dana Point and the Oceanic Institute http://www.ocean-institute.org/.  This is a Maritime and Biological preserve and museum that has many camps and tours available through out the year. I've looked up information online before because they have two pre-twentieth century tall ships that they offer tours and excursions on for kids.  We're planning on a couple of the excursions for Jacob, I hope one of them can include me because I really want to get on a tall ship and sail it around.  Matter of fact the Tall Ship festival will be in Dana Point September 8 & 9 and they will have a real Cannon Battle out in the ocean, I am trying to get on board one of the ships as a crew member.  For more information go to http://tallshipsfestival.com/index2.html.

 

From Dana Point we picked up a key at the Laguna Beach Art Museum and after fighting traffic down there on a Saturday in the middle of the festival we decided that we would skip others and just cruise along PCH up past the beaches, it's a beautiful Saturday and all the parking lots are full at this point (around 1:00). One of the neatest places we pushed through though was Belmont Short.  I've heard of it before but never been there.  It's a quaint little area jam packed with unique shops, coffee houses, small niche restuarants, and the standard touristy novelty shops.  Unable to break free of the congestion we gave in and jumped on the 710 N at long Beach and too that up past San Pedro and didn't get ack on the 1 until the 10 merged onto in in Santa Monica. 

 

On through Malibu we are coming to some of the most beautiful coastline California has to offer.  The 27 miles of Malibu's coast is spotted with homes but mostly left open to the natural beaches and coastline that draws people to California from all over the world.  Past Oxnard the towns shrink and just out of the a little town called Carpenteria we stop suddenly or the hand painted signs of a makeshift fruit stand.  One of road trips simple pleasures a sampling of local fruits is better than the Ice Cream we got back in Malibu.  Well, maybe not considering I got Thrifty Brands Chocolate Caramel Crunch, over Mint Chip on a waffle cone, sorry Sis, but I didn't move to Arkansas, you did.

 

Beauty is everywhere as long as you're not in a hurry.  That must be our motto on road trips Kari and I are fascinated and excited with every opportunity to take a new path or see what's around the corner, even if that corner is taking us out of our way.  We are in no hurry just overpowered by the urge to take in every new memory we can. On that note Kari takes us off the coast past Santa Barbara on the 154, we've decided to stay the night in Santa Maria where I'm writing this now and the 154 takes us inland a bit.  How were we to know that it would take us into yet another world.

 

The 154 leaves the coast and goes just inland into the Sant Ynez valley.  It is just incredible, rolling hills of grassland with spotted natural trees throughout the area.  Most of the area appears to be used for free range cattle and horses to graze upon with a few spotted ranches here and there.  We come upon Lake Cachuma and have found another place we'd like to come back and spend more time.  The lake is larger than it appears on the map with plenty of room for boating and camping in one of the most scenice valleys I've ever been in.  Theres local Horseback Riding and I'm sure there's some ranch tours and of cours just north of here are the famous Santa Ynez Vineyards, where you can go for wine tasting, and tours.  If you get board or hundry you can go around the corner to Solvang, not a stop for us on this trip but one we've frequented many times in the past and we always enjoy.

 

Finally we arrive at Santa Maria, and we've booked a Motel for just $88.00 here called Town and Country Inn.  Not the Ritz but we are on a budget and just trying to save money to spend on more fun things.  I like Motel's anyway.  They are always unique.  I mean the #1 benefit of a Motel is parking.  Where else can you pull right up to your room unload your things and do the same in the morning.  For $88.00 we got that, two beds a tv with HBO free internet a microwae, fridge and A/C, although you had to choose, you couldn't run the fridge, the microwave and the A/C all at one time they shared a regular two plug outlet so you had to unplug one to use the other.

 

Today we are heading up to San Francisco I can't wait to pick up something new for my brain catalog.  Look for pics real soon.

Vacation 101

I'm not real good at vacations.  They are expensive always on someone else's terms and never seem real.  I guess it's because as a child all of our vacations were going to see family who had moved away.  A perfect example are the endless vacations we took in Zion National park, my Aunt (mother's sister) and husband had purchased a small Motel and MiniMart when I was about 7 and we spentat least one vacation a year going to the area just south of Zion called Springdale. 

 

Eventually my Grandparents moved to the area also leading more fervently to that area on vacations.  This has been engrained so much into my vacation habits that since Kari and I have been together at least 3 out of the last 10 years we've gone on vacation in that area and almost every year including this week I tried to get Kari to go back.  Truthfully I love the idea that all there really is to do is to go hiking, biking or horseback riding in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Instead we have started a meandoring journey through another beautiful area, our home state of California.

 

It really is starting off well, we crashed Kari's Sister's vacation at her time share at a resort like place called Pacific Palisades in Carlesbad.  As I'm writing this I have a non maliced view of the pacific ocean on one of the coasts many beautiful mornings.  I can tell it's going to be an awesome day at 9:00 the whole area was already clear of any overcast and a gentle breeze started up to ensure it won't get too hot.  We are planning a trip to a private beach that is associated with Pam's (Kari's Sister's) Timeshare and the rest is up in the air.

 

Yesterday we went sailing in Mission Bay.  We had a great day and Pam commented that it was probably the second best day we have ever had.  The latter was almost exactly 3 1/2 years ago in January when we took a boat out of Dana Point up to Newsport and a school of not less than 500 dolphins surrounded the boat and played with us.  It's a emory that I will truly never forget.  Mission bay is beautiful when it wants to be, another fantastic day we went out at 10:00am and the morning overcast had already burned off in spite of the weather reports, as if to warn us that we better be prepared to take in a great time.

 

We sailed into the bay under full sails but everyone was more interested in just putting around and hanging out on deck ad didn't wasnt to put forth the ffort of having to working the sails in such a small area.  So we furled the jib and I ran the boat purely on the main so everyone could just do what they wanted.  We ate lunch on the boat and cruised by the back of seaworld just n time to see part of the their Cirque de Soleil water show.  It was fun for me to hang out and set the sails so that we could stay in one very small area and watch the show.  Next we decided since everyone was doing well we'd go out into the ocean. 

 

We tacked out of the bay and put up the Jib again, got out very well and had a small encounter with a group of young adults that were partying on a small 25ft sloop called Tortuga (they had handpainted the side it looked like 5 minutes ago).  Matter of fact the thing had barnacls all along the bottom, was not rigged quite right and looked as if they had just bought it in a salvage auction for $50.00.  It obviously didn't matter to them, they were there for the party.  On the way out we passsed them easily, and went out about 2 miles and when we came back in they weren't much further and obviously a little more inebriated and less clothed. 

 

The kids had taken to playing downstairs in the Bow and we wanted to see if any of them would get sick, since we were nearing the end of our planned sail it wouldn't be too bad if one of them got sick.  The kids all did pretty well and after we got to open ocean came up so they could ride the stern settee's in the swells which is always fun.

 

The boat we took out was a Catalina 250, a great boat with a lot of room in inside for such a small boat, it would sleep 5 or 6 pretty comfotable if she had to, and  the topside had two stern rail seatee's which the kids just loved. She handled pretty well considering she was a rudder boat, but she was slow, mostly due to the fact that the Jib was not secured properly on the downhaul.  It looks like it broke at some point and that whoever repaired it just loosely tied it up.  I didn't find this out until we got back because nobody felt comfortable taking over the tiller so I could go up and look at it, wouldn't have mattered I really didn't have the equipment necessary to fix it.

 

We met John (Pam's husband) in Old Town San Diego, had some beers and tequila shots and took the kids through the historical museum's offered there free.  We've been down there several times but every time we go I see or do something new.  It's a great little historical area, surrounded by a lot of little stores and novelty restaurants, you can get some cheap food and cheap memoribilia or you can spend 5k on a painting.  Up to you.  We had dinner at the Coyote Cafe and Bar where they serve freshly made tortilla's right on the street.  Two more beers and a Tequila shot and the activities of the day are REALLY wearing on me.  On the way back to Pacific Palisades we go to the store to pick up some supplies for our days ahead and when we get back I crash on the bed for a bit before heading ot the pool.

 

I am looking forward to the days ahead, no real plan, we want to head up the coast, we have earmarked some cheap hotels along the way and I got a few activities we are going to try and hit.  We've taken this trip before about 9 1/2 years ago and since it's Madison's 10th birday we thought we may take it again.  But that's in another story.

 

Tim