HOORAY WE ARE LEAVING L.A. !
The last week in April we got to take a little trip . It's been 5 years at least since Tom and I got to take a break from here. I finally have an assistant that can work on the weekends and was available to us during the week , so we started making plans to get out of town . We really wanted to go home and visit everyone along the way . That didn't happen . We would of had to take two weeks off , one for driving, ( driving instead of flying because of all our pets to take with us ) and one week for visiting. We couldn't take that much time off right now . It would have been fun . I miss seeing everyone and it would of been great to have a little family reunion . We would like to try again in the fall , maybe at toward the end of October before the Thanksgiving holiday traffic rush ...what do you guys have planned around then?
And speaking of traffic .... I took the picture up top that just doesn't do it justice of how many darn cars there are on the freeways!!!! MILLIONS !! Where we live we don't have to get on the freeways , so I'm not use to it even after living 20 years in California . I hate it !! We left early on Friday afternoon , thinking we would beat the after work crush but if this is light traffic I'd hate to be in the other stuff !!!!!!! Brother !! We came home on Sunday so I am glad we didn't run into any traffic coming home . I'm surprise people can get anywhere around here . It took us a couple longer to get just to Santa Barbara .
Now mind you we usually make our own coffee drinks at home on the cheap ,which we did this morning, but because the trip was taking so long we wanted to stop in Oxnard or Camarillo for some good old Starbucks ... WE couldn't find one !!! So of course that made us want one even more !!! What no Starbacks????? We couldn't find anything ..... so back on the freeway headed for S.B. and of course when we got there , of course there was a Starbucks on at least one corner on every corner in a 4 block area.
We were saved !!!
Revived we continued to Santa Marie , where we planned to spend the night .
Now at least the traffic isn't so bad and the scenery is getting much better.
I need a better camera or at least learn how to take better pictures from a moving car ... let alone take a picture standing still , as you will see in the rest of our trip.
Our room in Santa Maria was great . It was like a one bedroom apt ...
(notice the Starbucks cup in the photo...hee hee)
It was really nice to have peace and quiet... little to cool to go swimming , but made a nice backdrop.
Our trip was taking us to a vintage and artist show in Nipoma, CA. central valley where there are orchards and farms everywhere... It was the prefect time of year to go . Everything was green and the smell of all the flowers, from orange blossoms, to all the wild flowers, the air smelt like you had walked into a florist.
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I got to met the girls!
and got them to sign my book .... it was alot of fun , and I think Tom got a hint of why I love to recycle stuff !
Early morning the fog is still hanging around , but that buried off quickly and the afternoon was great.
They were not kidding we were in the middle of an orange orchard ... I was in heaven.
There was about 40 of the country artist /designers there ..
This is Sue signing my book ....
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She was also teaching classes on making your own fairy gardens with stuff you have around the house .Cute huh !
Here a better picture of her getting ready for one of here classes! Hi Sue !!
Tom even got into the fun and found a great little chair to refinish.
I love all the cool stuff you can find !
some of the new glass wrapped tag jewelry
If you see any of these lights around the barn , grab them , they were hot at the show and some went for hundreds of $$$$
Best cupcakes I've ever tasted. MY and her mom make them fresh everyday and aprons too.
Amy the cuppcake lady, know the valley over !
beautiful flowers everywhere!
bye bye for now !
I love all the country side !
We headed up north through vineyards and more orchards to Cambria, Ca.
In the morning we'll be going to the Hearst Castle.
It was a funny fireplace . They only use a duralogs ..
we were sorry we lit it .. about 3 in the morning it was shocking me with the smell and smoke ..
what a bummer ! It's funny now but sure wasn't at the time .
The lodge was really cute.
The Lodge has it's own organic gardens.
Honey ! Can you build me one of these?? !!
OH my gosh ...the food on our trip was just amazing !
I think this is the first time I have had grass fed beef and it was grilled with red oak . It does have a different taste ,but it did eat amazing . Even though I have not broken the habit of eating meat yet ... I must say this was the best meat I can remember eating ... I can see why we like it !
There is nothing like fresh picked food ! from field to mouth ... yumo !!!
After a rough nights sleep, in the morning the fresh air outside and the cool morning
was great . The gardens around the lodge were just beautiful.
The lodge gardens had the cutest bird houses.
Time for some coffee and breakfast and wake up some ! Got a big day ahead !
We had about an hour to hang out til we headed up to the castle so we went to Moonstone Beach.
mental note : Don't look into sun when taking pictures !!!!
This sand is known to have what are called moonstones. We find small really small ones.
You can see through them .
" Alright already, enough with taking pictures of me ."
We are off to the castle !
We're here ! I can't wait !!
It is so beautiful !!! And big !
These pictures at the castle just do not do justices to the beauty and history. It really was a once in a life time experience. I just couldn't take enough pictures to show you everything. Please go on line and read about the history of this amazing place ! We only went one one tour , but I understand there are about 4 tours just so you can read it all . I want to go back ! We watched the movie they have afterwards about the history of this place and the family . Today it is still used as a cattle ranch .
and there's an indoor pool underneath the tennis courts? ! wow!
They have a bus to take you up to 1200 ft to the top where the castle is and then back down ....
Bye Bye .. we would like to come back and take some of the other different tours ..
What an amazing place . For the time period , it is just amazing how they ever did all that ! How beautiful !
On the Road again !
Time to go home ... moving car ... bumpy ..bad picture ..
the little stone bunny I bought at the show for my garden sitting on Tom's shoulder.
wild mustard is everywhere !
Bye northern California , we'll be back !
PART 2
We were lucky Sunday evening as there was no traffic, just green rowing hills ,lots of beautiful farms and more flowers and a beautiful sun set all the way home .
Since our neighbor could only watch our dogs over the weekend our original plans were to just relax and regroup on Monday and maybe plan a couple of day trips to Pasadena and/ or Disneyland ... and again just chill on Friday. Tom had practice on Saturday and we were now due to watch our neighbors 2 dogs in exchange for the weekend.
Apparently Baby our youngest doggie was misbehaving and bothering my office door , which is attached to our apartment. She probably thought I was in there... anyway we felt sorry for the pets and changed our plans and started looking for a place we could take the dogs with us . Jeff our neighbor could still watch the birds and fish at night and we wouldn't have to worry about Bella and Baby !
We didn't want to stay home cause that would mean the vacation over and we weren't ready for that !!
So we rested some and caught up on the housework and rested some more and searched the web and came across a great place , Temecula , Ca .. only a short difference away but looks like lots of fun !
We got lucky , and with April still off season prices were cheap.
We had always wanted to go more south. This is an area with farms , horses, vineyards ... I especially wanted to check out a gourd farm down there since Jeanine and I like creating with them , it would be fun to see the artist .... and then maybe cross over the hills and then backup along the beach cities all the way back home . It's only a couple of hours each way . We packed Tuesday morning and we were off again .
So here we go ... I wouldn't put any traffic pictures up , you already know that nightmare.
TEMECULA, CA.
Temecula is know for their hot balloon festivals in the summer
and grapes and horses all year round .
and lots of golf .. This is Temecula Creek Inn where we got to stay !!
They gave us a lower corner unit overlooking the golf course and a private patio that we really enjoyed . The breeze was just perfect for taking a nice nap outside under the trees. I discovered , that is what I miss the most . Being out side in the fresh air ! We are always working , and even though we are in and out all day , it's not the same as being out in the yard relaxing !
Nice !
We went to Wilson Winery
We were the last ones in and had a chance to meet the owner and his son and ask them questions about growing grapes. The soil is so dry here , yet the grapes go great !
By breakfast we had the place to our selves. It was great talking with the staff and watching the golfers.
Again the food was just wonderful !
We went shopping in all the little shops in old town Temecula .
We had the Filet Tip Stroganoff and Ribeye , yumo and double yumo !
Being the off season wasn't much going on downtown on a week day night ...
so we called it a night .
In the morning we were already to head out and visit Fallbrook and the Gourd Farm , but our truck wouldn't stay on . It kept cutting out ..OH NO !! Nothing like car trouble in a strange place... we didn't know where any repairs shops were and you never know which ones are any good ..
Lucky for us , Tom figured out that with tightening the idle screw it started to run like normal .
But I was still nervous , what could be causing this . We had never had trouble with our car .
So we decided not the try going to the gourd farm and just head off to the coast so we go get home early just in case we still ended up with car trouble .
Bye bye Fallbrook , may be next time !
Lucette Moramarco photo - The Santa Margarita River flows from Temecula to the ocean, the last free-flowing coastal river in Southern California.
Oceanside, CA.
Laguna Beach ,CA
We rode the ferry to Newport 's Balboa Island
Belmont Shores, is part of Long Beach ,CA which is about 10 miles away
from where we live on the other side of the bridge and hills of Palos Verdes
We ended our trip with some great mexican food and headed on home.
This is a wild picture that captures so many things at once...
you have long beach... queen mary ship... the shipyards cranes look like monsters
sticking up ... the ocean and P. V. in the back ground.
Then you have the St Thomas Bridge to over ...it's so big and high !!!
The cruise ships some in here...
The bridge looks so cool at night .
This is P. V. form the sky .. see the dark tree line...
all the way to the left is about where we live. We are about 1.5 miles from the beach .
We have our own private airport..
May be because of all the aerospace companies around here we have alot of retired pilots
and the blimp is over in Carson..
One of the girls at the main office recently got to take a trip on the blimp . Her husband works at the Torrance airport.
and we have our own beaches too !
Nice ending to our trip!
Back to work on Monday !
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