Vacation

We are back from California and it was wonderful. We had a hotel right on the beach in Monterey, but it turned out to be too cold to really enjoy beach activities. The high temps were in the low 60's and very breezy. The first night we just walked the beach and had a simple dinner. The next day, we decided to take the 17 Mile Drive. This is a toll road that goes through Pebble Beach. It is very scenic and has lots of places to get out and look around. Turned out to be a beautiful and relaxing day. Afterwords, we checked out the beautiful beach at Carmel and walked around town. Carmel is simply charming-I'd love to go back. Back to Monterey for a romantic Italian dinner on the Wharf. We were up early the next morning for our whale watching adventure. We dressed warm-a t-shirt, sweater, fleece jacket, and another thicker fleece lined waterproof windbreaker we picked up in Carmel. We also were sure to take our Dramamine. I was thankful for both! The whale watching tour took 5 hours. We expected to see humpback and blue whales and perhaps an orca moving through. Turns out that orcas were in the area that day hunting, so the rest of the wildlife made themselves scarce. Besides the orcas, we did see some dolphins, albatross, and a few other sea birds. On the return trip we did spot a couple of blue whales. Went back and soaked in the hot tub for a long time and then needed a nap. There was a beach wedding at the hotel that night-very romantic and beautiful. The next morning I got up and walked the beach. Gathered some sea glass as a souvenir. As we were checking out, the cloud cover finally began to break up and the sun was shining. It was supposed to be a gorgeous day-of course! We took the scenic route up through the mountains to San Jose. Stopped in Big Basin State Park and hiked through the amazing redwoods. You really can't begin to imagine how large those trees can be until you see them up close and in person. Made it to San Jose in time to freshen up and attend a reception. In the past I was always welcome, but this year I had to pay $75. Jim figured there would be lots of wine to sample for that price! What a waste of money-two wines and four appetizers (two of which were seafood, and I don't like seafood). There is usually enough that it covers us for dinner that first night, but not this time! The next day, while Jim was in his conference, I walked around San Jose and sat at the pool. We had a fantastic Mexican dinner that night. Very different Mexican-from the Oxacan region. Delicious mole sauces. The next day a couple of other wives and I drove to the Winchester Mystery House. I think from what I learned, Sarah Winchester must have been mentally ill and she wound up living a very fearful, sad, wasted life. Her husband and only daughter died and she inherited the Winchester fortune. She began to consult mediums who told her the spirits were angry with her and she must move west and build on a house to appease them. So she did, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for 28 years. She would hold a seance every night and build whatever the spirits told her to build-so there are many unusual features to the house. We went back to our hotel and decided to walk to Japan town-a 5 block walk. It was more like 10 blocks and not worth the walk, so we took the trolley back to the hotel. Another new experience! That night we enjoyed another delicious dinner-southern cuisine. Jim had some sweet potato grits that were to die for! The next day I decided to go to a movie and I spent the afternoon reading and sunning myself at the pool. We went to dinner with a couple of other guys from the conference at a Cuban place. Very authentic and excellent! Good thing I only eat twice a day and do a lot of walking when we take these trips! Jim got done with the conference early the next day and we went to a free outdoor concert in the park. It was a great place to people watch, if you know what I mean! It was also very enlightening to watch how many people needed to take their "medicine" while at the concert. Medicinal marijuana is legal in CA, but I never thought that people would be doing it in a public place surrounded by police, and that would be ok because they had a "prescription"!

On the home front-Nate did not pass his classes and will not be going to college in the fall. Noah hurt his ankle/knee at the lake while we were gone. Still waiting to see if it will heal up on it's own or if something more needs to be done. My dog's infection finally cleared up, but we boarded her while we were gone and now she has another infection. Jim has several other trips he has to take for work this month-so much for camping! And finally, we had new gutters installed on the house. Not exciting, but it needed to be done and looks so much better. So what is new with all of you?