California Dreaming (Part 3)

Carmel-By-The-Sea

It's a wonderful vacation that takes you from the city, to the mountains, to the sea in the span of a week! After enjoying Yosemite, we headed out for Carmel and the best part was the drive!!

The drive from Yosemite Valley descends into the Salinas Valley passing through rolling foothills that from a distance seem mown and manicured. They are charming!

California is know as the "salad bowl of the world" and driving through the Salinas Valley helps you understand why!

We passed miles and miles of lettuce, strawberries, almonds, plums, spinach, broccoli, and on and on and on!!! Farming on a scale that is hard to imagine, but beautiful to behold! My husband, James, had always said that the thing that impressed him most about this part of California was how they farm right next to the beaches and as we drove along ogling the artichokes, Dad said, "Look! It's the Pacific!" We had arrived at the coast!

At this point, we diverted to the famed 17 Mile Drive, a scenic coast-hugging route through the communities of Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. This included Pebble Beach Golf Club. Dad was in heaven!

Really beautiful! Really cold!

Scoping out the sea lions.

One of the Pebble Beach greens

Impressive golf views!

Dose of reality!!

One of the iconic sights on the 17 Mile Drive is the Lone Cypress. By the way, the 17 Mile Drive is owned by Clint Eastwood.

After enjoying all of these sights, we drove into quaint town of Carmel, known for its precious cottages, restaurants, shopping, and of course, beach.

Our hotel

My favorite part of the hotel

Breakfast on the porch

After breakfast, Dad took us to a place he had discovered on his early morning walk. It was the Methodist church, Church of the Wayfarer. The church's garden was spectacular!!!

Then it was off to do some wine tasting. Again, June had hooked us up with a guide who taught us more about wine than we ever imagined there was to know.

But the main thing I learned about wine tasting and, in particular , wine buying, was THINK ABOUT HOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT HOME! So I thought I would include my personal guide for that situation.

A RUBE'S GUIDE TO BRINGING HOME WINE FROM YOUR CALIFORNIA VACA

Option 1:  Spend more than you did on the wine to ship it home.
Option 2:  Gamble on ruining your clothes by stuffing the bottles in your suitcase.
Option 3:  Buy wine shipping boxes at UPS and check the boxes at the airport.
Option 4:  Don't buy wine.

We opted for #3, however, when we got to the local UPS store it was closed and wouldn't open again until we were back in the deep south (where no one would be able to tell the difference between our fancy California wine and a bottle of Sutter Home, but that's beside the point). So no boxes. The concierge at our hotel couldn't help us either. As we walked to dinner that evening pondering our dilemma, Carole and I passed a dumpster full of broken down boxes tucked discretely behind an upscale boutique. Some of the boxes looked like they would hold wine bottles, but a blistering look from Jamie made us resist our natural southern instincts. Instead, we turned on the southern charm (and accents) at the restaurant, thus winning over our waiter who, in the end, happily supplied us with shipping boxes. We taped them together to create one box and were only charged $35 at the airport. What's a trip without a story?!

One of our best memories from Carmel is taking Dad to dinner at The Bench, a Pebble Beach golf club restaurant that overlooks the 18th hole.

Bread Balloon

Our favorite hors d'oeuvre of the trip thanks to Carole, who is more adventurous than the rest of us.

You are looking at a putting green inside an area surrounded by restaurants and shops. Cuttings from shrubs, stems of flowers, bare branches, and string had been added to create what we could only surmise was Pebble Beach putt putt golf.

Poor ol' rich folks - not one windmill or gnome.

It was a wonderful vacation filled with invaluable family memories!!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. 

~Seneca

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Having a place to go — is a home.

Having someone to love — is a family.

Having both — is a blessing.

~Donna Hedges

California Dreaming (Part 2)

Yosemite

This was a great two days!!!!

Of course any day in a National Park is a great day!!

Here is what the Yosemite site says about the park...

Not just a great valley, but a shrine to human foresight, the strength of granite, the power of glaciers, the persistence of life, and the tranquility of the High Sierra.

First protected in 1864, Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much more.

I took this picture!! With my phone!!!

We had all been to Yellowstone and were curious to see how Yosemite compared. I guess the thing that surprised me most was that Yosemite is a valley, an awe-inspiring, breathtaking valley. I had taught earth science units on U-shaped valleys carved out by ancient glaciers that scraped out softer sedimentary rock leaving behind harder material like granite, but it was just amazing to be standing in such a valley!!

This one, too!!

Yosemite's famous Half Dome.

The other surprise that Yosemite held for me was the beauty of the valley itself.

Dogwoods!!

The Magestic Yosemite Hotel

Dad's favorite features were the waterfalls, rushing river, and Honey.

As you can imagine, Yosemite has a rich rock-climbing history. We were able to spot climbers on the face of the mountains. They looked smaller than ants!

And speaking of small, here are my parents and sister standing at the base of a YOUNG sequoia.

My family is standing at the left-hand side of the trunk. We were unable to visit the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias as it was closed for restoration, but this "baby"in the valley was pretty impressive! Its age is estimated at 200 years where as the Mariposa sequoias are estimated to be 3,000 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We didn't just visit Yosemite, we were educated on Yosemite. June, our travel agent, arranged for a naturalist to spend the day with us as we explored the park. Andrea shared the history of the park, the geology, the wildlife, and so much more!! It wouldn't have been the same without her!

James and I watch Jeopardy every night to keep our minds sharp. Of course your mind has to be sharp in the first place, which in James' case is true. I should say that I watch Jeopardy to sharpen my mind. In any case, the fact is, I rarely beat him on any question, but I pinned him to the mat when I returned home and this picture came up on an episode!! It's a bear trap!! Thank you, Andrea!

Needless to say, it was hard to leave...

Love ya'll,

Shelli

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods…and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.”

– President Theodore Roosevelt, 1905

“It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter.”

– John Muir, 1868.

“This is the magic of Yosemite: It forges heroes. No matter where they come from, from the Alps to the Andes, all self-respecting rock climbers yearn to make a pilgrimage to “the valley” to measure themselves against its giants…To climb here is a rite of passage.”

– Mark Jenkins, 2011.

“A passage of scripture is written on every cliff.”

– Thomas Starr King, 1860.

California Dreaming (Part1)

We are back home and living off memories of a wonderful trip together!

My sister, Carole, hooked us up with a travel agent from Brownell Travel in Mobile. Her name is June Griffith and she is our favorite person!! June has a knack for planning the perfect trip based on your time frame and interests, not to mention she is just a phone call away in case you run into trouble or want to make a change to your itinerary.

Here is the trip she planned for us broken down into three parts:

San Francisco

June arranged our flights to San Francisco and our rental car. We arrived around noon on the first day, and drove to our hotel on Nob Hill. This location put us right in the middle of historic neighborhoods, parks, churches, shopping,  and restaurants. We were able to enjoy Grace Episcopal Church, Huntington Park, street cars passing right in front of our hotel, and beautiful views of the bay. Now if we had been planning our own trip, we could have spent hours trying to choose the right spot and making the reservations. It is just so great to let June send you an itinerary based on your discussion with her!

Huntington Park

Grace Episcopal

https://www.gracecathedral.org/

Katherine, check out the yoga!!

 June arranged for a tour of the city that afternoon. We met Sean, our guide, in the lobby and he whisked us away to see the sights. You know how when you travel on your own, you drive by so many cool things and say, "Wow, I wonder what that is?" Well not only did we not worry about navigating the city, but every question we had was answered by Sean while he also gave us the history of California and San Francisco.  Everywhere he drove us, he asked if we wanted to get out and spend time there or if driving through was enough. Picking up on our "Oohs and Ahas" over the landscaping, he stopped by a small public park for us to take pictures. Honey and I enjoy the horticultural sights as much as the historical!

And the whole time, Dad was is the front seat asking a zillion questions with Sean answering every one. Perfect!!

Chinatown

The Bay Bridge

and

evidence that a large portion of San Francisco was built on landfill after the 1906 earthquake and fire. 

Those roller coaster streets!

Lombard Street, the "most crooked street in the world".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street_(San_Francisco)

One of the buildings built for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939.

The next morning, Sean met us in the lobby and off we went over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods.

https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

Muir Woods is an old-growth coastal redwood forest located twelve miles north of San Francisco. It is part of the National Park Service and named after naturalist John Muir. Time slows down as you walk into the company of trees that are 500 to 1,000 years old.

Some of the Return of the Jedi background shots for the planet Endor were taken in Muir Woods

Then it was on to Sausalito, a seaside community surrounded by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where we ate lunch and did some shopping. I was surprised to find that I hadn't taken even one picture in Sausalito, but here are a couple from Wikipedia.

On the way back to the hotel, Sean drove Dad by all the old World War II barracks and landmarks, giving him a West Coast perspective on that time period. Sean had tuned into my father's history interests and modified our tour accordingly- how awesome!!

The next day we left San Francisco for Yosemite; more on that tomorrow!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

-Mark Twain

I don't know of any other city where you can walk through so many culturally diverse neighborhoods, and you're never out of sight of the wild woods.
Nature is very close here.

-Gary Snyder

The Golden Gate Bridge's daily strip tease from enveloping stoles of mist to full frontal glory is still the most provocative show in town.

-Mary Moore Mason

The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about Heaven while I'm here.

-Billy Graham

Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart.
You want to linger as long as you can.

-Walter Cronkite

Sunday Schoolisms #5: Prevenient Grace

Prevenient grace is the idea that God is working in our lives before we are aware of it. Every move we make toward God is in response to something God has already done in us.

....when we understand that God's love precedes us in everything we do, living by God's commands become an act of gratitude.

...this is not something for us to be proud of, but something for us to be grateful for.

                                                                                                   Sarah McGiverin

                                                                                                   Uniform Series: International

                                                                                                    Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching

California

My sisters and I have taken our parents to California!!

James is holding down the fort while we're gone, that means house remodeling decisions :-o Yikes!!

See you when we return...

Love ya'll,

Shelli

Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need.

~Author Unknown

I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on. 

~Jean Kerr

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. 

~Mark Twain

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. 

~Lin Yutang

Discovery!!

As I have said before, a whole lot of Pine Cone Lane is covered in leaves- brown, dead leaves!! Two years worth of  piled-up leaves! But underneath those leaves are all kinds of discoveries.

When James tried to stick a hook for a bird feeder down into the ground, he realized there was rock below the leaves. And sure enough...

Now every gardener understands the need to have a "spot", a tranquil place where they can sit and commune with nature. In their spot they find peace and regeneration. Uncovering the stones surrounding this tree and ferns was the impetus for the first garden here at Pine Cone Lane. This shady spot with morning sun called for caladiums and impatiens. A quick trip to Lowes for flowers and to the storage building for stained glass, and I had set up a "spot" for us right off the back porch. It is a place where we can literally, and figuratively,  turn our backs on the house, take a deep breath, and relax and recharge.

I don't know if all gardeners name their gardens, but for whatever reason, I do. Maybe it's because I love each of them so! This first, small space will be the White Garden and look who has the place of honor, Moses!!

He has wandered from Louisiana to Mississippi, to another Promised Land.

Love ya'll,

Shelli

How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.

~Benjamin Disraeli

The garden is the poor man's apothecary.

~German Proverb

Now the man Moses was very meek,
more than all the people who were on the face of the Earth.
Numbers 12:3

Sunday Schoolism #4: The Holy Spirit

He originates and sustains all good.

All His works are good to the highest degree. He suggests good thoughts, prompts good actions, reveals good truths, applies good promises, assists in good attainments, and leads to good results.

All the spiritual good in the world originates and is sustained by Him.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon