Three Days Shy of a Month ©

Five thousand miles, four states and twenty cities--
 On the Road Again!  

Summer is here once again and the desert has heated up.  The Monsoon Season has filled the skies with clouds, which create the humidity along with the high temperatures that produce lightning and thunder storms, which in turn create dramatic drops in temperatures with heavy rains--if they come.   But as the rains stop so do the cool low temperatures and the desert returns to hot and humid.

So it is time to get out of Dodge!

The first stop is only a short drive through the desert to Palm Springs, and to our surprise when we leave the next morning the temperatures are unseasonably cool--we have already accomplished an important element of the road trip!


We leave early to avoid the afternoon rush hour traffic of the LA area and to our delight the timing is good and we breeze through the Los Angeles area.  This gives us plenty of time to stop in Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Library.  The Ronald Wilson Reagan Library is the largest of the twelve federally operated presidential libraries, and is his final resting place--the address is 40 Presidential Drive in honor of our 40th president.

The second stop is Santa Barbara, California.  The downtown courthouse has the best view in all of Santa Barbara when the skies are clear and sunny.

We have two nights at the Bath Street Inn, with lots of walking around the city to stretch, bend and lubricate the old bones, muscles and ligaments of the old skeletal system after 442 miles of driving!

We move on to Santa Rosa, where the next four days go by too quickly--the temperatures are in the mid 90's but it cools way down in the evenings!

We enjoy rides through the wine country, touring the wineries with flower and sculpture gardens, walking the beach and watching the birds!

We hike the trail above the ocean, and working our way down to Shell Beach to walk on the sand and do some beach combing.

One of our favorite restaurants outside of Santa Rosa (actually across the street from the Fairmont Hotel in Sonoma) located in the small town of Boyes Hot Springs.  El Molino Central sells what they call Mexican street food, and had only four tables outside with a one two-top inside when we first started going, but the very small building now has doubled the seating!  When in the area stop by and savor this Mexican street food: Enchiladas Suizas are oh so good!

We re-visit the Jack London State Park because it is a beautiful place to explore and learn more about the property and the life of Jack London.  

Jack London's Beauty Ranch near Santa Rosa, CA is 1,400 acres on Sonoma Mountain in Glen Ellen.   The ranch was created by Mr. London as a work place, to surround himself with nature, entertain friends and to practice his methods of sustainable farming.  The cottage on Beauty Ranch was the home of Jack and his wife, Charmian, and was where Jack London worked and died.

The Pacific Northwest

We drive on and on--it takes us two more days to arrive in Edmonds, Washington for our visit with the DK's.  Plans are made and we are off to downtown Seattle to see the new Chihuly Garden and Glass and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.






Color, Color, Color




"Elevation Meets Inspiration,"the Space Needle (take a ride 520 feet up with a 360 degree view waiting at the top for you) and the Chihuly Garden and Glass (take a look at Dale Chihuly series of work, eight galleries, a forty foot glasshouse and lush and vibrant gardens).

Friends being silly and having fun!

It is a great day in downtown Seattle, playing tourist and exploring the new exhibits around town.  No jackets, no umbrellas, no clouds, no rain! Eighty degrees and delightful!



The Gates Foundation's "Grand Challenges," is a unique grant program rewiring innovative ideas.  Great ideas can come from anywhere--to learn more about innovative projects, current grant opportunities and details on how to apply, visit www.grandchallenges.org

The Wall of Visitors is waiting for you!  We are told that the pictures taken stay around for a while and show up on the wall from time to time.  So if anyone is visiting remember to get your picture taken for The Wall of Visitors and watch for ours!

We are on the move again but only a few miles south on the I-5.  We arrive in Bellevue, Washington, not realizing that the Bellevue Art Fair is happening this very week-end.  Bellevue is busy enough without the extra 100,000 people!  We make the best of it and spend most of our time out of the downtown area visiting with family.  We get our first home cooked dinner and celebrate two birthdays!  A day later to our surprise we have a bonus--one more home cooked dinner along with games.

This year the game is, "Ticket to Ride"--we have gotten most of the kids hooked--they now own the game, too!




One evening we take in a ballgame--the Seattle Mariners vs the Toronto Blue Jays and have grand time.



Even before we get into the stadium and find our seats we have a refreshing treat on a warm Seattle late afternoon.  Ben and Jerry's has a big van outside the stadium giving away samples of their new Greek Frozen Yogurts--Raspberry Greek Frozen Yogurt with Fudge Chunks is the best!


Happy 105th Birthday!
Pike Place Market is a public market that overlooks Elliott Bay.  The Market opened August 17, 1907 and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmer's market in the United States.    The market is one of  Seattle's most popular tourist destinations, and houses stalls for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants.  Antique shops and dealers, comic book and collectible shops, family owned restaurants, the oldest head shops in Seattle, fishmongers, fresh produce and flowers and covered arcades.  The Market is three levels built on the edge of a steep hill that overlooks the Sound.

The Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight whether poised on a dock or cruising above a body of water.  This heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage stands motionless as it scans for pray.  The Blue Heron may move slowly and gracefully but can strike like lightning to grab a fish!

After leaving Washington--Oregon and the Salishan Spa and Golf Resort is the next destination.  The resort is located high in the trees with peek a boo view of the ocean--there is an 18 hole mini-golf course on grass (a real challenge), the rooms are beautiful and comfortable with a fireplace which we use whole heartily--we were cold!  The idea and mission of this road trip was to cool off after the desert had gotten too warm--not to freeze!  We did have a good rest that night and are on the road early the next morning with a stop on the way out of town heading feather south at the Yaquina Head Natural Area to visit the Historical Lighthouse.

Maritime commerce was booming in the 1800's along the west coast resulting from the opening of the Oregon and California Trails.  The U.S. Lighthouse Service saw the potential for lighthouses to guide trading ships along the coast and on August 20, 1873 the light at Yaquina Head Lighthouse was first lit.  Yaquina Head Lighthouse was automated in 1966, which ended the era of station attendants.

Leaving the Pacific Northwest behind, we head further and further south with a final destination of San Diego, California.  But first it is back to Santa Rosa to explore and learn about important food and drink:  the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California and the vineyards of the Napa Valley!

Castello di Amorosa, Napa Valley

We tour this authentically styled reproduction of a 13th century Tuscan castle and winery.  All the wineries have a way to get you in--it is much more than just beautiful fields of vines and grapes in different stages and colors. There are so many wineries in the Napa Valley and they all seem to have some theme that will bring you into their tasting rooms.  This one was pretty pricey but you did get tasting for that price.  For the non-drinkers though there is no discount--if you want to tour the castle you pay the same.

From the elaborate to the more simple and relaxed like Casa Nuestra Winery and Vineyard, Est.1979, which has a large grass area with shade trees and sitting areas to just veg out enjoying your "Two Goats Red!"

SLO's (San Luis Obispo) unique attraction--Bubblegum Alley.  

The history of Bubblegum Alley is "a little Sketchy".  But it all comes down to a rivalry between San Luis Obispo High School and Cal Poly students.  The alley is a 15-foot high and 70-foot long pedestrian walkway, and is lined with chewed gum left by by-passers.


Shop owners complained that it was unsanitary and disgusting so the alley underwent a full cleaning.  But the gum graffiti has survived two full cleanings.

The stay in SLO was delightful--the weather was perfect and the San Luis Creek Lodge (boutique luxury at its finest)  There are three different buildings: the Londonderry, Craftsman and the Plantation. A perfect place to stay: cozy, quiet, and roomy.  It deserves a writeup on TripAdvisor.

The last stop of the road trip was La Jolla--where the weather was also delightful--no morning marine layer, with temperatures in the 80's on the beach!  That is where we find this guy just having a wonderful time sunning himself!

(Copyright 2012)