Bodie - A Ghost Town

A Day at the San Diego Zoo

We decided it was time to re-visit the San Diego Zoo. A good idea but we forgot that it was summer and the Zoo would be full of visitors from all over the world. We heard many different languages lots of kids. They ranged from little ones sleeping their way through the zoo in strollers to teenagers who would soooo obviously rather be somewhere else. There were grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, aunts and uncles and I'm sure just a few very good friends! And then there was the four of us wandering through the zoo with no kids wondering why we did this in August? San Diego was in the 80s and quite humid. It wasn't so pleasant. Living where we do, about 60 miles east of the coast, we have very low humidity. If we have 30% humidity, we all walk around complaining how humid it is. When I think back to the years I spend in New Jersey where we would have bouts of humidity in the 90% range I almost feel guilty about complaining about 30%. But we had fun looking at the animals and we had a nice lunch at Albert's Restaurant at the zoo. It is named after the first gorilla they had, I think. But I might be wrong on that. I will have to do some research.

I call these three "The Big Guys!"

We saw some birds

And of course there were Monkeys!

And the Rest of the Story.....

After our days in Portland we headed west to Tillamook - yes, that's where they make the cheese! We toured the cheese factory and sampled the cheese. They have a HUGE gift store (one just can't call it a shop - much too big for that) and we wandered around for a bit and then headed south along the coast of Oregon. As I am soooo very far behind in posting to this poor neglected blogspot I think I will just post the album pages I created to remember our trip.

The motel in Eugune was quite a bargain! A great room, a huge bathroom, pretty flowers everywhere and the absolute best fettuccine Alfredo I have ever had in my whole life! It had smoked steel head trout, mushrooms and asparagus and I savored every bite. I would return to Eugene in a heart beat to have that meal again. 

And so ended our lovely trip through Oregon and a little of Northern California. We had a wonderful time and saw lots of wonderful things. And it only took me until August 10 to finish what was started in June. Oh my!

TWO DAYS IN PORTLAND

After inching along the freeway (Interstate 5, of course) we finally found The Kennedy School and our friends. And the bar! Our first attempt at finding the school was wrong because I had reversed some numbers when putting the address into our GPS. Amazingly enough it happened to be the address of another Portland school but this one was still full of students and for just a moment I thought I was going to have to sleep in a real classroom! But I finally got the right address into the GPS and we found our hotel that used to be a school. We met up with Diane and Larry in the bar and I had a wonderful gin and tonic. Seems the McMenamins Brothers distill their own gin and it is quite yummy! The next day, after a delicious breakfast, we headed out to explore Portland. Here are some shots of our stay in the Portland area......

Day 1 ~

We visited the Japanese Garden which was absolutely beautiful!

After leaving the Japanese Garden we walked across the street to the International Rose Test Garden. After looking at all the beautiful roses I think Portland has passed the test on roses! 

These beauties were growing in the parking lot!

Always take time to smell the roses

After a lunch break we found our way to the Chinese Garden. It truly was a day of beauty!

THE TRIP TO PORTLAND.....and back!

We made plans to meet our friends, Larry and Diane, at the Kennedy School, in Portland, OR. The Kennedy School was to be the end of their train trip across the northern USA with a stop at Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, something happened to the tracks in North Dakota and they had to re-arrange their trip but we met in Portland anyway. The Kennedy School is a hotel in what used to be an elementary school. When enrollment declined in the 70's the school was closed and after some time it was purchased by the McMenamins brothers and converted into a hotel. Upon arrival you check in at the "Front Office," get your key and find your way to your room. The halls are very wide and many rooms and hallways have blackboards in them - with chalk and erasers! If you ever go there be sure to request a "Blackboard Room" or you may be booked into the new section of the hotel. The new section is very nice, but the original room we were assigned was VERY small. The sink was in the sleeping area and there was barely enough room to walk around the bed. The construction of the new section is very well done with beautiful woods and windows but the rooms are very tiny. 

Our journey started on Tuesday, June 3 when we left Hemet and headed north. We traveled as far as Woodland California, which is a little north of Sacramento. It was a very long ride and we were happy to check into the Best Western Shadow Inn, have some dinner and relax until it was time to sleep. On Wednesday morning we headed out to Grant's Pass, OR, the second stop on our trip north. As we drove along Interstate 5 we passed Mount Shasta. Very beautiful! Grant's Pass claims to have a climate as nice as California - as the big sign over the main street lets you know. They also have a fondness for bears who grace the main and side streets.

Mount Shasta

The Logger Bear

The Vineyard Bear

The Farmer Bear

The Dancing Bears

The next day was suppose to be a short journey to Portland - however, as we traveled north on Interstate 5 we decided we should stop in Salem as it it is the capital of Oregon. We followed the signs to the "Capital," found a parking lot - FREE - and followed the posted maps to the capital building and beautiful grounds.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of the Portland trip!

Huntington Library

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Doubletree Hotel on Sunday morning after the Renaissance Faire. Then we packed up all our "stuff" and headed out to the The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. Our objective was to visit the Chinese Garden which is one of many areas of this very beautiful setting. Henry Huntington was part of the Huntington family that owned the Central Pacific Railroad. He moved to Los Angeles and bought the property that the Library now sits on. In addition to being an excellent businessman (railroad companies, utilities and real estate in Southern California) he and his wife amassed a large research library, established a wonderful art collection and created botanical gardens representing many geographic areas. We have visited The Huntington several times since moving to Southern California and I'm sure we will visit many more. It's a beautiful place. We spent our time on Sunday walking through the Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden and Desert Garden. It was a beautiful day!

Renaissance Faire

We met our good friends Diane and Larry in Monrovia, California on Saturday, April 26 to attend the Renaissance Faire. Bob and I had never been to such an event and had no idea what to expect. We checked into the Doubletree Hotel, snatched our cookies (yum), and hopped on the shuttle for the Faire. Our room rate included the tickets to the faire, the shuttle ride to and from, and of course, the warm chocolate chip cookies! The Faire was much larger than I had anticipated and there were many, many people in costume. I had no idea that the visitors to the faire would come in costume. Some were really beautiful and others made no sense whatsoever - like the guys dressed in their togas. I didn't take their picture! There was a jousting tournament with horns, drums, a Queen, knights on horseback and real live wenches!

Real live Wenches

And here are some other photos taken throughout the day. And when I think about it I'm still amazed at all the beautiful costumes and those push-up bras!!!!!

Balboa Park

It has been a most unusual winter here in Southern California. The temps have been in the mid to high 80s on many days and the sun shines almost all the time. We often think of our friends and family on the East Coast and their daily struggles with the unrelenting cold and snow. My sister lives in Michigan and doesn't think the snow will leave much before the end of April! My son works outside and often resembles the little kid who's mom puts so many winter clothes on him he's unable to move in the snow. And we think back to the last winter we lived in New Jersey and the hurricane that brushed us in the fall and the winter it was still snowing in March. We love California weather - well in the winter anyway. It the summer it can get a little warm (big understatement) here in the San Jacinto Valley.

Last Sunday we drove to San Diego and the beautiful Balboa Park. The park houses the San Diego Zoo as well as many diverse museums, gardens, paths and activities. There is even a building on the grounds titled "The Bridge Club" (I think that's the name). There is a huge lawn bowling area that has a big sign advertising free lessons. There is a beautiful rose garden. Let us not forget the dog park! There are musicians, dancers, painters, magicians and many other entertainers on the walk ways. I'm sure there is much more here to see and do. It's a great place to visit.

After the park we went to our favorite Italian restaurant in Little Italy and had a great dinner. All and all it was a fun day. Here are some photos of our great adventure.