A SURPRISE, MYSTERY TRIP

On October 4 Paul and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We went to Black Angus for a nice dinner and that was that.

Last Sunday, October 16, Paul says to me, "how would you like to take a little trip with me?" What?? How could I take a trip, I have a job. Well, to make a long story short Paul has been planning this little vacation for some time. We would have done the trip around our anniversary, but I was going to the Ladies Retreat so he planned it for this last week. He had made arrangements with the school where I work and the other aide, Kathy, would fill in for me. He had made reservations along the way and had everything planned out. I had no idea where we were going, but we were off and on our way around 3:30 pm.

We drove through the "grapevine" and down into Buttonwillow around 6 PM. Spent the night there and had dinner and breakfast at Denny's. Left Buttonwillow Monday morning and did not take Interstate 5 North but instead drove West out of Buttonwillow over to Highway 33. It is always more fun to take the road less traveled. You see so much more that way. It always amazes me that once you leave the Southern California basin how much of California is wide open and is farmland. Driving up Hwy. 33 we saw oil fields, cotton, pistachio trees, a low flying crop plane, vineyards, cows, horses, etc. Hwy. 33 takes you to the small town of Coalinga and then you could either take a narrow, windy mountain road West or get on Interstate 5. We choose Interstate 5 because Paul had contacted his cousin Doris and asked her and her son to have dinner with us that night. So traveled on 5 to Hwy 152 and then up Interstate 101 to San Jose. We met Doris and John for dinner at Home Town Buffet at 7 PM. After dinner we went back to Doris' house for a very nice visit.

Tuesday morning we went to the Winchester Mystery House. This is a very strange place. If you want more information go to this link

http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

I felt very sorry for this poor woman and why she was building and building this house. You can read about her and you'll see what I mean.

After leaving the house we went to Subway for lunch and then continued into Santa Cruz. We took a little side trip to a place called Mt. Herman Christian Conference Center. Back in the mid 70's Paul and I both attended a conference here and it is where we first began to "notice" each other. I was walking back to my dorm room and he was on the path outside waiting for his mother and their friend because they were going to take a walk. I joked with him about watching out for falling acorns when one fell and hit him on the head. We both laughed and then he asked if I was doing anything and would I also like to go on a hike with them. Yes. And so we talked and got to know each and the rest, as they say, is history.

We left the Santa Cruz area and continued down to Paso Robles for our next stop of the night. In the morning we left and drove west over the coastal mountains. Paul had hoped we could tour Hearst Castle but in checking the 800 number that morning he found they were totally booked until late afternoon. So we went West along Hwy.1 admiring the scenery. We stopped various places and then reached Morro Bay and drove out and parked at Morro Rock. Morro Bay is where my Great Aunt Bessie lived and when I was a child we visited there many times. We walked around the rock as far as they will let you. Then we drove over to the parking lot on the North side and I fed the squirrels some nuts I had with me. Very cute.

We left Morro Bay and drove East on Interstate 101 and then got off at Hwy. 1 and drove South to Hwy. 246 and into Solvang. This is another place I have been, but I was disappointed in how commercial it has become. We only spent about 45 minutes there and then continued on 246 to 154 past Lake Cuchuma and down into Santa Barbara. We continued through Santa Barbara and into Carpinteria for our last night.

For dinner we drove back to Summerland and ate at The Big Yellow House. This used to be family style dining but they have changed owners and it looks the same but the menu is way different. The food was very good, though.

Thursday morning we had a great breakfast at IHOP and then drove home stopping at the outlet stores in Camarillo. I really don't see the saving there, but it was interesting. We saw the Blue Angeles practicing their formation flying out of Pt. Magu. That was cool.

All in all a very nice trip. A good time to be away and enjoy each other. Jennifer got a taste of being on her own. All was fine except that while we were gone Southern California experienced a real storm. Torrents of rain, thunder and lightning. Sunday night during the storm she was wishing we still had our cat to cuddle with.

I took a lot of pictures and have posted 61 in my Epson Album. I didn't feel like selecting only a few and dragging and dropping them here. Epson is easier. So enjoy. Click on No. Calif. Trip.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4233026