Onward and Upward

As New Years Day arrived, we left the hotel and proceeded to an Avis Car Rental to pick up the car for the rest of our road trip.  We arrived to see a car and a van waiting at a closed gate.  There was a hand-printed sign on the front door of the Avis Rental Agency on West Katella Avenue in Anaheim stating "Closed...."

My New York daughter had arranged to pick the car up at 1 p.m. and that time was confirmed by Avis.  The people returning their cars weren't happy.  My daughter wasn't happy.  As I see it, Avis blew it that day.  I learned that these local locations are franchised, so Avis was powerless at the moment to help the stranded renters.  That 'franchise' and another local one caused Avis a loss of business after closing even though they had customers who had been left in the lurch.  After speaking to Avis by phone, they arranged for a car at John Wayne Airport.  I believe that was about 9 miles away.   About two hours later, we were on our way.

We began to smell smoke somewhere south of Santa Barbara.  We never saw any fires, because shortly thereafter we were redirected by Waze from Route 1 onto Route 154, bringing us up and across the Santa Ynez Mountains.  The road, also called the San Marco Pass Road, while scenic, seemed to wind its way through many bends as we traversed the hills.  The traffic was moderately heavy going to toward the West as we were traveling East.  It did make me a little nervous wondering what we were going into, but we did reach Route 1 again with no problems. Later in Cambria, I spoke with tourists from England who told me that they had visited Santa Barbara.  The husband said that he was amazed at seeing patches of burned land surrounded by green areas, seemingly unscathed by the fires.

We eventually returned to the 101 and drove up the coast.  My daughter had arranged for a night's stay in Cambria, a sleepy beach community south of San Simeon.  We arrived about 9:45pm and thankfully the clerk at the Cambria Beach Lodge was still on duty when we checked in. The Lodge was situated across from Moonstone Beach.  The sight and sounds of the waves were so inviting.  We dearly needed sustenance.  It had been a long drive and we were hungry.  Unfortunately, being New Years Day, most of the restaurants were closed.  There was one on the other side of the town, but when we got there we found it closed due to a plumbing problem.  So we went to the nearby gas station and purchased some cereal and milk, as well as a few snacks to keep us going.

Cambria Beach Lodge

Moonstone Beach, Cambria CA

The next morning, we arose and enjoyed a delicious continental breakfast at the Cambria Beach Lodge and toured the town. We checked out the Ball and Skein and More on Bridge Street.  The proprietors, a husband and wife, were very friendly and helpful. They encourage you to feel the many different kinds of yarn. Their stock of so many lovely and interesting yarns make a visit well worth it.

We strolled along main street finding an interesting store,  Among Friends .  We enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere and the beautiful variety of wares.  My daughter purchased a lovely wrap and I found some beautiful greeting cards.

Then, we had to decide where to eat lunch.  We spotted a sign for Linn's Easy as Pie Cafe on Bridge Street.  I enjoyed the Salmon-Artichoke Quiche.  Even though it was January, we chose to eat in the garden.  While their array of pies looked delicious, we decided to forgo any dessert.

After lunch, we embarked on San Francisco, stopping at Hearst Castle and visiting the nearby William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach. When we stopped at Hearst Castle, the docent advised us that we would have to take a bus to the castle.  Even though it had a history, I wasn't interested in waiting for a bus and then, walking around the castle.  I consider castles cold buildings.

William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach

View of Hearst Castle from the beach

Now the elephant seals were a different story.  We stopped by what is called a Rookery in San Simeon.  It is certainly a sight to behold.

Female Elephant Seal with her babies

I've seen seals at LaJolla Cove in San Diego, but these seals were humongous.  They seemed to form a community.

Elephant Seals resting on the beach near San Simeon

We watched three female Elephant Seals make quite a racket because a male seal laid on a baby seal.  He seemed to just ignore them,  The baby seal had great difficulty freeing itself from underneath the massive body of the male, but finally did.  I've read that these males weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds.  A few minutes later, about 20 or 30 feet away, we saw a male approaching a female who rebuffed him.  Breeding season started in December.

Now, on to San Francisco, actually Oakland.  My daughter had arranged a airbnb there.   The picture of the bridge is lopsided, but it was a major sign that we reached the San Francisco area.  Better photos of this bridge to come later on.

To be continued....

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Perhaps by Catherine Hall (on Kindle) 

The Book of Micah by Catherine Hall (in paperback and on Kindle) 

Christmas Travels

The past few weeks were a joy.  I traveled to Denver, Colorado to spend Christmas with my son, daughter-in-law and their children.  My arrival was met with bitterly cold weather.  Thankfully, I had my lined leather gloves, though the tips of my fingers cracked anyway.

We stayed inside most of the time.  The day before I left, I was able to take a walk through the neighborhood when the temperature rose to 40 degrees.  On my last evening with the family, we went to PF Changs in Broomfield, to celebrate my daughter-in-law's upcoming birthday.  Since my appetite is small, I enjoyed the Hand-Folded Crab Wontons for my dinner.  The others chose beef dishes. That evening, I had my first taste of edamame.  On the way home, we stopped for ice cream treats at Cold Stone Creamery. This was a great Colorado night out.  I enjoyed spending Christmas with the family.  The children are growing so very quickly.

I flew home on Friday morning and that evening, one of my New York daughters flew to San Diego to take me on a surprise vacation.  After I visited some of my long-time, wonderful friends for lunch in El Cajon, we drove with one of my San Diego daughters and her two children to Disneyland in Los Angeles. We stayed at a near-by Hyatt hotel and used the shuttle to the park.  This provided freedom from any concerns about parking the car.  My daughters' plan was to spend the whole day until midnight to celebrate New Years Eve.

Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle

Upon arrival at the Park, we enjoyed a quick breakfast at the Market House on Main Street as the crowds of people grew.  Then, on we went for a wonderful day.  After we enjoyed the Enchanted Tiki Room, we stopped by the Tiki Juice Bar and enjoyed a frozen DOLEWHIP that my San Diego daughter and her family never skip. They love it.

For Lunch, we stopped by the Plaza Inn, mostly because while there were many diners, there was no line.  Because there was a buffet, each family member could choose from pot roast, chicken or pasta.  Unfortunately, the youngest of the troop lost his cell phone on the Thunder Mountain ride.  A quick call to his father resulted in locating the phone.  A dutiful mother returned to Thunder Mountain to claim the phone.  Then after a delicious lunch, we went on with our day.

When we stopped for dinner, as many restaurants were filled with people celebrating New Year's Eve,  one of my daughters approached the hostess at Cafe Orleans.  We had only a short wait for a table.  Everyone was pleased with their choice of entrees.  I have a small appetite, so I enjoyed the Seafood Gratin.  I noticed grapes at a neighboring table, not realizing it came with a child's meal.  The waitress graciously provided grapes to me.  Her service was exemplary.  We finished dinner with beignets shaped like Mickey.  During dinner, we were able to enjoy a magnificent fireworks display.

The family rode everything from the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" to "It's a Small World," to the "Jungle Cruise" to "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", and, if I remember correctly, "Space Mountain."  I stayed away from anything like roller coaster rides, but everyone else enjoyed them greatly.  We basically managed to go on every ride that interested the children, including "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters."  My San Diego daughter purchased a 'MaxPass' to provide unfettered access to the rides, so we didn't have wait a long time at each location.  I was very grateful, since waiting has never been my strong suit.

Disneyland Countdown to New Year

Towards midnight, we joined a celebration in Tomorrowland with the Suffragettes Band.  As we were walking toward Main Street, some of the celebrators were just lolling along.  As I stepped to go around them, I fell abruptly to the ground.  I had not realized that as I stepped to the side, I was actually stepping from a sidewalk onto a road.  Although the area was lit, I didn't notice I was stepping down into the road. Some people passing by picked me up and a Disney employee offered to call a nurse.  However, I declined thinking it wasn't necessary.  Then, another Disney employee approached me to ask if I was OK.  I've written Disneyland to suggest that they paint the curbing with a paint that glows at night to prevent this from happening to anyone else.  If they already have it, I didn't notice it.  The area just looked like an open plaza.

Before leaving, we took one more ride....The Disneyland Monorail, which I had been pointing out all day.  Our visit to Disneyland was wonderful.  My New York daughter stated that she planned to visit another Disneyland for New Years Eve 2018.

More of my travels to come.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. 
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Perhaps by Catherine Hall (on Kindle) 

The Book of Micah by Catherine Hall (in paperback and on Kindle)