It's Been a Month!

My blogging juices have been dry until lately.  Now that we are back home, things seem to be the same-o, same-o.  But I did get a few pictures of our Easter walk and picnic at Lake Sacajawea in Longview, WA.  Weather- wise, the day was the best we had experienced since arriving home on March 21.

The latest highlight was Sophie's second birthday party.  The celebration was held at Play Boutique in Beaverton, a fun play space for children.  

Sophie builds a tower of gears.

Sophie sports a cake mustache.

Baby sister, Anya, is two months old and slept through most of her big sister's birthday party.

Dave has been sick with a very bad cold the last week or so.  But he seems to be on the mend now, so we headed for the beach for a few days.  Our off-season state park camping pass is not good after April, so we are enjoying a few more days of $6 camping.  We are camped at our favorite Washington State Park, Cape Disappointment.  As usual, there's no internet nor cell service available here, so we go to the library or to the town of Long Beach to catch up with the world.

Dave and I went for a walk on the boardwalk at Long Beach.  The very fine bicycle path is shown to the right of the boardwalk.  The boardwalk is only .4 mile each way, but the bike path runs for 8 miles each way.  Our new car is not equipped to carry bikes yet, so we couldn't bring our bicycles to town with us.

Only the skeleton of the whale remains.

We found lunch and free wifi at Hungry Harbor Grille.

Spring cleanup at the beach consists of moving many loads of sand back to the water's edge.

The weather forecast promises two more days of sunshine and we're looking forward to it!

Home!

Dave and I have been very busy since we arrived back home in Vancouver, Washington, last Thursday afternoon.  The weather has been cold and rainy, but we've also had a few sun breaks. 

Dave is involved with football--setting up meetings and training as well as officiating this year's semi-pro season which starts in April, and a Pop Warner flag football league for kids which also starts in April.  And now our taxes are done for another year!

I am again meeting with friends, which I enjoy after being away for over three months.  And yes, we bought a new car to replace our 1998 mini-van.  We now are the proud owners of both a 2005 Honda CRV and a new 2013 Honda CRV. 

Kona coffee was the color we chose!

On Sunday, we met our new granddaughter, Anya, for the first time.  Even though we had some good pictures of her, nothing compares to seeing the baby in person and getting to hold her.  Sophie, Anya's big sister, will turn two in mid-April.  While Anya was fed and then slept, I was able to interact with Sophie while she was doing an alphabet puzzle.  Sophie talks more now and it was a joy to spend some time with her.  After spending some time at Tim and Kiersten's house, we all went to the new Wow Burger in Wilsonville.  Low carb, lots of carbs, and paleo--that place offered something for each one of us.  It was great seeing each one of the new family of four!  Tim and Kiersten are eating paleo now and they have both lost a lot of weight and look great!

Anya and Sophie--two precious granddaughters!

I have lost 63 pounds since August.  Slow and steady, that's my motto! I eat what I want but follow my calorie budget, which doesn't allow for much in the way of pasta, bread, chips, french fries, ice cream, and other sweets.  Using the online MyFitnessPal allows me to record all my food, so I know exactly much much I'm eating each day.  Eat less and move more--that's my other motto!

Carol--down 63, with another 50-60 to go! 

On St. Patrick's Day, we attended our niece, Laura's wedding at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, CA.  What a joy it was to be there to celebrate the marriage of Laura and Will!

Before

After

San Juan Bautista, CA

We reluctantly left Pismo Beach, CA, after a two-month stay.  We planned a short three-hour trip to Betabel RV Park outside the small town of San Juan Bautista.  Betabel is located along Highway 101, just south of Gilroy, and just north of Salinas.  We liked this park and recommend it, even though the internet is slow there.  It's a quiet, peaceful park and we enjoyed our two nights there.

Betabel RV Park, San Juan Bautista, CA

The town of San Juan Bautista (population around 1700) is located a couple of miles to the east of Hwy 101.  Not only is there a California Mission here, there's also a State Historic Park.  I highly recommend visiting both of these places, which are conveniently located next to each other, but charge separate entrance fees.  Our off-season California State Park senior pass got us into the state park for free, and I paid a donation of $3 to visit the Mission.

Old Mission San Juan  Bautista

Father Serra, the original founder of the California Missions.

Below is a picture of the interior of the church at the mission.  With three naves or aisles, it became the widest of all the mission churches.  It was dedicated in 1812, and is still being used.

Part of the ceiling inside the church.

One of the original El Camino Real bells

On Friday, Dave and I stopped at San Juan Bautista on our way back from Hollister.  We walked along part of the original El Camino Real road. 

The San Andreas Earthquake Fault runs along this same area.  In 1906, an earthquake shook much of central California and the sidewalls of the Church collapsed and were restored in 1976. 

Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie, "Vertigo" was filmed on the Mission grounds in 1957. 

In 1997, the site of the original chapel was restored and dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It is here that daily Mass is held.

Guadalupe Chapel

The state historical park was interesting, too, although a bit newer than the mission, which was founded in 1797 by Father Serra's successor, Fr. Fermin de Lasuen.  

The Castro-Breen Adobe was used as a Mexican government building from 1838-1846, and purchased and used by the Breen family from 1848-1933.  Patrick and Margaret Breen and their seven children were survivors of the infamous Donner Party, who arrived penniless after their 111-day ordeal in the Serra Nevada mountains.  Their sixteen-year-old son, John, made a fortune in the California gold fields in 1848 and the family was able to purchase the adobe from the Castros, as well as 400 acres of prime farmland. 

Castro-Breen Adobe

Low doorway entrance to the Adobe.

The stables now house a buggy collection.  San Juan Bautista was once a transportation hub on El Camino Real between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Plaza Hall--Period furnishings are on display.

Plaza Hotel, now a museum and park entrance point, was a one-story adobe built in 1814 in the Spanish colonial style.  The building first served as barracks for the Spanish soldiers who protected the mission.  The hotel opened in 1859.

Among the flowers, trees, and bushes on the grounds of the historical park and mission, were these Chinese Lanterns.

 

Is this a prickly pear cactus?

I highly recommend a visit to San Juan Bautista.  The small downtown area is only a block from the mission and historical park and has lots of antique shops and galleries, as well as an excellent quilt shop.  And if you like courtyard dining at a Mexican restaurant, I highly recommend eating at Jardine's!

Part of the gardens at Jardine's

A Day Trip to Cayucos, CA

Yesterday's walk was in Santa Maria, which we combined with doing errands.

Today we headed north to Cayucos, another beach town along Highway 1.  Each of these beach towns--Oceano, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Morro Bay, Cayucos, and Cambria--each have their own distinct flavor. 

Cayucos happened to be having their annual Sea Glass Festival this weekend.  The town was hopping with people.  Since we were there to take our walk, we decided not to pay to go into the festival, but some year I would like to go inside to see what it's all about.

Cayucos Pier

The following three pictures were taken from the pier.

Outside the Veteran's Memorial Center where the Sea Glass Festival was being held.

Schooner's Restaurant

As we drove out of town, we stopped at Morro Strand State Beach Day Use Area to eat the lunch that we had packed.  We happened to see a bunch of kite surfers.  They provided our lunch-time entertainment! 

Our time in this area is coming to a close.  On Thursday, we'll head for San Juan Bautista for two nights, then on to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton for three nights.  After attending our niece's wedding on St. Patrick's Day, we'll head for home!

Lake Atascadero, CA

On Sunday, after saying goodbye to Russ and Donna before they headed north on Highway 101, Dave and I drove to Arroyo Grande and walked around the village and side streets.  The sky started out cloudy, but the sun came out as we reached the half-way point of our walk.  Click on Dave's blog to see his write-up about our walk around Arroyo Grande.

Lake AtascaderoToday we drove to Atascadero and walked around the lake.  The city of Atascadero runs this park which also houses the Charles Paddock Zoo, a pavilion, paddle boat and kayak rentals, a great playground, and lots of picnic tables, as well as a ball field.  The hard-packed gravel/dirt path goes all around the lake and is a 1.1 mile walk.

After our walk we stopped in San Luis Obispo to have lunch at our favorite place, Firestone Grill.  We like their outdoor seating as well as their food.  This time I asked for a lettuce wrap instead of a bun for my hamburger.  It was delicious!  I was so busy eating that I forgot to take a picture of the food.  I can't indulge in their french fries too often, but take my word for it, they are yummy (and plentiful). 

Firestone Grill patio

After lunch, we stopped off at a Honda dealer to check out the new Honda CRVs.  Our son, Tim, is going to buy our 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan mini-van, so we need to replace that car.  We already have a 2005 Honda CRV which we really like, and have had no trouble with.  Dave was hoping to buy a hybrid car, but he couldn't find any of them that were towable.  And since a towable car is important to us, if we buy a new Honda, we'll have a new towable car as well as a spare towable car.  Living in Washington state, we also like to have a 4-wheel drive car and a 4-wheel-drive is handy to have when we drive on the beach, both in Washington and in California.  

Visitors from Oregon

Russ and Donna headed south from their home in Eugene, Oregon, and stopped to see us in Pismo Beach, California.  We always enjoy their company and this time was no exception.  Donna writes a popular blog called Travels in Therapy.  Unfortunately, she is battling a cold bug at this time, so her stay here in Pismo Beach hasn't been quite what she hoped it would be. Nevertheless, we have had a few good conversations with her and Russ. 

We took Russ out on a short tour of some of the sights in this area--a ride on the beach, through several campgrounds, explored the town, and drove to Shell Beach.  We also stopped at the Monarch Butterfly Preserve, but the butterflies have been flying north and weren't clustered in clumps any longer. 

We had lunch at Splash Cafe and for dinner we all had some take-out Paisano's pizza. 

On Wednesday, before Russ and Donna arrived the next day, Dave and I went out for lunch at Fat Cats in Port San Luis Bay, located just north of Avila Bay.  It was a lovely day and we enjoyed good food on the outdoor patio of the restaurant. 

On the way back to Pismo Beach, we stopped at Avila Valley Barn, which had been closed other times we drove past.  I was very glad that we stopped because this place was very big and had lots of fresh produce as well as quite a few gift items. 

The farm had some animals outside, including chickens, goats, sheep, and cows. 

When we went for our walk along the North Beach boardwalk that morning, we saw a very interesting-looking RV parked near the dump station.  This guy had built a camper unit on top of his station wagon.