Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Hanging out in Cambria & Solvang

 My handsome breakfast partner at Cambria Pines Lodge...
 ...and his favorite wife
 We love wandering through the manicured gardens
 On the front porch of the Lodge

 By the tide pools

 On our walk along the boardwalk at Moonstone Beach

 Kirk loves having his picture taken!
 The Episcopal church in Los Olivos
 Birkholms' Baker in Solvang
 touristy shot
 A very low Lake Cachuma
 We want to stay in a Yurt at Lake Cachuma. Looks like fun!
Lovers' shadow. :)

Hearst Castle Night Tour

 The towers of the Casa Grande which is 69,000 square feet & contains 115 rooms!
 The Neptune Pool at night
 Lovely Ladies
 All of the room's ceilings were covered with intricate designs. This one includes the name of the town, San Simeon, where the castle is. 
(There are only 400 residents in this town, where Kirk's aunt lived for several years)
 Actors were dressed in period costumes, which really added a great touch of authenticity. This is inside the huge library. Notice the huge silver candlestick from the 1200's!
 This Flemish tapestry is from the 1500's!
 The Great Hall--even though the table settings were fancy, Wm. Hearst would put the catsup & mustard bottles on the table. He called it California Casual.
 This huge serving table on my right had heating pipes running through it so all of the food could be plated on hot dinner plates!
 This is Hearst's picture at age 31 on the wall of his private meeting quarters. Even though he was 6'3", he sat on 7" of pillows to tower over his guests.
 This lamp shade (& many others) is made from damaged pages of a hymnal that is 3' x 4'.
The indoor swimming pool holds 205,000 gallons of water & is 10' deep.
I would recommend this outing, as we learned a lot and enjoyed seeing the lighting at night.
The tours are only during the Fall & Spring.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Fun Fall Activities

 A beautiful sunrise from our backyard

 Our Gordon apple tree gave us the largest crop ever this year :)
 Grandpa reading to Lee
 Saying goodbye to Pat Wood at Wood Acres. After her husband passed away last year, she & her daughter kept up the farm, but it was too much. We have enjoyed going to Wood Acres since the kids were little. This year we bought Arkansas Blacks (the ugly apple) & Pearmains. Yum!
 Picnicking with my darling!
 We got to spend the day with Heather & Jeff--what a treat!

 Luanne came to the US for a month-long hibernation which began at Mom & Dad's for a week. Mom hosted a birthday party for Luke, Lars & "hello" to Luanne (the 3 L's)
 Gruncle Kirk, Graunt Gretchen with little Oliver Jensen
 Luanne & Daddy
 Around the dinner table. Young families are in the lanai.

 Oliver blew out his other outfit, so is wearing his big brother's sweatshirt-- in his grandpa's arms
 Grammy lighting the birthday candles for Luke (31) & Lars (2)
 Lars is learning how to hold up his two fingers
Lars loved his little flashlight he got as one of his gifts