California Dreaming: Grand Finale

We ended our trip in San Francisco. We stayed in a lovely house in Half Moon Bay that was in walking distance to a beach. We toured San Fran and also had a little down time on the beach (freezing cold!!!). I really loved the whole area and would go back for a visit anytime. I'll leave you with some pictures from our adventure!

Do we look like tourists or what?

Alcatraz - we did not have reservations so, no go

There was an amazing Market with some yummie good things and really nice gift shops.

Shrooms

Urchins? Really??

Hand knit finger puppets :-)

CHEESE PLEASE!!

Fogged in Golden Gate Bridge. Never saw it!

Muir Woods

 China Town

Loofah 

More mushrooms

Absolutely NO IDEA

Waited a LONG time for brunch at Mama's

French toast

Beach near our house

Very windy "selfie"

Super cute gift shop that had bucket for you to gather "sea" glass. Pretty sure it didn't actually come from the sea!

Thats a mountain of glass

 Stopped by the local marina for some photo ops

Overall, this was a fantastic trip. What you don't see in the photos are the fun times we have together as a group (some which I would never be able to share in public, lol)! It truly is a blessing to be a part of a family of travelers! I hope you enjoyed some of the sights.

California Dreaming: Part 3

If your visiting for the Grow Your Blog by Vicki at 2 Bags Full I say "Thank You"! Scroll down and you will see the post about why I write a blog.

This is what it looks like here today.

We had 4 inches of snow and it is currently 14 degrees! So........................ I am California Dreaming!

Pebble Beach and 17 Mile Drive

Okay. We left off in the California countryside after visiting the Reagan Library heading north towards Pebble Beach, Monterey, and Carmel. IT   WAS   STUNNING! I really loved the coast. We stopped along the way at an adorable, but freezing cold, surf town called Pismo Beach where we had one of the best bowls of clam chowder EVER. It was floating in butter and had a generous serving of crab on top. Did I mention it was GREAT? Then on to this.... 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula.

The Lone Cypress

   We went to the Pebble beach golf course and watched the rich people play golf. One round of golf was about $500 so, no, we didn't play. It was just as spectacular in person as it is on TV.

Carmel

What can I say about Carmel, CA? Clint Eastwood is a genius for living there and being the Mayor of this picturesque village. It reminded me of what Gatlinburg used to be before all of the t shirt shops moved in, only more upscale.

Monterey

We had a wonderful time exploring the city of Monterey.  They also had people standing outside restaurants trying to entice you in by giving free samples of Clam Chowder. I had no idea it was such a big deal in Cali? I always considered clam chowder a New England thing. YUMMY!

I'll leave you with some happy Dahlia pictures found in the square outside our eating place.

Next, and last California post is San Francisco! Thanks for travelling with me and see you soon!

Grow Your Blog: Why I Share

I'm taking a quick time out from my California Dreaming posts to join in a wonderful opportunity to Grow My Blog hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full. I don't remember how I came across this Linky party but it seemed exactly what I needed right now. It's a funny thing writing a blog. I started this journey after seeing Lucy at Attic 24 and her wonderful blog about crochet. She writes as if she's talking to a friend and shares her world with her readers. Through her I discovered many other blogs that I read on a daily basis. I have always loved England and have been able to travel there a couple of times. One of the things about blogging that is so appealing is the ability to make connections with people on the other side of the world - and also right down the road. IT HAS BEEN A JOY!

So... I jumped in. Wholeheartedly. Finding people to follow me and read along was not necessarily that important to me. I've been on Facebook for years and I KNOW the people on there. They really are FRIENDS. Some who I see on a regular basis and some who I haven't seen in years. I thought they would automatically follow me on my blog - no problem. But, that hasn't happened. Some of my very best friends NEVER read my blog. However, I have some friends who ALWAYS read and just leave their comments to me on Facebook, which is WONDERFUL.  I really underestimated how IMPORTANT it is to think that someone, ANYONE is reading what I write. I've read all kinds of articles on growing my followers and I've tried several of them. Last year I sort of fizzled out... stopped writing. But The Drowsy Bee was always there pulling to me to write again.

I have started again! This time I'm trying to do things differently and for different reasons.

Why I Share:

- I have something to say. I have ideas, thoughts, inspirations, things I want to get out!
- I've always wanted to keep a journal or record of things I have accomplished and/or goals I have set.
- I love beautiful photography and I want to develope my skills.
- I want to REACH people - make connections with people.
- I want to be able to share my love of Jesus with people who may not know what He's all about.

I read a blog called Lark and Bloom written by Elizabeth and she talks about comparing yourself and your blog to others. How this is so easy to do and why we do this. It's not constructive. It's not what God wants us to do. I am working on this. I want to have this space be something that I am proud of, that others can enjoy, and something that glorifies God. This is going to be my goal for the year. To figure out WHAT I'm going to share and HOW I'm going to share it.

Thank you for taking the time to visit me in this journey. Thank you for encouraging me. Thank you Vicki for giving the small bloggers a way to grow.  Most importantly, THANK YOU TO THE FRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING ME! You are SO important to me and I am so grateful that you take the time to stop by and see what's going on here. Thank you for hitting the FOLLOW button!  And Thank you for leaving a quick comment. It really brightens my day!

Blessings to you all!

California Dreaming: Part 2

It was my intention to do two posts about our Cali trip, but after editing the photos today I have decided to do more and make them shorter . I always take WAY too many pictures and then I have to do some brutal editing to get to a manageable amount.  Do you do that? I remember back in the days of film when every shot was precious and you had to really think about it before you pushed the button. With digital I just go crazy and then end up having to DELETE.

We left LA and headed north. Some of us (i.e. my son) wanted to visit the World War II battleship, Iowa so we split into two vans. T,  Grampy, H, and I went to see the ship which was really amazing! H was thrilled and impressed, and even I have to admit it's moving to see where so many of our proud soldiers served. We got there when it opened at 8am, toured the ship, and then we met up with the others at lunchtime.

The other group had looked at our route up and wanted to make an unscheduled stop at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. It turned out to be an amazing place, and worth a small detour. They have his air force one plane INSIDE the building.

Reagan loved jellybeans and someone made his portrait out of them.

This is his resting place and has a poignant quote which I LOVE!!!

"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life."

Oh I really, really believe this. I think that it's hard to hold onto sometimes when I see someone do something mean. But...
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

The most moving thing to me was a piece of the Berlin Wall.

California Countryside

Next, we will see some stunning coastline, Pebble Beach, Monterey, and the lovely little town of Carmel. See you soon!