San Simeon Elephant Seal Rookery

Male elephant seals filled the rocky beach. They slept, taking breaks from resting to throw sand upon themselves and to fight for a spot amongst all of the other seals.  They sounded as they were burping and belching as they fought for dominances.  Claire liked their long noses.  This for sure was a highlight of the trip.  It was amazing to watch these seals.  The smoke from the fires in the area is getting worse--we changed our plans.  No camping in the Big Sur or hikes due to the fires.  We had a wonderful lunch and a beautiful drive even with the smoke.

Avila Beach

We visited a wonderful farmers market and watched the animals, bought items for dinner and then ate ice cream while watching the the alpacas fighting.

We drove to Avila beach one of the nicest little beach towns and had dinner on the beach.  The kids played on the playground and then moved to the sand and then started to play in the water.  The water was cold but that did not stop them from getting soaked and playing in the sand.  We watched storks snatching fish out of the water as the sunset.  The kids were shaking because they were so cold when we left for the hotel.  It was a beautiful evening.

Hearst Castle

We went to San Luis Osip for a good coffee, shakes and to tour the bubble gum alley.  Nolan thought it was extremely gross, but Claire stuck her gum to the wall then took it back off the wall and put it in her mouth—yikes.  She says it was not gross.  This is a town that would be exceptionally fun to explore as a couple.

As we continued up Hwy 1 we stopped to see the zebra then turned to drive up to tour Hearst Castle.

Thousands of people worked over 20 years to build the castle.  The entire estate is like an art museum, filled with Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Spanish artifacts.  The pools are incredible absolute works of art.  The entire estate is so large and so over the top that it is difficult to process—seems more like a city than a home. 

The movie about the reason behind the castle and how Hearst was inspired by a 1.5 year European trip that he took with his mother when he was 8 made us think of this trip.  While I don’t think we will be building any castles in the future, the things that we have seen and experienced will change our lives as our perspectives have changed. 

Solvang

This morning it was aebleskivers for breakfast in Solvang, CA.

Pasadena

Last night in LA in the RV.  Ready to be done with the traffic—takes 1.5 hours to go anywhere.  We went to Pasadena—suddenly luscious and full of trees and filled with beautiful homes to tour the Greene & Greene’s Gamble house. 

Favorites:

Laura-the sleeping porches

Nolan-the lego model of the house and the attic

Paul- where they used the grain of the cedar wood as a form of abstract art.  He wants to go to Japan to study art/carving.

 

It was so, so, hot and we went to the children’s museum. We sat in the courtyard and played on the outdoor items while enjoying lunch there.

There was an amazing coffee shop here! The shop specialized in cold brew and you could add coffee gelatin to the coffee—very odd.  If you are in Pasadena though and like coffee—this place is a must stop.  

That evening we drove out of the city and set up camp at a campground and met a 5,8 and 9 year old.  The kids all loved playing soccer together.

Tar Pits!

Finally, an amazing coffee!  Thank you LA and your great cafes! Alaskans are coffee snobs--it is a struggle to find coffee as good as can be found most places in AK. It continues to be an adjustment--lot's of disappointment. 

Paul relived his childhood visit to La Brea Tar Pits.  His mom took him here when he was around 7 years old and he was so excited to show the kids.  There is still active tar-pits bubbling methane gas--the scent of asphalt fills the air--it's stinky and fascinating.  
Neil looked at the active excavation site with the asphalt filling the holes and said "crock-it" aka chocolate.  He thought the site was chocolate.

For some reason, I had never heard of the giant sloth and had no idea that the pits were still active.  What an interesting place--the kids were awed.

We drove up the Hollywood Hills to the Griffith Observatory and had lunch overlooking the Hollywood sign.  The observatory is an incredible location to visit!

ICE CREAM!

Next stop...MILK in LA.  Some say it's the best ice cream in California. Nolan wants to sample a few items to see if this is the case.  He gives it a 9 out of 10 but is angling for a 2nd visit to fully review it.

Claire drinking the "ice cream juice"

We rented a RV from Airbnb to stay in for two days for our L.A. stay.  Parked in someones driveway is an interesting experience.  The kids loved it.

Home for the next two days!  Nolan has plans to rent our his rv....

Family Visit #2!

CA Boy!

Legoland--right before Neil started acting like a dog and lapping water up off the sidewalk--a favorite pastime.

Legoland

Legoland!

Panda at the San Diego Zoo!

Beach house

Sunblock is a must!

Crystal in CA! Sister time!

Crystal and Nolan arrived in Oceanside!  Nolan got off the plane in San Diego and said “this reminds me of Minneapolis.”  This is what he continued to say throughout his time in San Diego. 

Nolan learned the following in California:

-boogie boarding is fun, but you need a rash guard.

-kombucha is not his favored drink.

-three year olds do NOT make things different (according to Claire).

-that you should not fly a drone by seagulls.

-that the train was so quiet that the house shaking lulled him to sleep and closed the windows.

-he was never cold.

-how to sail from someone learning how to sail and the teacher only hit one other boat.

-how to use a mountain skate board.

-that we could have just went to the Legoland hotel for free.

-that pandas are worth the wait.

that cottages by the beach are cozy.

Claire learned the following in California:

-that condo’s by the beach with a pool are her favorite.

-she was shocked to see the beach erosion that washed away some of the palms on the beach following a big surf.

Family Visit #1

Craft time with Dorthea

How wonderful to have some precious time in CA with Dorthea who flew in from Chicago to join us at the beach.  Claire and Neil LOVED seeing Dorthea or "DeeFa" as Claire says play with them at the beach and at the Wildlife Park.

Claire and Dorthea play in the surf

Mead

Why did we set out from Alaska, drive to SD, then back to the west coast?  

There is a reason behind it all.  

Over the past few years, we have spent a lot of time looking at mead.  Paul and I made our first batch of mead around 2004 and since then Paul and I have taken numerous classes at the UC Davis Mondavi Institute and as of this year are in the investigation stages of launching a meadery—lots more to come on that through the upcoming months.  

What is mead?  First of all as grain is to beer, grapes are to wine, honey is to mead.  Mead is sometimes called “honey wine”.  

As South Dakota ranks in the top in the nation for honey production,  we would use South Dakota honey as its predominate raw material to create mead. 

Earlier this year I spoke with Golden Coast Meads when we were at a class at UC Davis together.  This month Paul and I are interning at Golden Coast Meads learning the day to day of meadery operations and having a bit of fun as well!  

It is fun focusing on something so different from each of our professions but pulling in many of the skills our careers have taught us. 

Oceanside!

Claire broke into song as we arrived in California!  She is ready for the beach.

After the beautiful drive across the US, we cut across the Mojave Desert Reserve and the weather got hot.  The Joshua Trees got bigger and bigger and then suddenly disappeared and it was just desert.   

We stopped to fill up with gas at this iconic Route 66 stop in Amboy.   The desert is a strange wild place and apparently, filled with Alaskan’s—seriously we met 5 people from Alaska in a day and a half.  One of them at this gas station—he pulled into say hello when they saw the Alaska plates on our vehicle. 

Driving across suddenly we came across these canals vibrant teal in the desert on the salt flats, salt ponds.  They were so bright we had to stop to look at them.  I guess they flood the canals and then the salt comes up and when dried is harvested. 

As we drove toward 29 Palms we saw all of these old houses, abandoned houses and well lived in secured houses every little bit.  In areas you could see the foundations of all that remained.  It was strange and foreboding. A little Google search let us to what this place was…Wonder Valley. The last homesteading in the lower 48 in 1938.  Seeing this place you understand why it was last and wonder about the people that tried to make a go of it here and those that still do.  

Finally Oceanside, the night  we arrived as we walked to the beach both Paul and I  felt like, wow this is real.  Till then it had not really set in, a deep breath as we emerged from the water after a high dive.