Garden Ramblings: Cathi and Donna's visit

Don, bless his little heart, gave Cathi an early birthday present, and sent her down to visit us, all by herself! This was a great present for us, too!
We picked her up on Thursday afternoon in San Francisco, then came home. After Cathi got settled in and we had a snack, we went for a walk, up to the lighthouse in Montara. We also visited the Montara Youth Hostel, and learned that we had just missed the Coast Guard, who were there to maintain the lighthouse.

Friday morning Cathi and I headed over the hill for some shopping! With both Cathi and Patience having birthdays in May, it was a good excuse to find presents for both of them, and make sure that Cathi was all set for her cruise in June. We did good!

After we got home we went for a walk up in the area of Moss Beach that is located on the bluffs above the Distillery. We got home just after 5:00, and waited for Donna!

Donna was visiting from New Jersey, for her great niece and nephew's first holy communion, which was taking place on Saturday. It was great to see her, and so cool that she and Cathi were able to catch up, too. We visited for awhile, then headed to Sushi Main Street for our favorite sushi, which was fabulous, as usual! We finished the meal with yummy green tea ice cream. Thank you, Donna! Then we came home for a nightcap before Donna had to go back "over the hill".

Saturday morning was leisurely, and after breakfast we went to Filoli. On the way, we stopped at Teak in the Garden, the shop where we have gotten most of our outdoor wooden furniture. We were looking for a wooden bistro set to replace the rusted, metal one that we've had for about 10 years. They had one, and even delivered it! We were happy campers!
The gardens were beautiful, the roses were blooming profusely and there were still lots of wisteria in bloom. It was Cathi's first visit, so we toured the house as well. And, of course, the gift shop!
We got home about 2, and decided to go for a long walk - we headed up over the bluff, and walked down to the harbor along the edge of the ocean. It was great going, as we had a really strong tail wind, but, boy was it tough going walking home!
We had artichokes and chicken salad for dinner, and made it an early night.

Sunday morning we did laundry and took it easy. Then we drove down to the harbor to see what there was at a small craft fair, walked through the new Oceano Resort on the harbor, including their shops, and got some salt water taffy for Cathi to take home to the kids. They offer samples, so of course we had to try some - very good! Cathi had packed a picnic lunch in the backpack, which we enjoyed on our walk on the coastside trail. The weather was beautiful, sunny and clear, although still windy. But, it was nothing compared to the gale force winds on Saturday. We managed to cover about 4 miles, so that was good!

We had roasted veggies and bar-b-qued tri-tip for dinner, and Cathi got all packed up for her return trip.

All good things must come to an end, and this morning we were up early, fortified with coffee, then took Cathi to the airport. She was excited about getting home and seeing her family, and I know that they are excited about seeing her!

Thanks, Don and Cathi, for a fabulous time! We love you and miss you.

Here's Cathi!

You've seen this plant before - the "giant asparagus", so we had to take Cathi's picture with it, too. You can see that it's beginning to open up! And you can tell by the way my hair is standing up that it's windy!

Auntie Donna! I looked through the viewfinder, and said "what a blast from the past"!! It's been nearly 8 years since Cathi and Donna have seen each other.