Lee met the Pooley family in Oklahoma when he was in the Air Force so that gives you an idea of how long they have been friends! Over the years, Vivian has visited with Lee's family, and they have visited her in Rapid City, SD. You might recall that we visited Vivian a couple of years ago.
But, she hadn't been out for a visit for nearly 20 years, so it was time!
Vivian arrived on April 1st. and we had lots of things on the agenda! We spent the first few days here in Moss Beach, taking walks on the beach, going to Filoli, spending time in Half Moon Bay, etc. Then on Monday, we went to Monterey to visit the aquarium. We spent Monday night in Carmel, then visited the Carmel Mission, picnicked at Point Lobos, and slowly made our way to Grover Beach to spend some time at Jim's.
Vivian's birthday is April 15th, so to celebrate, Jim got us all tickets to visit Hearst Castle, and do their tour of the grounds, gardens, indoor and outdoor pools, and guest house, Casa Del Mar. It was a beautiful day, and we all totally enjoyed spending time in such a beautiful place. After the tour, we stopped in Cambria and had a picnic lunch. It was really windy, but Vivian found a table nestled behind a tree, and we were able to have lunch without everything blowing away!
Thursday we visited some of the surrounding area, did some wine tasting, and went to the Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo. Their Farmer's Market is just amazing - there was just an article about it in the Sunset magazine.
Friday we started the day with breakfast at Huckleberry's (YUM!), then drove out to Avila Beach, and had a walk out on the old pier. We watched the sea lions trying to launch themselves out of the water and onto the structure beneath the pier.
Saturday morning we headed over to visit with Gary and Joyce at their mountain house. We had a great time! There is an iris farm near them, which we visited. We worked on and finished a jigsaw puzzle, and had a fabulous dinner at the Blue Heron, which is located right near where they live. Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Casino, and a great walk around the lake at Yosemite Pines. Then it was time to load up, as everyone but us had to go to work the next day!
So, Sunday afternoon we headed to Yosemite! Gary and Joyce live so close that we couldn't miss a visit there. Yosemite was breath-takingly beautiful!! There was a ton of snow getting into the park, and some of the roads were still closed, but the falls were amazing! And in addition to the falls you are used to seeing, there were dozens of small falls as the snow melted! We spent Sunday afternoon and all day Monday at Yosemite. It was the first time that any of us had seen it in the spring, and we can all recommend a trip at this time of year. It was definitely on the cool side, but so, so beautiful! Between the 3 of us, we took 100's of pictures!
We got back to Moss Beach on Tuesday afternoon, in time to do some laundry and get ready to go to Calistoga on Wednesday. We stayed at our favorite little cottage at Washington Street Lodging there. The weather was great - not hot like it was last October! We did lots of wine tasting, and visited lots of beautiful wineries. The grounds and gardens of the wineries are worth visiting, even if you don't taste. We spent Wednesday and Thursday nights in Calistoga, and came home on Friday, stopping for lots of photo opportunities along the way.
The 15th was Vivian's birthday, so we went to Teatro Zinzanni - a wonderful dinner show, to celebrate. It was lots of fun, and a great way to end a wonderful two weeks! The time went much too quickly, but we sure enjoyed the visit!
Thanks Jo, Susie, Jim, Dan and Clay, for a wonderful Christmas present for your Mom, and for us, too!!
Vivian, at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
Springtime at Filoli
The daffodils were still in bloom!
The flowering cherry in full bloom
Up close and personal with a sea otter at the Monterey Aquarium
Jelly fish!
Dragon sea horse
The white sand beach at Carmel
The Mission at Carmel
Such a beautiful mission!
Picnic at Pt. Lobos
It's so beautiful here - one of our favorite places!
Make this picture bigger and you can see the family of seals in the water, along with a new seal pup.
The family, sun bathing!
These seals climbed up some cliffs for their sun bathing!
California poppies!
Another beautiful spot at Pt. Lobos
Jim, Vivian, Pat and Lee at Hearst Castle
The castle!
Jim and Vivian at Hearst Castle
The guest house, Casa Del Mar
The view from inside the guest house
This statue is also viewed from the guest house
Picnic at Cambria!
You can see that the ocean was very busy behind us!
Talley Winery
The vineyards and view from Talley
Wine tasting!
The San Luis Obispo farmer's market. It was really, really cold there! Very unusual weather.
Yummy!
Avila Beach
Lee got this shot of this guy trying to get his bulk out of the water and onto the supports under the pier!
The iris farm! Unfortunately, we were about a week early for peak blooming, but it's going to be amazing when all of the iris are in bloom.
Beautiful iris
When we were at Hearst Castle, Jim found two wonderful prints that he got for Gary and Joyce.
Vivian, Lee, Jim holding Rex, Gary holding Atticus, Joyce and Cricket!
Getting ready to leave - Vivian, Pat, Jim & Rex, Gary & Atticus, Joyce and Cricket
Vivian and the SNOW!! Good grief!
The view of Yosemite Valley as you come through the tunnel
There is still lots of snow on the mountains, adding to the myriad of waterfalls!
Vivian, Pat and the beautiful Yosemite Valley
More snow!
Yosemite Falls
The road is constructed between these two huge boulders!
Yosemite Falls
Vivian, Pat and Yosemite Falls
Half Dome
The bear in the store/gift shop
Vivian gets a pat on the head, too!
This is an amazing bronze sculpture of John Muir in front of a mural of the valley
The famous Ahwahnee Lodge
Inside the lodge
That is one huge fireplace!
Vivian at Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Falls
Lee and Vivian, gazing at the waterfall
Vivian and Lee at Yosemite Falls
Half Dome, in all it's glory!
Bridal Veil falls
The Napa Valley! Our first stop was at V. Sattui!
Vivian in the garden at V. Sattui
Lee and Vivian at the Dutch Henry Winery
We got to tour the caves at Dutch Henry!
We had our picnic at Dutch Henry, and we were joined by their Airedale - she climbed right up on the bench between us, and enjoyed whatever we gave her!
This is how she was sitting - which put her face right at table height!
The Chateau and Fountain at Rubicon - the winery that used to be Inglenook. It's now owned by Francis Ford Coppola. Lee and Vivian by the fountain
Vivian and the fountain
Pat and Vivian with the chateau in the background
Heading home - Vivian and the Golden Gate bridge on a beautiful day!
Vivian's birthday at Teatro Zinzanni
Thanks, Vivian, for a wonderful time, and lots and lots of great memories!
