Christmas at Grover Beach

As you know from our previous posts, we did something different for Christmas this year!  We went to Grover Beach and spent the holiday with Jim and Rex!  Grover Beach was experiencing summer weather, so aside from the fact that I hadn't packed appropriately, that was a huge bonus as the rest of the country had VERY cold conditions.

Jim had Tuesday and Wednesday off from work, so we were able to plan our holiday dinner, which was totally non-traditional!  We decided that a "beach" theme would be good so Jim bar-b-qued steaks!  They were wonderful!  We had various side dishes, but no potatoes/gravy or stuffing.  Jim's neighbor, Fred, joined us for dinner and we had a good time!

We got to "skype" with the Murphy's and with Gary, Joyce, Mark and Alisha in Idaho, so we touched base with most of the family on Christmas day.

There was definitely a "theme" to gift-giving this year - the Richey's and Murphy's sent the three of us a great wine gift basket with lots of goodies in it AND 4 bottles of wine!!  We had gotten Jim a bottle of wine and Gary and Joyce sent us a bottle of wine, too!  You can see the Idaho ornaments on two of the bottles - gifts from Mark and Alisha.

On Thursday Jim went back to work and Rex went to Doggie Day Care!  Lee and I went to Cambria and spent quite a bit of time beach-combing.  It was HOT at the beach - about 84 degrees, so a wonderful place to be.

On Friday we went south and spent the afternoon in Solvang - a great little Danish town.  It was all dressed up for Christmas and really pretty.  We did lots of walking, browsing, shopping and finally finished up with a beer at an Irish pub!  Funny how no matter where we go we always find an Irish pub!!

On Saturday and Sunday the four of us just relaxed and enjoyed the incredible weather!  We did some wine-tasting up in Paso Robles and discovered the Opolo Winery - excellent wine if you ever come across it.  We took a long walk along the boardwalk into Pismo Beach, which Rex really enjoyed.

Then it was Monday.  Jim had to go back to work and we left to go home, picking Sean up at the train in Grover Beach along the way.

Merry Christmas from Grover Beach!  Wine, anyone?

Steaks!  Served on the platters that originated from the Desert Inn in the Fresno area in the 1950.

Waves crashing at Moonstone Beach in Cambria

Lots of beach goers on December 26th!

This estuary is at Morro Rock and that is a group of sea otters floating in on the tide

Solvang windmill!

Horse-drawn trolley to get you around town.  We walked!

Most of the shops had decorated trees outside with decorations that reflected their business

This one was outside a needlework shop and these are packages of embroidery floss hanging on it - very clever!!

And outside the bakery?  Pretzels on the tree!

The clam used to be actual currency in Pismo Beach long ago.  There are still clam sculptures around town and they dress them up to fit the seasons!

Every winter Monarch butterflies from all over the Pacific northwest migrate to this grove of eucalyptus trees in Pismo Beach.  There are literally thousands of them hanging in the trees.

We visited this winery, also in the Paso Robles area.  The owners are a retired actor and a former Miss America!  The wine was really good and in the tasting room they served beer bread!!  I had forgotten about beer bread and how good it is!!

Justin is a well-known winery.  We did some wine-tasting there on the patio, overlooking the foothills.  The wine was wonderful!  Nice to taste wine that we could never afford to buy!

Our wine-tasting spot.  Rex was not terribly impressed!

Thanks, Jim, for a great holiday.  And for the little dose of "summer" in December!!

Happy New Year!!