Go West!

What a grand way to begin a new year ~ with a vacation!


We took a real one.

By real, I mean: not work training; not for a child's play or activity; not to help out with maintenance and upkeep somewhere else.

Not that any of those reasons are not good, and do not make for a good trip or vacation. They are. But to just play? Just the Hubs and me? Priceless!

The furthest West I have been is Colorado. And this trip took us further to California. And did we make the most of it.

The first two nights in Carmel with my husband's Aunt and Uncle - unbelievable hosts; and the next 3 nights in San Francisco. I won't bore you with a lot of words, but I just HAVE to share some of the pictures of the beautiful sites we saw.

Having never seen the Pacific, I don't know if I had given much thought to the possibility that it might be different than the Gulf and the Atlantic.

It was! I was amazed at the blue. The deep blue that it is. Absolutely breathtaking.

 

I am amazed, even though I do not know why, that the Gulf, the Atlanta and the Pacific can each have such different shades of color in the water that laps at each shore. There is no reason why not, especially when we think how each individual is unique. But it still amazed me. And amazed I wanted to be.  

Our first Pacific stop was Carmel Meadows. A little neighborhood with a beach access.  We found out later, when we made it Paul and Sue's, that we had not been far from Betty White's home.

Now that would have been a treat too.

But the treats were not over for the day. As Paul and Sue spoiled us with their tour of the area (day 1 of the tours), we were all treated by an unanticipated show of nature.

We stopped at Monastery Beach, right around from where we had first touched the sand of the Pacific.

We were about to walk back to the car when Paul spotted something.

We turned and watched and after a minute or so we saw it...

A whale siting on our first day, without having to board a whale watching vessel.  Not bad, not bad at all!

And it wasn't just one, there were two.

... And a smile for the road.

Our first day was fueled by less than two hours of sleep - we had an ordeal with a flight canceled and trying to get to Atlanta for our morning flight - but I think regardless of the fatigue, this was a day fully appreciated and we were fully washed with treats.  As dinner cooked, we watched the above sunset from the porch of Paul and Sue.   A wonderful ending to an amazing day!   Smiles!

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