ROAD TRIP... SOLVANG, CALIFORNIA

Whilst there are several stops along Hwy 1 during our first day of the road trip, there was really only 1 stop on the second day. This stop was the town of Solvang.

Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish educators who wanted to escape the cold winter of the midwest. Can you blame them? Walking to school 5 miles in knee deep snow... uphill each way.

The city tries it's hardest to build every building in the Danish style, and because of this Mathew dubbed Solvang the Try-Hard Capitol of California.

While Solvang Sucks, it does make for some great photos! Which is probably why it was heavily featured in the Oscar-winning film Sideways.

Without further ado, here are some of the favourite photos:

Does this clock look like it came right out of an old martian movie?

A beautiful entrance to an Antique store.






Is the smorgasbord for the breakfast or the cocktails? I hope it's for cocktails!



A big clog sitting on the footpath. This may have been attached to a clog shoe shop. As you learned earlier, Solvang is the cutting edge in fashion.


Another clock?




Today in Solvang, The Son sat in a gigantic shoe, The Man saw the Pirrelli Training School in person and I wondered if the gigantic shoe was my size.

ROADTRIP.... BIG SUR

After a scary yet stunning drive cliff's edge drive along Highway 1 South from Carmel is the large region of Big Sur.

Big Sur is a large area known for it's large redwood trees and bohemian spiritual centres. In the 1920s there were only 2 homes in the entire area had electricity, the rest were powered locally by water wheels and windmills. This primitive set-up lasted until the early 1950s when Big Sur was finally connected to the power grid.

We decided to stretch our legs in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. In the air you can smell a mixture of pine and the humid sea mist. There is a reddish and green glow as the sun shines through the branched of the ancient trees.

Don't get lost in the poetry, you need to be on the look out for mountain lions!

This particular tree cross section can be dated back before the Magna Carta was signed, to save you looking the Magna Carta up on Wikipedia, it was signed in 1215.

In Big Sur, The Son climbed on top and any tree, rock or fence, The Man saw a mountain lion and I screamed (not because of the mountain lion, but because I realised I was wearing that shirt yet again!).

From Big Sur it was time to gain some ground and find a place to break for the night. Our goal was to get to San Simeon (home of the Hearst Castle) however, we missed the last tour of the castle (it was only 2:30) so we travelled onwards to a port town called Morro Bay, whose highlight was a big rock island in the bay and more seals.

VALUES

This was passed onto me from The Jason Show and I thought it was a lovely one because it really makes you think about what one values... or more specifically what I value.

It was interesting timing as I have just come back from the US, where it was a whirlwind of family, old friends and new friends and it really made me appreciate more of what my life is about, or at least made some things in my life more clear than they were previously.

Without further ado, here are the six things I value most:

1. FOOD - I love food, well-presented experimental food is my favourite (ie cauliflower panna cotta with caviar, for instance), but I cannot discredit the good old fashioned comforting favourites like peach pie, roast chickens or a patty melt with fries.

2. HONESTY - I should point out that these are in no particular order. I highly value honesty... which is odd since I am in marketing. I have always had a sixth sense for lies and the lying liars who tell the lies. There is just something inside of me that does not sit right when I am hearing a lie. Most lying is unnecessary (with some exceptions) and life would be so much easier if we could tell, be told and actually handle the truth.

3. FAMILY - Sometimes I forget the value of this one. I had a very rough childhood and we did not have a very strong knit family like others I knew. Once I was of legal age, I moved out of home to a city at least a 5 hour drive from anyone I knew.

4. FRIENDS - Family and Friends are one and the same, but I thought I would stretch it out into separate values.

5. MUSICALS - I love musicals. They are the meaning to life, there is a song whenever you need inspiration, death, life, love, hate, breaking up, boredom, sex, drunkenness.... the list continues. The real trick is to be able to sing them all on cue at the right time.

6. ART - Art is subjective so therefore art is everything and everything is art... or something. It is not so much what the artist intended, but what the piece makes you feel and think. There is not a city I travel to where I don't check out the museum. One of the coolest experiences was visiting the Art Institute of Chicago and seeing the painting that inspired the musical Sunday in the Park with George (see number 5).

I have one more, but I am only supposed to list 6 values... hmmm... OK since "Family" and "Friends" are one and the same for me, I am now officially recombining them back into one value.

This leaves me with:

6B - HARD WORK and RELAXATION - Another double value. I value hard work... what can I say, I am from the Midwest. I don't necessarily mean physical labour because, you know, yuck. I mean working above your best and at your hardest at whatever it is you do in life.

So whilst hard work is great, relaxation is better. I need at least one half day a week to myself to recharge. Usually I spend this time in bed, watching Little House on the Prairie or whatever the latest musical I have found on special at the DVD store.

Now it is 6 things I value the least:

1. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE - Yes, I am looking at you Laura with the brown teased hair, blue eyeshadow and frosted pink lipstick who works at the Thrifty counter the Cleveland airport and Miltha who works at the Northwest check-in desk at LAX.

2. BIGOTRY - We are all individual human beings, with unique abilities, traits, talents, loves, hates, beliefs so why can't we just be grown ups and accept that everyone is different? Of course in saying that, I do have my own bigotry of certain things (for instance teased hair, blue eye shadow and frosted pink lipstick) as we all do. I suppose the goal is to be able rise above them.

3. SLOPPY DRESS - There is a difference between casual and slovenly. If you wear it in bed, don't wear it to the shops.

4. BOSSYNESS - Unless it is me doing the bossing or it is Bossy

5. POORLY DESIGNED ADVERTISEMENTS

6. BROKEN PROMISES

Now according to the rules, I need to pass this along to 6 people. I thought that I would pass this along to 6 people whose blogs I read a lot, but who are not on my blog roll. I just need some time and will power to type their names on here with links.

ROAD TRIP... CARMEL

As we continue further down the California coast, the next stop on Highway 1 is Carmel-by-the-Sea.

With it's established gardens, thatch rooves, art galleries and fine dining Carmel is a beautiful (and well monied) town where every building looks like it was pulled right out of a fairy tale book.

Interesting fact: Clint Eastwood was once the mayor.

Depsite its picturesque setting, we only managed to get one photo:

Famous residents of Carmel include Clint Eastwood, Betty White, Doris Day, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Ansell Adams and Rupert Murdoch.

I recommend the coastal drive for anyone who visits California. It takes about 8 to 10 hours to drive from SF to LA, but we divided it over two days which was more than enough to see everything we needed to without left feeling overloaded by driving and site seeing.

If you still need convincing, here are some photos of the scenic drive.

On this day The Son slept the entire car ride, The Man loved all the old ladies driving their Jaguars and I thought I was going to die by driving directly over a cliff.

Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge!

ROAD TRIP... ON DOWN THE COAST

It was sad to leave San Francisco, we had such a good time, and wanted the good time to continue but we had to make our way down the California coast to reach Los Angeles.

The first stop along the coast was Monterey. If you are familiar with the author John Steinbeck, you no doubt will have read Cannery Row. Set in Monterey this novel revolved around the people who lived on this street which is dominated by sardine canning factories turned chic office buildings.

Monterey also has a cute little pier filled with restaurants that offer you teasers of clam chowder. The teasers are served in tiny plastic cups, however the real the meal is served in a bowl made from bread.

There is a fabulous candy shop that pulls its own salt water taffy in the window. The storefront was too fabulous to pass by without snapping a photo!

Doesn't the candy shop make you wish you were naked and covered in pink cotton candy?




A beautiful photo of The Man and The Son in front of the docks.

There were seals everywhere! They are noisy and smelly and oddly fascinating to watch.

Today The Son, The Man & I all ate onion rings from a real diner! They were fantastic until the third one, afterwhich our mouth were layered in grease.

Onwards we continue down the coast.

ROAD TRIP... FISHERMAN'S WHARF

4 days without the internet is what a hell must feel like...

The internet has been very spotty, just about every restuarant, coffee shop and hotel has wireless, it is just a matter of being in the right spot at the right time to get a signal... remember how the old mobile phones used to be? You had to climb on the roof, stand on one hand and point the phone in a northwest direction to even get a signal?

Finally to continue on with the San Francisco section of this program, we journeyed to Fisherman's Wharf.

The Wharf is where the city meets that bay and at one point in time it was full of pirates, sailors and guess what else? Fisherman!

Of course all of this has gone for large cruise ships, tourist shopping and a Hard Rock Cafe.

To get to Fisherman's Wharf, we had to walk up a giant and very steep hill, through Chinatown.

On Pier 33 (or was it 41? or 35?) There is the Musee Mechanique which houses the old penny arcade games. Mathew's favourite was this one:

After you dropped in the coin, these men started to tap dance.

To get back to our hotel, we took the cable car up a giant and very steep hill.

We have now officially completed our Rice-a-Roni tour of San Francisco and getting ready to head down the coast to LA.

Today, The Son ate a gigantic pretzel, The Man clogged the toilet and I ate a Twinkie.

TAG I'M IT!!!!

OK I was TAGGED by Grandma J whom I met for a fantabulous lunch in LA.

Before I go any further I must say that during my trip to the US I was regretfully unable to meet Sarah B at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment however I ran out of time to make it over to NYC!!!! A meeting, now matter how brief with Sarah B would have made an awesome end to my American journey.

Now back to the Grandma J tag, this tag has a few rules. I hate rules, but I love Grandma J, so here they are:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. GRANDMA J was my tagger!!

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random,
some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their
names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment
on their blog.

5. If you don't have 7 blog friends, or if someone else
already took dibs, then tag some unsuspecting strangers.

THE FACTS:

1. I was once in a handbell choir that played with The Cleveland Orchestra. If you do not know what a handbell choir is then you should look it up on Wikipedia or any thing BUT Google images (it is almost embarassing as Jason Show's clogging days!!!

2. I absolutely LOVE Godiva truffles. I cannot get Godiva chocolate in Australia and I am constantly craving Godivia. For my US road trip I am in Cleveland and a friend of mine just bought some Godiva truffles for me and they are Caramelised Apple Tart Truffles and they are to die for!!!

3. I didn't know that I would miss America as much as I would now that I have come back for a short visit.

4. I quit my job and started a new job which I worked in for 2 weeks before I took off for 4.5 weeks holiday.

5. I absolutely love 2 TV shows and must own them on DVD: Golden Girls and Little House on the Prairie (even though I HATE Mary Ingalls!!!!!!)

6. I have lived in Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Idaho, Illinois, Wisconsin and Western Australia. I have thought about living in Georgia, Louisiana, California and Hawaii.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

7. I am a pedigree dog snob. My three favourite pedigree dogs are A. Pug, B. Boston Terrier and C. French Bulldog.

Now I need to tag 7 people and I tag

1. The lovely and charming The Jason Show and his equally lovely and charming husband, Giancarlo (who does not have a blog:( )

2. The hunka hunka burning love Pumpkin Delight

3. Mom #1 over at Two Moms Homeschool

4. The delightful, de-lovely Sarah B

5. The gracious and delicious Oprah of bloggers (even though she will never do it) i am bossy

7. The funny, fabulously health conscious(how do you spell that word???), cat loving, yiddish-teaching Someone in a Tree

Oh WAIT!!! I missed number 6!!!

6. The hilarious (for a lesbian) and (whenever the bitch feels like posting) Ham & Cheese on Wry