Category Archives: Travel

The Rose Hotel in Pleasanton ~

At the end of the first day of our roadtrip last Saturday we stayed overnight at The Rose Hotel in Pleasanton.

It’s a European Boutique Hotel with lots of nice amenities. Located right on Main Street in downtown Pleasanton we had easy access to several restaurants, shops and fun sights. It was nice to walk after our long drive.

 

Our room was spacious with every creature comfort we would need.

 

We loved the fact that they had good coffee and spring water and a french press to make it with!

 

We recommend this lovely hotel especially if someone else if picking up the tab! :0)

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Finding Beauty ~ Pleasanton, California

Click on the badge above to join in the beauty with Claudia at Dipity Road.

We traveled 1200 miles over 3 days last weekend and we found lots of beauty along the way. We traveled from Camarillo, California north along Highway 101 stopping in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Gilroy, and then for our first overnight in Pleasanton, California.

 

Main Street in Pleasanton was a nice street with lots of great shops, wine tasting rooms and restaurants. The rain that fell on us for much of our journey subsided when we arrived in Pleasanton so we had a very nice walk before dinner. Our hotel was located on Main Street and I’ll publish a post about it soon.

 

This Veterans Memorial Building really stood out against the blue sky and clouds.

 

 

They changed the original verse from the Bible to read “for his country” instead of  “for his friends”. I’m including more of the context of this passage with the verses that follow. These are from the King James Version of the Bible.

John 15: 13-17

13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Thank you to Claudia for hosting “Finding Beauty” and I do hope you all have a beautiful Friday!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Where’s the Garlic?

Gilroy, California…The Garlic Capital of the World!

After breakfast in Santa Barbara we continued north on Highway 101 till we got to Gilroy. We wanted to stop here specifically because we had made a stop here way back in December of 1974 on our Honeymoon.

On one of my Goodwill outings I found The Garlic Lovers’ Cookbook Volume II from Gilroy. This is where I found this information.

“The first annual Gilroy Garlic Festival was held in August 1979 and drew over 30,000 people. Now the crowds exceed 120,000 each year for the three-day event with many people returning again and again for the food and fun of a fair dedicated to the enjoyment of garlic.”

“The big doings- guaranteed to take your breath away – will include a Grand Garlic Cook-off…”

While in Gilroy last Saturday we decided on lunch at the Garlic City Cafe. It was a good choice. We were determined to have garlic in the garlic city.

We started with the Cream of Garlic Soup and I was tempted to lick the bowl.

Then we split the Garlic Chicken Sandwich special of the day.  It really was a wonderful taste treat. We felt sorry for anyone we would come in contact with the rest of the day because I’m sure we took the essence of Gilroy with us for miles north…

Thank you Gilroy for the trip down Memory Lane…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Day One ~ Highway 101 North…

I’m slowly getting organized here in Washington. Emphasis on slowly. It’s good to remind myself this is not one of my short trips here but I’m here for the long haul so I have time to get things in order at a slower pace. Today I’m going back to our first day on the road with two full cars headed North on Highway 101.

 

Traveling this route we were able to see rough surf which we think was caused partly by the earthquake in Chili. We stopped at The Boathouse Restaurant in Santa Barbara and were amazed at the force of the waves. Everything was brown from the force of the water stirring up the sand. If you are ever in Santa Barbara we would recommend The Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach for a meal and a nice view of the Pacific.

 

The rain stopped for a while after breakfast and I was able to get a couple shots of the area.

 

This river feeds into the Pacific at Hendry’s Beach.

Photo upload at the Homestead here in Washington is pretty dismal so my posts will be slow and easy till I get all caught up from our trip. My computer is slow and I am slow. I’ve had to double check to see what day of the week it is, too. So moving along in the slow theme I’ve got something cooking in the slow cooker for dinner! Hope your Wednesday is going well…yes, it’s Wednesday.

Oh I guess I’ll link up with Outdoor Wednesday at Susan The Southern DayDreamer since it’s Wednesday….all day…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

She’s Flying the Coop!

Flying north to spend some time with my mijas and mijos! I’ll be here, there, and everywhere so I don’t know how much time I’ll have to be on the computer. We’re having an Open House/Party for our son Dan on Friday night that I’ll be spending time preparing for. Dan departs on Saturday and then we’re having an out of town guest arrive on Saturday for a few days. We might have a Superbowl party at our house on Sunday. I’m looking forward to seeing that controversial commercial. Just be assured I haven’t disappeared off the face of the blogisphere. I’ll be back soon with lots of news to share.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Back From Sun Country…

where it snowed on us and I didn’t use my sunglasses once until this morning at the Albuquerque Sunport!

 

It was good to be with my sons and see them enjoy each other! Hey, Willow, if you look closely you’ll see I’m wearing the scarf you knitted for me. Josh and I stood out like foreigners in New Mexico with our scarves on!

 

Josh and Dan at the Carlsbad Caverns

 

On our way up to the caverns Dan spotted a herd of these great looking Big Horn Critters. I’m going to be looking them up to see what they are.

I have so much to post but will need some time recuperating from my travels…Hope to see you all soon.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Up, Up, and Away…

 

UP

 

UP

 

AND AWAY!

Have a great Saturday everyone and you’ll be hearing from me from the Great Northwest soon!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Round Robin Photo Challenge ~ In Motion

It’s time for another Round Robin Photo Challenge and this time around the theme is “in Motion”.  Click on the Robin above to get to the Round Robin Photo Challenge blog and see the participants for this challenge..

 

My daughter and I headed up to Canada this past Tuesday. We visited the Aquarium in Stanley Park and all my motion shots are from the Aquarium and of my daughter walking along the break wall in Stanley Park.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great Saturday!!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Eating Our Way Through Two Countries!!

 

My daughter Katie and I set out on a rainy adventure through the top left corner of the U.S.A. to Canada on Tuesday. Just before we got to the border of the U.S.A. and Canada we stopped at the Blackberry House Cafe in Blaine. Friends of ours own the cafe and we wanted to check it out since we were in the neighborhood. What a great spot for some good eats and good coffee. We had a little visit and bought some fresh bread to take home. Make sure you stop by sometime at H street and 3rd!

 

Here are the owners and our yummy breakfast. Aaron is a pastry chef. Sorry the photo is a little blurry…

They let us across the border after a few questions as to our purpose for visiting the fine country of Canada. We told them we were visiting to go to lunch. They wanted to know where we planned to eat. We said “Stanley Park”. They wanted us to be more specific so we said, “The Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park”. That was the right answer so they let us proceed!

 

I think our food choices at the Teahouse Restaurant look like something you’d get served on Top Chef. Don’t let the name of this restaurant fool you. It’s not about the Tea here but it is about some very good food.

After lunch we spent some time at the Aquarium in Stanley Park and then enjoyed seeing some beautiful views under dry skies before we headed back to the Border.

When we got to the border we were asked some more questions to see if we were worthy to re-enter our country. They were concerned about agricultural products. They wanted to know where we ate, too. I’m wondering if the Border Patrol are compiling a book on most frequented eateries in Canada…

 

After all those questions about food we got hungry again and stopped at Taco Lobo in Bellingham. Lovella had given this spot a good review and she was right. We got there at 4:45 and ordered our food and as our food arrived the place filled up to overflowing.

If nothing else you can rest assured if you ever travel with us you won’t be hungry!!

And just for the curious if you have a smooth border crossing you can make it from my house to Vancouver in 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

We Made it Through the Storm!!

Our trip to Vancouver B.C. was a great contrast in light and dark, wet and dry, stormy clouds and blue skies. When we hit downtown Vancouver and turned onto Georgia St. the rains came down in buckets and I’m not exaggerating. Rivers formed within minutes on the downtown streets.

We got to Stanley Park and found the right road to get to the Teahouse Restaurant and it was fun to hear the big plops of rainwater hitting our car off the huge trees. We got out of the car to run into the restaurant and it was like someone was standing over us pouring water out of a pitcher onto our heads. We ate lunch in the conservatory type room and enjoyed seeing the rain all around us.

 

After lunch we decided the best option for this day would be to go to the Aquarium.

After our time at the Aquarium we were treated to some beautiful dry skies.

I’ll be posting photos from lunch, the aquarium, and more from Stanley Park as the week goes on.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.