California Day 7 - Last Day ! BOOO HOOO !!

Happy Easter!

This morning I was pleasantly surprised with a nice Easter breakfast of whole wheat pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice that Rhoda had prepared for Brynn and me. Today was the day that Brynn was to perform at the Ragged Point Restaurant and resort. This restaurant was about a 45-minute drive from Cambria. The weather was good, no rain, a bit cloudy though, but good enough to play outside. Michael, Brynn’s boyfriend was going to bike up here from his house, a good 2-hour bikeride. He arrived at 11am, just as Brynn was about to leave with her mom to Ragged Point.

Michael rested, had a bite to eat and drink and was strong enough to continue his journey to Ragged Point on his bike. He rode a total of about 70 miles this day. Claude and I were to join Rhoda and Brynn and Michael at 1pm, so we left at about 12, did some errands in town including picking up my now ready fired coffee mug I had made earlier in the week at the arts and crafts shop on that first rainy day. We then continued on Hwy 1 to Ragged Point. Just past the entrance to Hearst Castle, on the seaside we could see that there were many Elephant Seals up on the beach. I asked Claude to stop, in order to take to pictures.

It was wonderful to see these mammoth animals swimming around, and laying on the beach soaking up the sun. They would lie so still they kind of looked like there were dead, but they weren’t!

We climbed back into the van and continued on to Ragged Point. As we pulled up to park we could see Brynn busily performing outside on the patio to the Restaurant guests; it was a wonderful site to see!

We sat at the corner table, and listened to Brynn serenade us and the rest of the guests for Easter Brunch. At one point she played her parents request piece of the Easter Parade Song. The story behind that work is so cute… last night around 9pm, I heard some singing coming out of Rhoda’s bedroom. She was singing the theme from the Easter Parade film to Claude as he was writing out the music, so as Brynn had the music to perform today at the restaurant. A special request from her parents, but they had to provide the music first. This in the end was a real family team effort, as Rhoda sang it, Claude wrote it out on Music manuscript, and then Brynn performed it for them, a very special moment.

In this picture you can see Brynn's cute Tip basket on the chair to which later became quite full !! Later Brynn performed for me a special work, the Meditation from the Opera Thais; Martin played this piece a year ago at my dad’s funeral. I really appreciated the gesture and she played it beautifully. So our waitress came and took our orders, and Claude, Rhoda, Michael and I had a wonderful lunch out on the patio while being serenaded by Brynn.

About an hour later, Rhoda and Claude took off to go home in one car, and Michael and I stayed to the end of Brynn’s performance for the afternoon of 4pm. At one point Michael and I went for a little walk around the grounds and I took some spectacular shots of the coast!

So Brynn happily was done for today, she made $200 for playing and $100 in tips, not bad for 4 hours work! Brynn, Michael and I then piled into the Van, with Michael’s speed bike all packed up in the back of the Van, and drove about 4 miles north on Hwy 1 to take a look at Salmon Falls.

It was a nice last view of part of Hwy 1 since my trip tomorrow to San Francisco, will be taken up and over the mountains inland, not along the coast. Brynn’s parents are driving me early tomorrow morning to San Francisco, as Brynn is still not able to drive for that length of time because of her still sore back. The only thing left this evening to do is pack, but first Brynn, Michael and I are going to play some fun games. So into the garage Brynn went, and came out with a box that brought us back to 1971. First of all I made some popcorn, and then we settled down to play our first game of " KerPlunk!" it was hilarious !

I haven't played that game in over 30 years ! Then we played " Tiddly Winks, and then ended with a game of " Sorry" what a hoot, and what a great way to end my vacation here in California. Now its time to pack my suitcase, which will take 10 minutes and then off to bed , as we are leaving at 7:30am tomorrow morning.

I would say all in all, I had the best vacation ever !

This was just perfect, I highly recommend everyone to come and visit the central coast of California, forget LA forget Florida, this is were its at! Thank you so much Brynn for inviting me and being the best guide a person could have, and thank you Claude and Rhoda for letting me stay in your more than perfect home !

I will be back !!!!! as Arni would say….

California Day 6

When I entered the living room early this morning I found Brynn laying on her back on the floor. She had a terrible backache! She pulled a muscle in her back and was in extreme pain. She announced that she was going to go down to the physical therapist at the clinic where she works, and have the specialist do some work on her. Poor Brynn, and she has such a big concert tomorrow, Easter Sunday. So off she went with her dad to the clinic. I made myself some breakfast, grabbed my MP3 player and a book and decided to take advantage of the still gorgeous weather outside and sit on the porch.

The weather was perfect, and I didn’t mind at all to stay home today, and just relax. Claude came back within the hour and left Brynn at the clinic. He started working around the garden and did some chores and planting.

Later on Brynn came back, she was feeling a bit better, and a little more relaxed. Taking advantage of her more relaxed state, she decided to do some more practicing and preparing for the concert tomorrow.

I continued the soak up the sunrays. I think I was getting some colour on my face, at least I could feel it. We broke for lunch, Brynn didn’t have any, but Claude and Rhoda joined me on the deck picnic table for lunch.

After lunch I asked Claude if he could drop me off in town to do some shopping. I wanted to buy Claude and Rhoda a gift for there overwhelming hospitality to me, plus something for Brynn. I found a wonderful, plant holder for Claude and Rhoda made from copper to put in the backyard, and looked like a dog ! For Brynn I found this cute little replica of her new motorcycle. She placed it proudly on top of her TV in her bedroom. Claude met me in town at about 4pm. He picked up his pre-ordered freshly BBQ’d ribs that we were going to have for dinner this evening. They were amazing, cooked on an open, wood fire! We closed off this evening with watching the Hearst film I had bought at the Hearst Castle 2 days ago. A nice relaxing day, and yes indeed I did get a lot of colour ! That California sun is very, very strong!

California Day 5

After a good nights sleep I was overjoyed to wake up to the sound of chipping birds, and blue sky ! California style! Today was wine tasting day. Brynn’s dad was busy outside in the garden doing all his chores. He adored a wonderful bright blue "gas station Johnny" jumper suit , with huge rubber rain boots and a fishing hat. It was worthy of a photo which will be posted later. Brynn and I left at 10am, with a partially packed lunch ( more to add later.. ) to a short coastal visit and drive.

We drove to the "Morro Strand" where I experienced actually walking on a beach from paradise.

I collected some souvenirs, some rocks and drift wood. We then went to the local supermarket called "Spencers", to buy some sandwiches. We both choose lovely turkey. Our next destination was an old scenic road called "Old Creek Road". To our disappointment the road was closed due to landslides. But that didn’t stop Brynn ! She broke the barriers and barreled up the hill, determined to get thru to Hwy 46, at the top of the hill, where we were last night. BUT ! no go, we were forced to turn around after traveling about 5 miles ( 10km) by many yellow men with hats and big tools ! ha.. ha.. ha.. So.. back we went.. a 45 minutes detour ! Darn, but we did get to see the wonderful water reservoir, "Elephant Rock". So back to were we started. We drove back to Cambria, and took it over the hill to Hwy 46. It was gorgeous . York Mountain road, where the "York Mountain Winery" was located was our first stop. Here I had my first taste of California Gold ! We were able to taste several red wines. And for Free ! The Wine attendant gave me a crash course in wine tasting. I had to first swirl the wine around in the glass, then smell it at the same time. I then was to drink a small sip, and put it under my tongue, and in the sides of my mouths to accept the full bouquet. It was an experience I’d never had before. I then had to pour the rest of the wine into the appropriate wine spittoon that was provided. For one does not drink more than one or two sips. I then had to take a bit of a cracker to clean my palette. The next wine was served… same ritual.. I actually was able to begin to detect the fruitiness, or the woodiness or Smokey flavors as well as crispness or dark bold colours in the wines as well. We tasted in total 4 different red wines, which totaled about ½ a glass of wine. Brynn bought the both of us the one we liked the most, the Cabernet, from 2004. Continuing on down around this windy road, we caught the next road which was the main winery road called "Vineyard".

Nothing need be said about that word. We saw vineyard after vineyard, it was wonderful. Brynn had of course researched which ones to go to. We were to drive to the farthest winery called "Justin Winery". The weather was more perfect than perfect by this point.

Here we decided to have our picnic....

The sun caressed our skin like a blanket of warm velvet and soothed our souls. After lunch we went inside the main house to the tasting room which was handsomely appointed with French mustard yellow walls, and racks of wine.

This is the real tasting began. No bottle of wine less than $40US .There was such an obvious difference in the two winery in product quality. Brynn and I were slowly becoming snobs !

Joining the wino troops of Yuppies traveling down from San Francisco and up from L.A. pretending that they knew what the hell they were doing too ! But really what we all wanted to do was get drunk for Free ! with that in mind I purchased a $50US bottle of wine ! And no we didn't get drunk ! as we were coached earlier in the day how to wine taste the proper way, and threw out about 1 full glass of wine back into the spittoon.

I will leave the expert taster my sister Ineke to decide if it was well worth it ! It was getting late in the afternoon, and Brynn wanted to stop at the one and only "Olive Branch" olive oil making farm in this area. It was open and 2 sweet dogs, a black lab and a jack Russell welcomed us at the gates. From wine tasting to olive oil tasting we were bringing to feel the need to pop a TUMS or two for our now upset stomachs.

So the tasting time was over, after purchasing a lovely Orange flavored Olive Oil, more expensive than the first bottle of wine we purchased earlier today. The drive out of wine country on Peachy Canyon road was a splendid taste of the natural world, for all we saw was indeed nature, no houses and no cars. One last taste of nature was the wonderful sight outside the car window of 2 Deer grazing the along side the road.There were about 10 feet away from me,they were started by us, took a pee and ran off into the forest. Wine country ended abruptly by entering the township of Paso Robles, a cowboy town. It’s a good thing we did get into town, as I needed to go to the store to buy another Videotape, as the one in the camera was finished. Michaels house was now the next and final destination for today. Arriving there at about 5pm, he was not home yet. Brynn went inside to practice on her violin, and I sat out side on the drive to soak up the last days sun rays. Michael biked up to the house at about 5:30, and immediately started the chore of cleaning and preparing the BBQ for this evenings dinner of Chicken.

We had a wonderful dinner together, and by now Brynn and I were very tired and exhausted and decided to make our way home.

California Day 4

So as I mentioned last night, today our big trip to the Hearst Castle. After enjoying a nice bowl of Cream of Wheat that Rhoda prepared for us, Brynn and I left at about 10am for the castle. We arrived at the visitor’s center only to find that indeed the tour we were about to embark on would include having to climb about 200 stairs. Brynn suggested we find out if we could join the special disabled tour, which meant NO stairs at all. After visiting the proper office to arrange this, we were happy to learn that indeed we were able to take the special disabled tour after all. We had some time to kill before the tour was to start at 12:20, so we decided to go and see the film about William Randolph Hearst, in the newly build movie theatre. I am so glad we did, not only was it a spectacular movie on a huge IMAX screen, it was done extremely well, of course lots of money was able to generate the quality, but as well we had learned all about the inspiration behind the building of this castle and how it was done, therefore being able to later enjoy the tour even more. After the screening I bought the available DVD to take home to show the rest of the family plus it’s a great souvenir.


At 12:20 Brynn and I made our way over to the private bus. The 2 of us, plus 2 other boys from Indonesia, (one had a sprained ankle) were the only ones in the bus. We traveled up 5 miles of a very winding road, up to the top of the mountain were the castle was situated. From there we first got a to see the indoor Roman pool , then we got into a golf cart, the 4 of us, and our private tour guide gave us a tour of the grounds. We saw, the tennis courts, the outdoor Greek pool and the private guesthouses.
We were able to also enter one of the guesthouses as well. They were just stunning, with each room decorated in beautiful, very costly furnishing and painting. The view from the bedroom alone was breathtaking,
looking down to San Simeon Pier that I had visited the day before.
our tour continued around the grounds, and finally at into back of the main house, where we were able to enter the enormous kitchen . From the kitchen we then entered the Dinning hall, adorned with Belgium tapestries and 300-year-old silver candleholders. The table was set, including a bottle of Ketchup and mustard from the 1930’s. Mr. Hearst and his film star guests occupied the 26 chairs that lined this long teak table. The upper gallery was a small balcony for the various musicians that performed at the dinners. From the Dinning Hall we then entered the waiting room, this room was where the guests would have a pre dinner chat and cocktail. Once Mr. Hearst shows up , they then entered the dinner hall for their evening meal. From here we went to the room that was between the dinning hall and the billiard room,

which was designed for the women to freshen up in the powder room and the men to have an after dinner drink and a cigar before they would all continue on to the billiard for a few games of pool. After the pool games they were invited by Mr. Hearst into his 100 seat private art deco movie theatre for the evening movie which usually included his girlfriend/actress Marion Davies. This was then the end of the tour. We made out way back down the road to the visitors center to even more gorgeous weather. Later that afternoon we traveled along Hwy 46 on out way to finally visit Michael, Brynn’s new boyfriend, in Atascadero. This Hwy is traveled about 4 times weekly by Brynn and is one of the most scenic commutes I have ever experienced.

We stopped and took some photos of the rolling green hills that extended down all the way to the sea. it was like a painting ! we continued on to Cowboy country ! Yee haaa… we entered Michaels town, and I counted 10 pickup trucks that drove by in 20 seconds.. this is the land of pick up trucks… ??? so we then drove to Michaels quaint yellow ranch style house with flowers in the front, and found a garage full of Motorcycles and bikes. Michael greeted us… we then all went to see the evening farmers market in San Luis Obispo. A wonderful market full of fresh produce and lots of smoking BBQ stands. Street musicians and artists alike, people making political statements and every kind of person you could imagine enjoying this wonderful array of natures wonders. We bought some fruit, and headed back to the van, were we then decided to go and have dinner at a great Mexican Restaurant called La Mexicana. What a great day, we ended out meal, said our goodbyes, and Brynn and I drove back over the hills in the full moon light, the light was so strong it guided us safely home !

California Day 3

I awaked from a very good night sleep only to find Brynn on her way out the door to her part-time job as physical therapist assistant
(more later.. ) I had some breakfast and was trilled to see that FINALLY the sun was shinning! I went out to the patio deck and just sat on the bench and soaked up the Vitamin A that the sun was sharing with me. It felt so wonderful! It was just a perfect temperature, about 18 degrees. At 9:45 Rhoda and I hopped into the Van and drove to Brynn’s work. . She works in a small Gym like looking place right in the middle of the town of Cambria. She helps manly elderly patients with there exercises. Accompanying them on the various exercise machines. At about 11am we both got into the van and drove to a tiny tourist oriented village up Hwy. 1 to the Silver Surf Motel in San Simeon, were Brynn needed to continue her work as a pool aerobic exercise instructor, this is a public aerobics class which can be attended by anybody. I opted to take the van and continue north to a very famous cove/beach named San Simeon pier. ” it happened to be adjacent to the entrance to the Hearst Castle visitors center . The San Simeon pier was used back when the Hearst Castle was being built and later for all of the shipped items for the castle. Ranging from food to building material, just everything! There the sun was still shinning brightly and I took some more pictures, it was now a pleasant 22 degrees

I then drove back to Brynn at the motel, as she was finished her class at 12pm. We then went to have lunch at a nice seaside restaurant called Moonstone beach bar and grill after lunch we went back to town, and I dropped Brynn off at the physical therapy center, then I took the van, and parked in town. I walked around town a bit. I visited a local souvenir gift store that was owned by Brynn’s cousin. There I bought a book about this area. I then drove back to the house and had a nice cup on tea and a cookie, with Rhoda. Rhoda went off and did some shopping for tonight’s dinner. She later came back, and at 5pm I went off in the van to go and pick Brynn up from work. Brynn and I then drove to a ranch owned by the city of Cambria called the East/West Ranch, a nature preserve with numerous hiking trails in which we have chosen the cliff side trail, there we walked for about a mile, along the coast,

We could look right down the cliffs at the waves crashing against the rocks and up to the bright green hillsides with patches of forest areas and bursting vegetation . Let us not forget about all of the new flowers. There were hand made wooden benches made from the driftwood that had washed up from the ocean. It was my first experience of a heavenly California sunset, but most certainly not my last!

We drove home and Brynn got busy cooking in the kitchen, tonight a great pork chop meal, in front of the TV with her mom and we are going to watch a film “ Being Julia”

This was a really nice Day! I just love it here!

I announced to Brynn today that I would be coming back here every single March for the next 30 years!

Tomorrow lots of exciting things to happen, starting at 11am with a tour of Hearst Castle!

California Day 2

This morning I woke up very early, feeling like its 9am, its really only 6am. I met Claude in the kitchen; he was busy preparing himself to go out to the gym for a work out. Slowly the whole house was waking up. When Claude got back from the gym, we all sat down together for a nice, Dutch style, breakfast. After breakfast I went for a little walk outside and took some video and pictures. The rain had finally stopped and I was able to enjoy a dry spell. Once Brynn and Rhoda were ready we all piled into the van and went out to see a bit of Cambria. We went down to the local and closest beach, only to find that half of the beach had been just wiped away but a flash flood. It had rained some much in the last 24 hours that part of the beach was washed away by a very overflowing creek that meets the ocean below. as shown in this picture. We then continued our little tour, and went into town. There Rhoda dropped me and Brynn off, it was alreay 1pm by this time, and we went for small bit to eat at a small eatery that was next to the physical therapy clinic where she works a few times a week. After lunch we continued walking around town, and then headed off to the do-it-yourself crafts shop. There Brynn and I did some crafts,
I worked on decorating a coffee mug and Brynn was working on a kind of creation of sorts… at one point Rhoda walked in, after finishing her grocery shopping. And she continued to work on her project, and ceramic coffee tray. What a great place. So therapeutic as well… there should be a center like this in every community! Every one needs to be creative once in a while, and this is a great outlet. This store was set up by a kind of Martha Steward type of women who actually also had her own Crafts show on TV. She set this up for the locals, and tourist alike to visit a be creative, especially on raining days like this one, as of course the rain started to come down in buckets once again. I finished my mug, and the owner will fire it in the Kiln at the end of the week, and I should have it back by Sunday before I leave. We said our goodbyes and then headed off back home again. There we sat and talked had a nice dinner together, Brynn cooked, and later I watched some TV as Brynn continued to practice her violin in preparation for this Sunday’s Easter recital. The rain stopped for a while, I did actually see the sun and blue sky, but that was for only a short time, as right now at 11:36pm its raining once again...….. !!!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring lots of sun !

CALIFORNIA ... HERE I AM !

This is a picture of the landscape around Cambria

My Trip to California, Day 1

So after a long long day of traveling I am finally here in Cambria ! it's 9:00pm California time. After driving through a fresh layer of snow early this morning in Toronto, I took a flight to Chicago then on to San Francisco. I arrived in S.F at about 2:00. There I met Brynn, with open arms. We piled into her borrowed parents Van, and we then hearded out on the highway away from S.F. and on to the coast. We took hwy no. 1 all along the coast down from Montrey and Carmel. Little did I know what was in store ! it unfortunatly was raining by now, and it was a bit hard to see in the distance, never the less, the views were breathtaking. Many rolling green hills/mountians on the left side, and on the right, was the vaste angry Pacific Ocean. The waves were crashing against the cliffs and rocks below sending a spray white wash up high into the air. I learned a new word - " Sea Stack" that is a rock that has been carved by thousands of years of smashing water, and ends up looking like different shape statues and underneath the water they extend down hundreds of feet ! At this point I had to stop Brynn, so as I could retrive my Video camera to also record these wonders. This Highway is literally carved into the mountian side. We stoped at Big Sur and viewed some California Redwood trees. Found ourselves in a lush evergreen forest enjoying a peanutbutter and chocolate ice cream cone in this wet, dark, cool crappy weather... but it tasted great and hit the spot. Brynn was really happy with the lack of tourists in the campground gift shop, we were they only ones there ! in the summer it's packed ! you can't move in the giftshop ! After Big Sur, we sure were in a big hurry to catch the fading light. By this time it was about 5pm, and we still had another 2 hour drive ahead, with now lots of hairpin turns, at very low speeds. Plus the rain continued ...the view became more spectatcular at every turn, I wanted Brynn to stop, but I knew we were really on a tight time schedule, as I was not looking forward to attempted to drive hairpin turns, in the rain, followed by treacherous cliff drops to the ocean in pitch blackness.... The lighthouse was our beacon. The light represented Cambria, at each turn, we finally got closer. There was no cell phone coverage on either of our phones, so if we were to drive off the cliff, no body would know. By this time as well, Brynn was getting very tired, as she drove for 7 straight hours. Her Mom, called many times, but could not when we were on this most extraodinary highway. Finally we saw the lights of this sweet small Town of Cambria. A town about the same size as Huntsville. She gave a quick tour of the town, and finnally drove up the hill to her parents house. But the trip was not over yet, because she warned me of the fabulous easter decorating job that the neighbor suzy had done to the outside of her house. So driving up the street, I was overjoyed and laughing my head off as I saw the lit up Bunnies and eggs lining her neighbors driveway ! The easter eggs were hanging like icycles from the eaves like christmas lights , it was quite the site ! ONLY IN CAAAALIFOOORRRNIA...

I was greated by 2 very relieved parents... we had a nice cup of tea... and now we are off to bed !

First Day of Spring !?

Even though today is offically the first day of Spring, it sure as hell didn't feel like it!

My Sister Melinda took off for Ocho Rios, Jamaica today, nice and warm.. hummmm !

As you can see we are still in the deep freeze here in Toronto, here is our beach ! when I took this picture today, the wind was blowing very hard, and its about
1 degree Celsius.

now the beach(es) that I will be seeing on Monday in California will be quite different, and hopefully a lot more inviting !

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's Day. There was a large parade down Yonge Street right outside my apartment. I thought to take a few shots of the event.

Of course lots of pipe and drum bands ...

It was nice, good weather for once... who would want to march down 3 km of road in the middle of the winter. But the sun was shinning and saint patty did approve. So if you go to an Irish pub today, which by the way is right accross from Ineke's apartment, you can enjoy GREEN beer ! ... no thanks !

Like Milo I will just stay home and enjoy the sun that is streaming into my apartment

I do miss Easter in Holland

Oh my god, talk about a picture that tells a thousand words. My mouth is watering !!

I do so miss Easter in Holland, the tradition of having and enjoying such wonderful chocolate creations as shown above in this picture. When I lived in Amsterdam, my mom would come every Easter for about 2 months; enjoying all the many Easter like treats, and many nice get togethers and parties with our family.

I will be celebrating Easter Sunday this year in California.. Now I wonder what that will be like ? My friend Brynn told me that the area is covered in beautiful blooming spring flowers now.

Very Romantic!

I just had to post this picture ! It is just so typically Dutch.. but not.. Holland has had a lot of snow this past week, and this picture taken of a famous hotel and spa in Den Haag called Kurhaus Hotel; showing how wonderful a horse drawn sleigh ride could be on the Beach !

We still have alot of snow here in Toronto. In fact its snowing as I type this, but no where here in Toronto do we have such a picturesque place or site.

Vanessa

Last night a new good friend of mine came over for dinner.
Vanessa, she is a clarinetist with the Oshawa Symphony and an Actress.

Also a neat trivial connection , is that her mom is Nicholas's Doctor !

Small world!

Any way, Vanessa and I had a nice dinner and talked deep into the night about relationships, music, politics, being Jewish ... stuff.. intellectual interesting stuff !

I really love have friends over to my place. I took this picture of her last night.. she is quite narcissistic, so she had to choose which one I was aloud to post.

Happy Birthday Noor !

Today Mom and I went to see and celebrate Noor Haslam's 80th Birthday !
It was again a freezing cold day ! with the windchill -28.. but we made our way up north to Marham, and in the end really glad we did. The Haslams are very close to our family, we all go way,way back; as Noor and my mom met year ago in the first place because they were both interested in Weaving. Now many years and laughs later we are still enjoying each others company.

As you can see we celebrated in true dutch form, as all Dutch birthdays are, in a circle !

Happy Birthday Noor, you are a trooper !

Easter is around the corner

So Toronto is still deep in the snow ! although with the daily temperatures getting higher, like today is +5 degrees, the snow is finally melting. Now my daily park walk include having to deal with a very muddy dog!
Not too much has happened this last week, work wise, I finished 2 grant applications and did some needed accounting administration. I had a nice weekend with visiting my sister and watching some great videos. Ineke and I also ventured out to IkEA on saturday. As I still had a $100 gift certificate from Amici and had not used it yet. Ineke and I love IKEA ! but you can not spend less than $100 or one can not spend less than 2 hours there. You have to make it a whole day experience. I bought some new lamps for my kitchen and bedroom.

Is it bad to love shopping?