Redding has an awesome Sundial Bridge right in the middle of town. It crosses over the Sacramento River.I enjoyed the sundial structure with its shapes and clear glass over the bridge.The sundial shape actually worked along the ground. The shape of the dial and cables was interesting.It is quite tall rising into the sky!The size of the people at the base of the sundial show how tall the bridge is!!The bridge is also quite wide!!
John and I drove 45 miles north of Redding and found this wonderful view of Mount Shasta!! It is a spectacular mountain and reminded me of the mountain north of Flagstaff.I love the contrasting colors of the blue sky, white snow on the mountain, and the green trees in the forest.
Today was another wonderful day traveling!! I drove to Monterey and had fun walking through many shops in the Cannery Row district. There were many t-shirts to choose from, but I resisted the urge to buy any more :).I next visited the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was extremely impressive. I wish the grandsons were with me to enjoy it too.I loved seeing so many species.It was amazing to see so many fish!Many children were at the aquarium and they loved seeing these fish.This shark looked hungry and on the prowl.These “tentacle” structures moved as the water flowed around them.I think I ate one of these last week in Santa Barbara while visiting Elizabeth!!This bright-eyed bird was staring into the water for his next meal!!I drove south on Highway 1 and really enjoyed some spectacular scenery!!I loved seeing all the colors of the water and rocks!!The waves made loud crashing sounds as they came down on the rocks!!I love the colors in this photo!!Indescribably beautiful!!Spectacular!!I simply love these scenes!!
The fee was $30 to see the grand rooms and the outside gardens. It was amazing to see!!The castle was on a hill and you could see all around it and along the nearby coast.There were multiple buildings and sculptures everywhere!! There were a total of 165 rooms!!This pool was incredible!!Amazing!!A spectacular scene!!Gorgeous setting.
This was an amazing design!!It has an amazing front door!!Artwork is everywhere, inside and out of the castle!!There was a tremendous attention to detail throughout the castle.It is difficult to imagine sitting down for dinner at a table that holds so many people!!The inside Roman pool was absolutely amazing!!I was amazed at the intricate design of the pool. Above the pool are the tennis courts.Just a few miles from Hearst Castle are the elephant seals resting along the beach!!The elephant seals seemed to be quite content being nestled together and sleeping.This elephant seal seemed to be watching me closely as I photographed him.These two elephant seals were quite loud!!This guy was especially loud!! I am not sure what he was saying, but everyone could certainly hear him!!
It was fun to visit Pismo Beach and see their famous sign near the beach!!This section of beach near the pier was quite muddy without much sand.No one was going on walks on the beach today.It was fun to watch the waves come in while standing on the pier.The waves with fog in the distance are interesting.The morning fog created an eerie scene along the beach!!All ready for chess with these table and chair combinations along the beach!!This section of the beach was great to walk along the sand!!What a beautiful day to be at the beach!!I liked see the different colors of sand along the beach!!I loved to watch the different colors within the sand!!What a beautiful day for a walk along the beach!!It is fun to sit and stare at the waves rolling in!!The light brings out so many different colors in the water!!
Solvang is a very fun town!! Everywhere you turn there is either a Danish bakery, a Danish restaurant, or a wine tasting spot. I thoroughly enjoyed all three types of establishments!!Who would have guessed that there are windmills in the US? Solvang has them!!Danish and American flags fly everywhere in town!!The restaurant Bit o’ Denmark is where I had dinner. The food was outstanding!!Beautiful flowers seem to grow easily in Solvang!!The colors of the flowers are vibrant!!Windmills are a key feature of Solvang!!I fell in love with the Danish bakeries throughout town. I liked this sign with the crown on top.The beers and wine in Solvang were fun to enjoy!!This intense Danish warrior means business!!Hans Christian Andersen is a famous Danish author that is honored in the center of Solvang.
Rachel is the charcuterie queen!! She is talented to create gorgeous charcuterie boards! She includes a range of fruits, cheeses, meats, and breads. What was most impressive to me were the two flowers designed using a series of meat slices. Everything tasted wonderful!!
Rachel was superb in recommending and tasting wine. She was excellent in identifying and describing the tastes with different wines.There were many wonderful wines to try. These wines are some of the favorites where Elizabeth and Dennis are wine club members.Rachel graciously allowed me to photograph her next to this unique statue. Look closely and it can be seen that the limbs have joints and the arms can be moved. I have never before seen a statue there the arms were movable.I thought it would be quite interesting to share a bottle of wine with this gentleman. Children walking by enjoyed climbing on this dolphin for a ride.It is amazing how long ago Santa Barbara was an important community.The Spanish influence in Santa Barbara has existed for a very long time!!I loved the textures of this very tall, weathered wooden door!
Early this morning, Elizabeth and I went to the fish market!!“This spiney lobster, only found on the west coast. Unlike the east coast these spiney lobsters do not have claws. This guy was walking around the pool. I think it might have been saying “Pick me, pick me.”This rock crab was giving us “the eye.” These are native to the Santa Barbara area.This spiney creature is called “uni.” It is a spiney sea urchin. These friendly lady cracked the creature open, scooped out the “black stuff” and we ate the yellow slimy contents. It was weird because the still had movement as we were scooping out and eating the yellow sea food.Elizabeth was digging into breakfast.I was not quite sure what to think about eating the yellow contents that were quite slimy while there was movement of the creature in my hand.This is freshly caught vermilion rock fish caught near Santa Barbara. This guy is ready to be someone’s wonderful dinner.We almost bought this wonderful fish for dinner from this friendly guy.This is a wonderful sole.For a reasonable fee, this woman will clean and slice your freshly purchased fish.After going to the fish market, we drove to the Santa Barbara farmer’s market. It was amazing to see so many colorful and tasty fruits and vegetables!!The carrots were incredible!!I wanted to buy everything on this table!!I have never seen so many different types of carrots!!These oranges were especially flavorful!!This girl said I could take her photo with the peppers they were selling.These strings of dried flowers were amazing!!We bought this jar of honey!!These sugar snap peas tasted wonderful!!This is strangest plant I have ever seen. I have no idea what it tastes like.I absolutely love all the berries!!This is an oyster mushroom that can be used in sauces. It is excellent for dinner!!This is a trumpet mushroom. We ate some of these at dinner last night.These lavender flowers were so aromatic!! They made me feel peaceful!!This display of carrots was amazing!!I feel in love with all the citrus!!These strawberries were wonderful!!Bird of paradise are one of my favorite flowers!!
This presidential library was extremely impressive!! I spent over 4 hours going through all the exhibits. Several times I found my eyes watering with some of the displays. This great sculpture was right at the entrance. It was complete with cowboy hat and boots!I liked this description of President Reagan.This is a very famous portrait of President Reagan.This couple had a huge worldwide impact!This is a replica of the Oval Office. The cushions are the same as used when Ronald Reagan was president.
This is the actual Air Force One plane that President Reagan used to fly not only all over the U.S., but also many international trips. It is now 50 year old.This is President Reagan’s motorcade.This is Marine One used to fly to and from the White House.The presidential seal recognized worldwide.Statutes of President Reagan negotiating with Mikhail Gorbachev, from Russia.
T-shirt design used in the famous 1984 election.A section of the Berlin Wall that finally came down in 1989!President and Nance Reagan are buried here.
Fiesta on Wheels 