Hearst Castle

February 21, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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!!

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!!

Pismo Beach!!

February 21, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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!!

February 20, 2024February 21, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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!!

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.

Charcuterie Queen!!

February 19, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

Wine Tasting!!

February 18, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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.

I loved the textures of this very tall, weathered wooden door!

Santa Barbara!!

February 17, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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.

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.

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!!

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!!

These sugar snap peas tasted wonderful!!

This is strangest plant I have ever seen. I have no idea what it tastes like.

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!!

Bird of paradise are one of my favorite flowers!!

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library!!

February 15, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

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 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.

The Granddaddy of Them All!!

February 14, 2024 / Ed Armstrong

I got up before sunrise to take a photo of the famous Rose Bowl sign above the main entrance to the Rose Bowl stadium!

I visited the Rose Bowl today!! I cannot guess how many times I have watched football games on TV that were played in this stadium. It is amazing to see such a famous sports stadium!

I loved seeing the actual Rose Bowl for the first time!!

I found a place to park the motorhome right across the street from the Rose Bowl! I loved seeing the lighted Rose Bowl sign during the night!

Sports announcer Keith Jackson was famous for describing the Rose Bowl football game as “The Granddaddy of Them All.”

This is another famous phrase Keith Jackson would say at the beginning of each Rose Bowl game.

There is this amazing sculpture of famous athlete Jackie Robinson in front of the Rose Bowl!

Disneyland at Christmas Time!!

December 25, 2023 / Ed Armstrong

We had a wonderful time at Disneyland with the entire family. It was very fun to be with 3 grandsons is a magical place decorated for Christmas! We had a total of 9 people (6 adults and 3 grandsons). We started the morning when the “rope was dropped” at the opening of the park and went full-steam until 9:00 pm. It was a wonderful fun-filled day!!

This lady looked exactly like Mary Poppins!!

Disneyland is especially amazing when decorated for Christmas!!

The characters come to life in the parade!!

These cute guys were fun to watch dancing to the music!!

These guys looked absolutely delicious!!

These dogs were “grooving to the music”!!

Images from childhood come to life in the Disneyland parade!!

This guy was the popular end of the parade!!

Death Valley National Park!!

November 16, 2021 / Ed Armstrong

I loved visiting Death Valley National Park!

I had a wonderful time visiting Death Valley National Park! It is quite unique and has many usual attributes. Death Valley National Park is the location of the hottest place on the entire planet earth and it was recorded on July 10, 1913. The high temperature on that day was 134⁰F!!

During the summer of 2021, Death Valley National Park reached an amazing 128⁰F which was the hottest temperature recorded anywhere on Earth since 2013. Death Valley National Park has serious heat!! Maybe I should stop complaining about Arizona summer heat?? I am very grateful that I visited the park in November to enjoy very pleasant temperatures!!

In addition, Badwater Basin is famous because it is the lowest elevation in all of North America (-282 feet). Death Valley National Park is also the driest national park in the US.

I think this is the most famous sign in all of Death Valley National Park!

I was amazed at the steepness of the roads going into and out of the national park. Today I drove on 9% grades for several miles. That is incredibly steep!!