On our trip to California last year, we planned a day at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We went on the Grand Rooms tour in the morning and the Upstairs Suites tour in the afternoon. Both tours included a stop at this outdoor pool – I didn’t care because the weather was gorgeous and so was the pool!
I can picture William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies hosting parties with Cary Grant and Jean Harlow and Clark Gable lounging along side the pool or playing tennis.
It was a really enjoyable day!
While in California to visit friends and family, my husband and I spent two nights in Morro Bay with a day a Hearst Castle.
Our son told us about a hotel he and his wife stayed at – The Landing at Morro Bay – so we stayed there. It was awesome! It was a motor inn of the 60s and we had a second floor room with a view, cathedral ceiling, and king size bed. There was also plenty of room to put clothes away, as well as a microwave and mini-fridge.
Once we got there and unpacked, we headed into the cute little town where there was a street fair going on. Not knowing what we were going to see elsewhere, we were hesitant to spend money but I did but a necklace of abalone shell and a pearl. Then we headed out to the wharf for food and shopping. We were starved so we found someplace right away – Blue Sky Bistro on the Bay – which of course had a view of the Rock!
We found a great place for breakfast both days – Carla’s Country Kitchen. While we were there, I noticed a framed basketball jersey with the #1 and Wixom on the back. I thought it was someone from Morro Bay who made it big in the WNBA or NBA. Nope, it’s Carla Wixom, the owner of Carla’s Country Kitchen. She was elected mayor of Morro Bay in November of 2022!
We spent Sunday at Hearst Castle (post for another day) which was incredible. After we were done there, we headed back to the wharf and the Blue Sky Bistro for appetizers and then a restaurant that “sounded good” but we both wished we’d stayed and had dinner at the bistro.
Before we headed out on Monday morning for our 4-1/2 hour ride to Laguna Woods, we drove over to the park to walk around and get a closer view of the rock. Here’s what we found out – “Morro” is Spanish for domed rock, or turban. Explorer Juan Carrillo gave it its name in 1542. Of course, prior to his arrival, the area was the home of California Indians for thousands of years. But what is it? The rock is one of a chain of volcanic plugs. 26 MILLION years ago, there was a volcano there and the rock was a plug. In the millions of years past, the volcano eroded away and left the harder rock of the plug. There is a chain of 4-5 of them from Morro Bay down to San Luis Obispo.
It has a break wall on one side of its and then across the back on the other side. I don’t know how else to describe it!
It was hard to leave the rock once we got out there, watching the waves hit the wall and seeing boats come in and out. There were a few otters in the water, playing around in the bay that we watched for a little while. Definitely peaceful! But it was time to check out and head on down to Laguna Woods! Maybe we’ll get back there in one of the years to come.
How have your political views changed over time?
I heed the wise words of keeping your thoughts on religion and politics to yourself!
I have always considered myself a conservative democrat or a liberal republican which makes me Independent. I originally registered as an independent so I wouldn’t get any political phone calls but in 2023, that really doesn’t matter (does it Nikki Hailey who keeps texting for “William” to my cell phone as do the realtors in Florida hoping to buy his Coral Gables property) anymore.
My views have remained pretty consistent since I first registered to vote in 1978.
I moved into this house in May of 1961, the month after I turned one year old. Before that, my family rented a home a few blocks from my mother’s family home.
I imagine my parents’ eyes lit up when they saw the four bedrooms and the 1/2 acre yard. The bonus was the covered porch on the side of the house and a double bonus was a next door neighbor with four children!
The porch was where we watched thunderstorms lighting up the woods across the street, where we hung out with friends, where we slept on hot summer nights only to be woken up by the sun, well past sunrise beating down on us!
I left for seven years to California and looked we looked high and low for a house just like the one I grew up in. We found one that had it’s own charm but then we had the chance to buy this one from my dad and we took it. We moved back to Connecticut 28 years ago and are still so thankful it worked out.
The side porch is still a special part of the house. It was given a facelift a few years ago, had a deck attached for the back of the house for 10 years or so, and is now a little bit larger to go with the family room added 2 years ago. During warmer weather, I sit out there with my morning coffee and newspaper. It’s the same location that my dad sat for 40 years, reading his newspaper in warm weather.
I love that this house keeps so many memories alive.
It was late 1987 and I had recently moved to California to live with my soon to be husband. I moved my belongings by UPS so there wasn’t a lot of extra stuff (books!) that came with me.
Always looking for something to read I surprisingly found a book on a shelf. It was “Replay” by Ken Grimwood published in 1986.
It was about an overweight, unhappy in his marriage 40-something man who has a heart attack at his desk. But…..he wakes up, in his dorm room at 19 years old.
It takes him a little while to realize where he is but then he does what would be expected – he DOESN’T get involved with the woman in his unhappy marriage, and he starts betting on all the major sports events!
It goes on from there and everything is great – until he “dies” again but comes back a little older, and a little older….. He realizes, he can live his life as crazy as he wants to because he’s “replaying” his life.
After a few times, he discovers that there are others who are doing the same.
I’ve read this book 3 or 4 times and It is a fascinating premise. Die and end up back in your early adulthood with the knowledge you left your existing life with. As they say “hindsight is 20/20”! What would you do? Would you want the ability to come back and right wrongs? Change behaviors? Go to the love of your life faster without dealing with all the dopes first?
I’ve contemplated it. I think about what I would do and how I would make sure I found my husband – just sooner!
Growing up I loved when the clocks moved forward an hour! This was before they started messing with when it happened. Every year it was the last Sunday in April and with my birthday being the 22nd, it was a pretty good bet it would happen on the morning of our family party.
Our relatives, including 4 close in age cousins, would come over for food and cake and us kids would play in the yard all afternoon. My dad would bring out the motor scooter with side car (on loan from his brother) and take everyone on rides around the neighborhood. It felt like the day stretched on forever!
Falling back an hour usually coincided with Halloween back in the 70s so it would be nice and dark early when Halloween rolled around. We’d get out around 5pm and by back by 9pm to sort our candy and make trades. My sisters and I went to a catholic elementary school so we’d have the next day off because of All Saints Day. It was one of the few perks of going to our school!
I came to realize very quickly that babies do not recognize Daylight Saving time! Dogs too. They are going to keep on their regular sleep, eat, poop time regardless of what the clock says!
As the years have gone by, I realize I don’t do well with the time change at all! I’m going to bed at 9 when it’s really 10 and then getting up at 5:20 – which my husband reminds me “it was 6:20” – and I feel exhausted! Or because “it’s really only 8 but the clock says 9!”, I’ll stay up for an extra hour and again, exhausted!
Arizona and Hawaii have it right – they just don’t participate. Good for them! Who do I need to talk to here in Connecticut? I think we should be a little oasis of common sense!
How to do you feel about the time change?
We were in Fort Collins, Colorado in early September for a family wedding. Because it was on Sunday evening, we decided to stay an extra day and fly home on Tuesday.
At one of the events for the wedding, someone mentioned they drove up to Laramie Wyoming to visit the Wyoming Territorial Prison! It was an hour away and all we had was time.
Once we said goodbye to everyone at the air bnb we shared with family, we headed out. When we got to Laramie we looked online for a restaurant for breakfast.
Accomplice Beer Company in downtown Laramie is a bar / restaurant / brewery. No beers for us but we cozied up to the bar and had a delicious breakfast.
The Wyoming Territorial Prison was surprisingly close to town. In its prime it was probably a long way from town!
They have a welcome center to buy tickets and of course a variety of gifts to purchase! We knew we’d be back after our self-guided tour.
The first building was the wardens house and it was decorated for the era it was used.
Around the grounds were carriages that were used during the time of the prison
Inside the prison, we walked through the two floors and throughout there was information about the rooms and the prisoners who were held there. The most famous prisoner was Butch Cassidy. His story is a little different than the movie!
After going through the prison, we walked through the prison yard and over to a building their used to make brooms for sale. We had a lot of these brooms in our home growing up and of course, we had to buy one to bring home! We had to get creative to get in in the suitcase but it survived!
On our way home we were just amazed at the wide open land and the clouds! The clouds were so huge and they looked close enough to touch. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them!
We didn’t really notice on the way up to Laramie, but on the way back we were also amazed by the changing landscape between Wyoming and Colorado. It’s fun to watch it unfold through the miles.
We were excited to add Wyoming to our list of states visited but we’d like to explore more! Someday…!
My husband and I spent a week in Lake George in August. We brought our boat and stayed in a 1950s type resort about a mile or 2 north of downtown Lake George.
Our second hike of the week was at the Cook Mountain Preserve out of Ticonderoga.
We (I) always make a point to find someplace to hike because I really love to hike. But we (I) always manage to get lost! This trip was no exception because we got sort of lost finding the trailhead! First we drove to the “destination” but it was far past the trailhead. So we backtracked and you couldn’t really see the trailhead from that direction so we turned around again! We found it on the third try.
I made sure we signed the book and the time we started out just in case we disappeared on the trail! The trailhead had a map posted as well as maps to take with you (done, still managed to get lost).
The trail started out fairly flat but once it started on the Ridges Trail it was fairly steep – 680 feet over a 1/2 mile – then more gradually to the views. We had our hiking poles and I’m glad we did! The trails were clear so there wasn’t much climbing over and under.
We got to the Lake George view and were a little disappointed! I thought we’d have more of a view and I had to really walk around to find a good view. We sat for a bit and had a snack and then moved on to the Vermont view.
I spotted the flag on top of the mountain and remembered a trip to Fort Ticonderoga we took on the motorcycle. We never went to Mount Independence but I know we saw it from the Fort. This was definitely the better view.
We were pretty tired by the time we were done and stopped at this general store for lunch which was delicious! The owners were really nice too!
Overall, a great day in the Lake George Region.
If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?
By saying “if you had a million dollars to give away”, gives me the notion that perhaps I’m already set up for retirement. Like I don’t need this million dollars. Let’s go with that. I’ve become some kind of multi-millionaire, my son and his wife, my sisters and their families are all flush because I’ve taken care of their home loans, college loans, and set up college funds for my adorable great niece and nephew, and this million is chump change to me.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way – I would give my million dollars in parts to my public library, the local Master’s Manna that provides food and clothing in our town, to our animal shelter, and to our state Foodshare that happens to be headquartered in my town.
I’d set up trusts to distribute the money so it continues to grow because these organizations aren’t going anywhere and I’d want to be sure the money is there forever. Or something like that because what do I know about donating such a large amount of money anywhere!
But it’s fun to think about!
I spend the week working on my computer doing work things thinking about the things I want to do on the weekend, which are also on the computer. But then the weekend comes along and I feel – guilty? – about doing it! Like because I’m not actively moving, I’m being lazy! While I’m rationalizing it in my head, I feel an angsty feeling in my chest like I want to explode. It is fucked up.
I’ve tried to blame it on my husband by saying to him “Well, I feel like you will think I’m just being lazy” when obviously we both know it’s me being a head case!
So how or when did I get this crazy notion in my head that sorting pictures, or writing stories, or researching family names is lazy? I’m the same person who could sit for 4 hours not moving while reading a book and not think twice about it. The same person who could sleep until 1 p.m., even on a weekend morning when she wasn’t hungover!
Maybe it’s because my husband’s home activities are more active. Working on his motorcycle, yard work, and things around the house. He’s even taken over 80% of the cooking. I think there’s something to that and that’s where my guilt comes in because in my head he’s doing so much more when actually, he’s doing things I did for most of our marriage!
That’s it! Guilt gone! Don’t you wish all of life’s problems were that easy to solve?
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 