A grandmother is a mother who has a second chance

Sunday, March 21, 2010

We passed the test

Last weekend Ed and I went to Cambria. It's a little town on the Central Coast in California. Lots of wineries in the area, antique shops, restaurants, and Moonstone Beach which is so beautiful and unique. This was our 11th trip to Cambria. The first was in January of 2000 and it was the first trip of any kind that we ever took together. So it was a bit of a test - could we stand each other's company for three straight days? Did we travel well together?

The answer was "YES" to both! So we made it an annual excursion. Normally we go in January or February, but this year we moved it to March. Which was wonderful. The weather was warmer and March in California is so beautiful. The trees were all in bloom with pink or white flowers. The hills were bright green. The wild mustard was in full swing. The photo below is the beach by our room taken from a hill covered with wild mustard.

There is a military base close to Cambria and we saw a couple of convoys going down the highway. This was one of the vehicles. We decided to give him a wide berth!

We stay at the Fogcatcher Inn in one of the front rooms which has a fireplace and a full view of the ocean. This is a view of the sunset from our room.

And along the beach is a walking path that has been built since our first visit. Also some stairways to the beach which always draw Ed like a magnet. He likes to climb on the rocks and manages to go to areas that, if he were a kid, would cause him to be grounded! Instead I just make sure I have the car keys and the room key in case he gets swept out to sea.


And, of course, we go wine tasting. The wineries in this part of California are very low key. None of the crowds or noise of Napa. Everything is clean and quiet and quite beautiful. And the wines can really be good.

On the trip home we stopped at a beach that is famous for seals, sea lions, walruses (walri?!?) that spend time there. March is at the end of the mating cycle so the beach wasn't as crowded as usual. But still quite a sight.

This guy was still trying to find someone to mate with him and, apparently, not having much luck. I could have sworn I heard him singing the Queen song "Somebody to Love"!

So, another trip to Cambria is under out belt. And we still travel well together! Who would have guessed!

3 comments:

the thrifty ba said...

you guys live such the golden life!

Mellodee said...

Despite living in Sunnyvale for 10 years, there is an enormous amount of CA I'm not familiar with. Is Cambria North of Napa?? Obviously, I've never been there.

Sandi said...

Cambria is about 3 hours south of San Jose on the coast. Six miles south of Hearst Castle. It's called the "Central Coast" and it's a really beautiful area.