Just a few motorcycles.
Lil Forest

Hi all. As you can see we are slowly making our way north. Slowly is the byword here. Bellingham is suppossed to get snow this coming weekend so slowly is the plan. We are staying in Vellijo Ca, across from San Fran so we took the fast ferry into Fisherman,s Wharf and had a great day. No Driving , no parking, nada. WE saw the Pirate Jack Sparerib show , checked out the seals on pier 39 and then went to get something to eat at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

We spent the rest of the day on the cable cars riding around San Francisco. Leslie and I were here in 2001 during 911. For my BD that year I found out Les was pregnant with Yvonne, so it was nice to return here with Yvonne. It was a cool sunny day but we were prepared for it. We took the ferry back and got home about 5pm. I think we are going to make this a yearly habit on our way home. We will be in Redding tomorrow and should be in BBY on Sunday. Jim

It was a cool foggy day in San Simeon but it could not dampen our trip to the Hearst Castle. What an extraordinary work. There are so many thing that make it a story worth telling. The castle was srarted in the 1920,s and not completed until 1947. The fact that a Castle of this magnitude was built here is one story but the architect and civil engineer that built it was a woman by the name of Julia Morgan. This was a time in US history when women did not have the right to vote and yet this diminutive woman was the first engineer to graduate from California State University at Berkley. She was also the first woman to be selected and graduate from a prestigious University in France in Architecture. She set the standard for earthquake proofing a building and the proof is still standing in San Simeon.

This type of Castle and all the antiques will never be built again as the artisans that did the wood, stone and marble are all gone and so is there knowledge. Hearst brought whole buildings and all there artifacts here from Europe. There is now an antiquities act in place so this can never happen again. The Castle as well as the story is magnificent and well worth the time to see. The statues around the property are all made from marble and most of the antiqities are from the 14 or 15 centuries. Enjoy

We arrived in San Simeon and went and got our tickets to go on the Hearst Castle tour. Leslie and I were here in 2000 BK, (before Kid). National Geographic has set up a theatre here. We went in and saw the movie on William Randolph Hearst . We bought the dvd as it was well done and we all loved it.

Yvonne got a kick out out of the Elephant Seals on the beach at San Simeon. For whatever reason they stay here and another place only to rest, mate, and have there young. These are the largest seals in the world. The bulls go over a ton. On the way back we stopped and took some pics of these guys wind sailing. Man to they get going. One would be worn out after a few hours of this sport. It is off for the tour tomorrow. Jim

Jim's Masterpiece - his first window! This amazing piece of art got installed into our front door the day before we left San Diego. Jim did such a wonderful job of this. It is so pretty in the morning. The sunlight comes through into the house and looks so bright and pretty through the amber glass around the outside. YAY Jim.

Carpeneteria State Park has been quite a treat. Thanks to our travelling expert, Dan!! He recommended this great spot to stop shortly after getting through our favourite drive - LA. We had a gorgeous, sunny day yesterday. We spent all afternoon sunning ourselves and playing in the sand. Half the beach is dog OK, so Princess got to do her running and playing too. It is so wonderful to have the sound of the surf all day and night. It is quite magical. Today, we had a weird day. It was supposed to get sunny, but it stayed a bit foggy all day. We hung out at the beach most of the afternoon anyway. Once the fog really started rolling in, we decided we might as well head home. It is an interesting spot. There is natural seepage of oil and tar here. There are 8 offshore oil rigs only a couple miles off the beach in front of us. We suspect they actually keep the beach clean, since the oil just seeps out of the underwater crevaces here. There are tar cliffs and when you walk on the beach, you often come home with tar balls on your feet. We've been able to enjoy watching the Pelicans fish. We've seen a few pods of dolphins swim by. Today, we went exploring during low tide and Yvonne got to experiment with touching sea anemones to get them to pinch up closed. She found that really cool. This morning, there were a batch of rock squirrels going nuts over something. The one in the bottom picture was busy squeeking for long enough for me to walk home, get the camera and walk back. He was still there.

This was the first St.Patricks Day parade at Campland on the Bay. It was well turned out and and it was surprising how the residents amd friends got into the swing of things and most ppl entered into the parade. Campland supplied pizza, beer wine and an irish band to play during the day. They also provided noisemakers ,balloons and one of those blowup houses for the kids to jump in. Yvonne spent most of the day jumping in it with her friends. She loves to jump.

Everybody got into the parade. The dogs turned out in there green getups and our good friend and photographer wee Danny O'Landron was there with his camera and his shamrocks to celebrate the day. Campland provided dinner and a jazz/Blues band along with dinner. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, bread as well soft drinks , beer and wine was also provided. Both bands were quite good and the organizers should be given a pat on the back for a job well done. At lunch the west side residents provided snacks and such for lunch and at dinner the east side residents provided desert. I think the east side came out on top on that one. If one didn't have a good time at this gig it was your own darn fault. We are leaving in 2 adys and sure are going to miss everyone. Take care all Jim

Today was Museam day. Had to take a pic of a neat building in Balboa Park.. The more time we spend in SD the more we like it. Lots to do easy to get around and the weather Hey. We were at the Natural Museam of History. Those big snails shells were found in the desert and are 300 million yrs old.

The reason we went though was to see this process called Plastination. People donate their bodies to this process. What you are seeing is real human bodies, every bone and muscle, brain organs, you get the picture. It was pretty neat and as usual Yvonne took it in like a trooper. She is not afraid of seeing the parts of the human body. It was quite impressive really and it is amazing where our technology is taking us. I am not sure how it really works as yet but I am putting a web site on here so if anyone is interested you can check it out. www.SDNHM.org and click on body worlds. It is quite amazing. Take care all. Jim

Today was our first day at our favourite spot the wild animal park. Yvonne spent lots of time but we did a lot of neat things today. We had a lot of firsts. We went up in the hot air ballon. That was cool. The birds of prey show was way cool and we got involved in this game show to introduce the wild animals to the audience. Les and I dis the show and Yvonne took the pics. Thats a switch. We fed the lorikeets as that is always a hit. And they were hungry as they dive bombed us as soon as we got in the cage. Did you know lions even in the wild sleep 18 hrs a day. They must be teenagers. Anyway another day has gone by and we are about 2 to 3 weeks away frim home, Cheers Jim

Today we went out on our friends boat. We took some adult beverages and some snacks and had a great time. Cory opened it up. 700hp twin inboards. We were moving. Yvonne is my speed demon. She loves to go fast. The last picture is looking back at our rv park. Earlier in the week we all went out on Kyaks as they have a day you can use them no charge. My back was killing me by the end of it all. I got all my glass for the window in the rv. I will post ot as soon as it is done. Take care all, Jim

Another day at the zoo with Janis , Sandy and Luke. The Peacock held our bus up getting out of the station as he was in the way and annoyed about something. Luke enjoyed all the animals and did very well for a young fellow. The giraffes were a big hit with Luke , he didn't want to leave them. He was getting a little worn out by this time and had a good sleep on the way home.