Solvang, CA

Hello from sunny California! Actually, it's after 9pm and quite dark here in Solvang. I am a bit sunburned though, proof that there was definitely sun today!

We are in the home stretch of our California road trip, our first real vacation trip since Italy last year. Wow!

We flew into San Francisco on Monday, September 14. We had a lovely evening strolling through Chinatown, poking into stores, gawking at ivory carvings, shopping for Year of the Ox chtazkas, and winding down with a nice meal at... drumroll please... Chinatown Restaurant. :) For all the touristiness of it, our meal was quite good. The best sweet & sour pork since Betty's Chinese Kitchen in Kona (I *hope* I'm remembering that right...), and the best potstickers ever! Potstickers have always come with an amazing sauce, and that's where the flavor comes from. There was no sauce, so I was confused. But then the dumplings themselves were flavorful! Who knew that was possible?!

The next day we drove to Monterey, took in downtown Cannery Row, then put off the aquarium until the next morning. It was just as awesome as I thought it was going to be! Many years ago I saw a commercial for the aquarium, and I've wanted to go ever since. The giant two-story kelp forest pool was amazing, very much like the glass dome at the Seattle Aquarium - I like to think of them as cathedrals.

That evening we drove out to San Simeon, taking Hwy 1 instead of 101. For me, this was an enormous mistake. Eric's back was acting up worse than mine, so I was driving. Most of the way is a 63 mile stretch of constantly curving road that hugs the cliffs precariously. My fear of heights makes the drive up to Mount Rainier or Whistler or Crystal Mountain terrifying for me - lots of vertigo-inducing drop offs with little or no railing and even less margin for error. 63 miles of it with endless curves and hairpin turns that had me nauseated and dizzy and exhausted by the time we reached our destination - nearly an hour after sunset!

This morning we woke in San Simeon and I was much recovered. I went out to the beach for some alone time because Eric's back was even worse. Our plan to go to Hearst Castle was in jeopardy, and check-out time was looming. We drove out to Cambria for some beachcombing at Moonstone Beach, with Eric alternately sitting in the car and then walking the beach to loosen up. By the time we left I had a tiny stash of possible agates with a few possible moonstones (most were roughly the size of cooked risotto, so not really valuable), and Eric felt up to conquering (storming?) the castle.

It was just as amazing as we knew it would be, but hot and exhausting for two people with bad backs. It wasn't the walking or even the parts in the sun that did us in, it was all the standing around. I'm not sure I even heard a 10th of what the tour guide said - I was almost never allowed near enough to hear her very well, and spent most of my time concentrating on taking pictures and trying to fight the urge to sit down on the floor. But definitely no regrets - the place is truly miraculous. We fell in love with the place when we saw a documentary about 10 years ago, and ever since we have been threatening to invade California and take the Castle for ourselves. The state of California is safe tonight, but only time will tell how long that Castle stays in their possession! As we left the Neptune Pool, I was seriously weighing the consequences of jumping into the pool. What would be the consequences? Getting kicked out? Sooooo hard to put down the idea once it popped into my head, but alas, I am still welcome in the State of California. Dammit.

So now we are in Solvang, by way of Morro Bay. The most disappointing thing about San Simeon was that after 63 miles of Highway from Hell, to arrive in a town solely to cater to tourists by lodging and feeding them, we discover there is NO fast food in town. No drive-throughs. Not in the next town of Cambria either. So the most notable thing about Morro Bay was that it had a McDonald's!!! Forget the cute shops I wish I could have explored, even the bead stores. There was a freaking McDonald's! With a drive-through! Air conditioned lobby! Reese's Peanut Butter Cup McFlurries! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed McDonald's quite so much.

After that, we just made a straight shot here. I had some bead stores marked to explore in San Luis Obispo, but we were so exhausted and in pain that it seemed best to just get to our destination and rest. As it was, we got here just after 8pm. Good thing we didn't make any more stops!

The most frustrating thing about this trip, even in the planning stages, has been the wish for more time. Time to further explore each destination. Time to add other destinations. I was seriously leaning towards going to the Santa Monica Pier first thing tomorrow, before we had to return our rental car at Anaheim. Now that I'm here, I think I'd rather spend tomorrow leisurely explorings Danish bakeries, Spanish Missions, and antique stores. As long as I don't dally too long in the antique shops, I think Eric may agree with me.

Which means tomorrow night we arrive in Anaheim. Saturday we do Disneyland. And Sunday we're on a plane back home. Where did all the time go?!