Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

the ‘ranch’ ranks right up there on our scale of best places. it’s expensive, but you sure get your moneys worth. our anniversaries are splurge worthy, so we do splurge.

to ride the horses we would have had to get up at 6:30. so at 6:30 we woke up,  looked at each other and said “let’s wait and do the hay ride at 8:45. I thought horses would pull it but it was just a truck. it was a lot of fun anyway.

it was hard to take pictures in the bumpy truck and the sun washed out the picture of the lake. the property is 6,000 acres.

the group that rode the horses got there first.

we had a nice place to eat. and plenty of the best food.

let’s see, we had fresh fruit, pastries, bacon, sausage, pigs in a blanket, two types of scrambled eggs, potato cakes, quesidilias, and pancakes. I think that was it.

this is a very cool couple we had as tablemates several times. she’s a freelance travel writer, and he’s a fireman. they had lots of great stories.

a woodpecker kept us company as we ate. he had a beautiful red head I didn’t capture.

the original ranch house is still on the property.

you should get a rug like this tracy.

notice the pump at the sink?

as we were leaving we saw what the woodpecker was waiting for, the pastries.

we got back on the ‘haywagon’ and headed back. I tried another picture of the lake.

what an absolute joy that was. another great way to start the day.

we are in paso robles this morning and again I want to thank McDonald;s for the use of their wifi, from the comfort of the coach.

stay tuned for who knows what’s next

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oops. I put a #4 on the last one skipping #3. so I guess i’ll name this one #3.

we are having such a great time here. we’ve met some of the nicest people. had some of the best food. relaxed and partied. as we did last night. I took your advice Sharon and we went hog wild again.

it was a beautiful evening out by the pool.

one of jerry’s favorite beers was there.

and he can’t resist that free beer.

brad and frank starting the asparagus. they were passing out appetizers again, but no pork belly. instead they served bbq thick sliced bacon. this was an omg Martha.

one of pasquales cooks made the chicken tonight.

we ate in the gazebo by the pool. very nice.

we picked out a new York strip steak and shrimp. jerry let frank cook it for us with his seasoning from the restaurant. you could do it yourself like the other man is doing.

frank ate with us at our table. that was pretty cool. they had the man that frank buys his meat from talk for awhile. we learned a whole lot about beef. he said if you can’t find a good butcher, buy your meat from gelsons, not your local supermarket. he also said northern beef is much better that southern beef. I guess you won’t have trouble finding some good beef in north Dakota tracy.

we got a picture of us with the chefs.

I told frank that jerry had been admiring his hat all night and would love to have one.

so he took it off his head and look who got it.

we took the hay ride this morning to breakfast. we wanted to sleep another hour. we’re getting ready to check out, so i’ll post a few pictures of that next time.

stay tuned

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jerry is still asleep so i’m going to post a few more pictures.

we had a box lunch outside our room today. it’s included in our package deal. all meals are included.

right outside our door is a woodpecker nest. you can see his beak peeking out.

the spice rub demonstration was near the pool today.

I didn’t count how many spices we had to choose from, but it was a lot.

after we picked what we wanted, mine was salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and lemon pepper, it was put into jars and we get to bring it home. jerry’s was similar to mine. they will use it to cook the meat tonight.

another picture of the grounds. this is alisal creek.

we’ll ride horses to breakfast tomorrow. the only thing is we have to be there at 7:30am.

we’ve never been to asilomar, but it’s probably similar to this isn’t it ray and Martha?

jerry just woke up, so we have to get ready for another night of  m e a t.

stay tuned.

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we walked out our door to go to the bbq and were greeted with this view. the grilling area was just to the right in the picture. not too far to  walk. which was good on the walk back.

the grilling demonstration was very interesting. we had a lot of fun. we learned the first thing we don’t do is buy grade a beef. they recommend getting your meat from a meat market and have it trimmed and cut the way you want. who can afford that?  we received a nice cookbook which was nice.

frank, the owner of the hitching post, shows us how to prepare a filet mignon tenderloin. like we can afford a whole tenderloin.

now he’s showing us how to build a fire of red oak. another expensive item.

pasquale, the executive chef here at the ranch is doing chicken on his grill. he didn’t show us how, but he said just cut it in half. they didn’t cook fish, but told us the best way to cook that too.

everyone paid a lot of attention to what the chefs were doing. it was a beautiful afternoon. no rain here tracy.

the grounds are beautiful here.

jerry was talking to brad, one of the chefs we know at the hitching post. he gave him lots of good advice.

they passed around appetizers and had wine tastings as the chefs were cooking the meat. have you ever had bbq pork belly? it’s a good thing the piece’s were small, because it’s almost all fat. but boy it was dee-licious. everything they served got better than the last. the wines were good too. we had three to pick from.

we had dinner with your choice of any of the meats they cooked. jerry and I sampled everything. we ate in a nice banquet room. had some good tablemates. (jerry is right in the middle of the picture)

we both ate too much food and drank too much wine. but boy isn’t it fun once in a while to just go hog wild and forget about all the rules we have now about eating and drinking. we have the chance to do it again tonight when they grill the meat with the spice rubs we made today. what would you do?  (there will be beer tonight).

it is so peaceful here, jerry is taking a nap while i’m doing this.

i’ll let you know if we went hog wild again.

stay tuned.

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i don’t know if you all look back at the blogs to see my comments, so i’ll just say thanks to everyone here. “thank you”      timed pictures are ify, but it’s so much fun taking them. we always get a laugh out of it. i had about a dozen other sunset photos. it’s always hard to decide which ones to use. i miss you too tracy.

we were lucky enough to spot an ad about alisal ranch a while back. we always like to do something special for our anniversaries and  this being #53, it calls for something good. and this is good. we are having a bbq boot camp with the owner of the hitching post. two days of meat. we learn how to do spice runs and all the secrets of grilling like a pro.

we checked in today.

i’ll see you guys later.

we’re going to our grilling lesson now.

talk to you guys later too.

we drove through solvang and headed for the alisal ranch in santa Yanez.

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I don’t know how many missions we have see now, but I never lose interest in them.

it’s always an experience to stroll through the historical buildings and grounds.

here are a few, (a lot), of my favorite pictures.

I guess you know who this is by now.

this is where the Indians washed there clothes.

two of the last residents of the mission. she probably did her wash here.

the sacred garden

the church is still used.

we don’t always get a good picture on the first try.

today we go to the ranch.

stay tuned.

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we spent the first day our trip in our favorite way. staying the night at thornhill broom campground in pt. magu state park. it’s one of the first places we stayed at after buying the coach 23 years ago. and we’ve loved it ever since.

you’ve seen a lot of pictures by now. i hope you enjoy a few more.

we saw a beautiful sunset with the channel islands in the background.

here’s an attempt at taking a picutre of what was a beautiful moon at 2 am.

the next morning we watched the ocean and birds as we ate breakfast. not a bad way to start the day.

and of course we had to get rocks

this one was too heavy. so I picked out another one.

we drove into santa barbara and went to the mission. i’ll put those pictures in another post.

our next stop was the hitching post, our second favorite thing to do as we start a trip.

because jerry’s birthday is coming up, he got the lobster.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY”

this is not a good picture of our favorited waitress, but it’s the only one I took. she’s worked there ever since we started eating  there. celia told us about this restaurant eons ago and we have loved it ever since too. thanks celia,

stay tuned for pictures of the mission

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we’re getting ready for another trip. this time in the coach. we’ll be going to reno with some stops in between.

but until then, here’s some pictures of our own neighborhood’s, California heights home tour. they have been doing this for 15 years now. it was every year, but now it’s every other year. our neighbor’s frank and linda walked with us this year.

this was the first house. only a block away from us.

some of you might notice the arcosanti bell on the entrance. I knew I was going to like this house. we actually see these neighbors walks their two dogs and one cat, yes a cat, on our block.

the front patio off of the kitchen.

the back yard

I loved what they did with rocks in the patio.

and I saved the best for last. the pink kitchen. not very big but oh so cute.

here’s a few odds and ends from the rest of the tour.

they encourage you to ride your bike.

us with frank and linda

this little boy looked so much like ron howard as opie. I gave him a dollar after I took this picture. he was pretty happy.

ok Sharon and ted. we walked by a house with a cat in the window. I can’t seem to resist taking a picture of a cat. especially when it was posing for me. I raised my camera to take a picture and it was on the wrong setting and I was shooting into the sun on top of that. I tried to get the proper setting and it just wouldn’t get focused. I finally just shot blindly at the window hoping I was going to get the cat. this is what I got. can you explain this?

the cat is on that table, in front of the window, inside the house.

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this is a taxi boat we saw in san Francisco. I don’t think it’s something I would want to be in. but check out the next picture for a different view of it.

it looks like a toy boat next to the tug boat.

I wonder how it would be to have a cabin in the back of the ship?

a neat ship in santa Barbara.

it was so hard to resist such decadent dessert’s.

coming into port los angeles. we’re almost home.

coming back through the breakwater to san pedro.

the pilot boat coming out to put the pilot captain on board to bring us in, as they do in every port.

the Vincent Thomas bridge. home at last.

we only found one place to stick our finger.

well, this adventure is over, but there is another one around the corner. we leave oct. 25th for reno.

i’m glad you guys enjoy the blog. it’s the best and easiest way I’ve found to share pictures. so if you are interested check back in a couple of weeks to see some more of the u s a.

thanks for all the great comments.

I love all of you, jill

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it takes awhile to get your bearings on the ship. we never got seasick, just lost.

we were on deck 10, starboard side, aft, room c605  somewhere around the upper right corner.

this is their 50 anniversary.

our favorite place to relax.

we never even gambled at all.

two little girls having fun on the dancefloor.

two grown-ups having fun in the bar.

we never got around to seeing a show in the theater.

a man taking pictures of his bride with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.

looking forward from our door.

a sample of the fruit on our plate from room service

it’s been fun sharing our pictures with you. i have just a few more odds and ends to post tomorrow.

thanks for the comments.

love, jill

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