Half Moon Bay

Wow, again...too wonderful for words.

Half Moon Bay is a beach community in Northern California. I decided to stay at The Ritz Carlton and do a spa day. I arrived at the hotel about an hour early for my appointment. I figured I would have to wait in the lobby and have them store my luggage.

But not at The Ritz Carlton. They treated me like gold from the moment I walked in the door. I'm not used to having someone do stuff for me. Open the door and take my bags, I mean I know I am paying for this, but, all the while smiling. I was so worried I would walk in the place and be made to feel like I didn't belong. NOT TRUE AT ALL!

Eric took me to my room and turned on the fire and told me he would be up later to check on me. The bed was a giant marshmallow with 6 poofy pillows. The bathroom was too much. I couldn't find the toilet. Silly me, it had its own room. The ocean right outside my sliding glass door.




Bathroom entrance.



Marble shower, door to the toilet.



View from the hall.

So I went to my spa appointment and again...words don't do it justice. I was in a robe the whole time going from treatment to treatment and lounging on big poofy couches drinking lemon water. I kept thinking, where are my clothes, where are my keys...oh that's right, it doesn't matter.

I got a massage, a facial (which was out of this world), a manicure and pedicure.

The facial and the pedicure stand out. I could not imagine how they were going to spend 90 minutes on my face, but it was my head, face, neck, chest, arms, hands and upper back. My face is now as smooth as butta!

The pedicure was almost embarrassing. I admit I don't take care of my feet. They are too small for me. They hurt all the time. They don't like shoes. I always buy them the wrong shoes. I work on them, run on them and do nothing for them.

God bless this woman. She was pulling stuff out of the corners of my toe nails with a dental instrument. She filed and sanded and cut and picked and scrubbed my feet. You could now eat off my feet. My feet have never been so clean and soft. I swear she picked out dirt that has been in there since I was 10.

5 hours later I emerged. Sparkly and brand new. Like the cowardly lion and all in the Wizard of Oz, ready to meet the wizard.

I came back upstairs to find that Eric had left my wine and my s'mores kit. They brought my dinner to my room and I gobbled it down.




Dinner ready for gobbling.

Later I sat by the fire toasting marshmallows and drinking my wine, sounds of the ocean off in the distance.




Marshmallow roasting.



Wine on "tall dark handsome strangers" chair.

After a peaceful and dreamless night of sleep, I ran along the ocean trails in the morning. No need for music. Very solitary, the way I think a beach should be. Very moody scene as well, which I also like, certainly not ordinary.




Trails.




Beach early morning.




They brought me breakfast, and eventually gave me back my car keys.




The only minus was that they don't have packages for ONESIES...so the package I purchased was for two...one half of it going unused...fools!

But I enjoyed myself :)

Goat Farm

The goat farm was incredibly cool.

I attended the summer solstice dinner at Harley Farms Goat Dairy. I can't do this experience justice but I will try.

Imagine the most beautiful farm setting that you can. Harley Farms is it.





The weather was absolutely perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. The experience started with iced tea and cheese in the English style garden. They served three kinds of goat cheese with homemade bread. The cheese was so incredibly fresh and wonderful tasting. I can't do it justice with words.







After "snacks" we were taken on a tour of the farm. The farm is well over 100 years old and was originally owned by two Portuguese brothers. It was originally a cow dairy farm. The woman who owns it now, rebuilt the farm as a goat dairy. Her herd started with 6 goats and now there are TONS. She used to milk them twice a day by hand.

Then we got to meet the goats and the llamas. The llamas are there to protect the goats. They apparently herd the goats and get them in a corner and then the coyotes are intimidated by the size and spitting of the llamas.













One of the goats goosed me...and llamas are really soft.

We then were taken into the place where they milk the goats. The goats happily line up to be milked because this is when they are fed. Machinery does the milking now that there are so many goats.




Goats coming in to be milked.



Milking goats.



Milk (which is warm...even though it looks cold)




Then they took us in to see how the cheese is made and more cheese tasting. The feta was so good...it was UNREAL.




Yes we had to wear hairnets. But I looked good in mine.







After that we were taken back to the garden and they explained to us the history of the table and the chairs where we would eat. They were made by three legged Billy.




Picture of three legged Billy.




They then served more snacks, and then course after course of wonderful food. The husband of the woman who owns the farm is a chef. The owner explained each dish to us before we ate it.







This was sea bass, tomatoes, cheese...



These were goat cheese stuffed ravioli...I don't know what to say...clouds in brown butter.




Lamb, lentils and veggies...the lamb was fresh...so good.




Desert...local berries...warm goat cheese made from the milk we watched being pumped. Yes, that fresh!!!




A wonderful day!

It Never Rains in Southern California

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day.

I woke with 3 things on my mind. A sprinkles cupcake and see the Queen Mary.

I slept in yesterday, knowing that the hotel checkout time wasn't until noon. I needed the rest from the long day of driving the previous day. I had breakfast and then headed out in search of the Sprinkles cupcake ATM. Found it and parked the car. It is very easy to use. Just like a regular ATM, you have your choice of many flavors, but I decided to go with their signature red velvet.




A few seconds later...taadaa, there it is.

I paid for my parking and headed for the Queen Mary, cupcake secured.

I needed to stop for gas and rather than using my bubble headed assistant (GPS), I decided to just look for something. Gas prices in LA are more than $4 a gallon, but I was desperate. Well, I ended up on the wrong side of the tracks again and witnessed a very aggressive display of testosterone between two sets of young,
human, males. Lots of foul language, gun waving, all because someone's car was in someone else's way. There I stood pumping my gas, no reaction. I walked into the store to get some Gatorade, and the middle eastern man behind the bullet proof glass asked if I was okay.

"oh sure", I told him, "I teach high school."

Off to the Queen Mary. But first my sprinkles cupcake. Yummmm








I don't know much about the Queen Mary. My mother told me my aunt sailed on it to get to the US. You won't learn much about the Queen Mary on the self guided tour, which is what I took. You can pay a higher price and have someone guide you around, but I only wanted to spend an hour or two at the boat.

I was originally going to stay on the Queen Mary, it functions as a hotel. But I am glad I did not as it is definitely haunted. I got the creepy crawlies the minute I got on the boat. The low ceilings and narrow passage ways also made me feel claustrophobic.


It's very big.








Kind of looks like the Titanic.




Not a cupcake ATM.




Art deco?







On deck.


I'm king of the world!



Life boats.



Looking off the back.



Uh? Where are life boats on this side??

After the Queen Mary I decided to take the Pacific Coast Highway up to Santa Cruz. So I put the top down on the convertible, put my sunglasses on and sang along to Barry Manilow's Greatest Songs of the 70's.

I'm out of work, I'm out of my head
Out of self respect, I'm out of bread
I'm underloved, I'm underfed, I wanna go home
It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

The Mojave Desert

What an incredible drive yesterday. I saw so many different landscapes. Too many for one day that's for sure.

The highlight of the drive was being stopped at an inspection station just as I entered California. ALL VEHICLES MUST STOP. And the road is blocked, so you have to stop.

I pulled up to the booth and rolled down my window fully expecting to be asked about weapons, drugs or maybe illegal aliens.

The inspection worker: "Where are you coming from?"

ME(very punch drunk from the drive and obviously itching for a cavity search): "back there"

The inspection dude(grinning): "where?"

ME(maybe not so itchy): "Pennsylvania"

The inspection dude(still grinning): "are you carrying any FRUIT?"

ME(thinking...nah dude you ain't gettin' my last apple in my cooler): "FRUIT!!???"

No guns, illegal aliens, drugs....you want to know if I have FRUIT?

And I lied to him...I told him No....because I had that one apple.

I passed the inspection.

Insane...maybe it was a mirage in the desert?????

Off to see some things today...will post pictures later.

Albuquerque (The Desert)

I left Oklahoma City yesterday and headed west on 40. I decided to take a very slight detour and see the Cadillac Ranch.

Oklahoma looks like a western. It was quite windy yesterday and I was actually able to drive for a long period of time without the air conditioning on. I stopped in Amarillo for lunch and then headed for the Cadillac Ranch.





The Cadillac Ranch was created in 1974. It is literally 10 Cadillacs buried in the ground. Half in and half out. To get to it you simply walk into the field through the gate.





The cars are covered in graffiti and there are spray paint cans everywhere. People add their names to the graffiti or add artwork to this day. It was flooded on the day I visited so only two cars were accessible. Some people waded into the muddy water anyway.










This final graffiti on the ground was kind of weird for me given it was fathers day.




After that I drove through desert that never seemed to end, but that eventually did, to end up in Albuquerque.

Today I'm off to finally get to California and slow down a bit. However I am feeling the need to make a slight change in my plans as I don't think I can drive through that desert again.