2010 September 20-30: Road Trip to San Diego

Mon 20 Sep. We left in the late morning, then had lunch at the Salinas Marie Callender (where else?!), coffee at a Pismo Beach Starbucks. We stayed in the Solvang Wine Valley Inn. We walked around Solvang, noticing the many empty shops. Finally came upon an open restaurant, so had dinner at The Red Viking. Today we had good weather, so it was a nice drive. The title link is to the Smugmug gallery of photos we took during the trip.

Tue 21 Sep. We left Solvang in the late morning to avoid Los Angeles rush hour, and had lunch at a restaurant recommended by Connie and Robert, The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach: clam chowder, halibut grilled, shrimp + scallop skewer. Then drove along Highway 1, noticing the bells every mile or so, until 1 merged with I-5. After a smooth drive, we arrived at Mother and Daddy's home in El Cajon at 4:30. We took them out for dinner to Jamacha Junction for prime rib, salad, and a nice pinot noir. It was all delicious.

Wed 22 Sep. We met with Lee and Debbie for lunch at La Mesa Brigantine Restaurant. We each ordered our favorite-I had shrimp, Lee soft shell crab BLT, Mother, Kiyomi, and Debbie had fish taco, Daddy crab cake sandwich. We all agreed to share a mud pie dessert. Delicious! We returned home and visited with Lee and Debbie. From Lee we heard what went on behind the scenes at the Naval Academy. It was not all serious study.

Dinner was the delicious leftovers from Jamacha Junction that were too good to throw away: prime rib, tacos, French Fries, and wine. Dessert was a choice of four flavors of ice cream.

After dinner we watched our home movies of Yellowstone road trip. It renewed good memories.

Thu 23 Sep. We had lunch at home with Lee: Dagwood sandwiches, beer, gourmet cookies for dessert. For dinner Kiyomi cooked a delicious meal for us: crab + avocado wrap appetizer, sweet white corn soup, shrimp + scallop in won ton wrap, honeydew frappe, pork tenderloin with pineapple + orange glaze with basil and society garlic garnish, strawberries with strawberry cream sauce. It was a gourmet experience.

Fri 24 Sep. We had lunch at home; last night's leftovers, still delicious. Then for dessert, honeydew melon, grapes and cookies. Dinner was coconut shrimp and salad from The Outback Restaurant, which we seldom get to enjoy because of its distance from Palo Alto. A glass of wine added to the enjoyment.

Sat 25 Sep. We had a nice breakfast of pastry, bacon and fruit. We were packed and departed by about 11. Feeling hunger pangs, we got off I-5 for lunch at Dana Point San Clemente and decided on the Wind and Sea Restaurant, right on the water, for fish n chips, grilled artichoke. There was a nice view watching all kinds of harbor traffic – yachts of all sizes, sail boats, outboards, surf boards paddled standing up.

On to the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel on Wilshire Blvd, where our suite had four rooms plus luxurious bath: living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom with balcony. Very posh and comfortable!

We met with Connie and Robert for dinner at Valentino (Italian) Ristorante. I had chocolate papperale, Kiyomi had octopus, Connie had ravioli, Robert had chicken. It was all delicious. My dessert was chocolate tortino - excellent! Kiyomi and Connie had cannelloni, Robert had chocolate mousse. We left the restaurant stuffed.

Congrats to the just-engaged-today Alan and Mari!

Sun 26 Sep. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of pastry and coffee in the hotel, did not need much after last night.

We went with Connie and Robert to the Getty Villa, met with Jon, Nicky and Michael. We walked around and especially enjoyed the gardens and Roman and Greek art and sculpture. There were very nice displays. We had lunch at the Museum, my nashi-kabocha soup was quite good. The Gods and Goddesses, and Warriors and Heroes sections were especially notable.

For dinner Connie and Robert joined us for Chin-Chin takeout Chinese and Trader Joe's wine at our spacious hotel room.

Mon 27 Sep. We had a nice brunch of leftover Chin-Chin Chinese, then departed for Pismo Beach. We took scenic Rte 154 from Santa Barbara over the mountains as a side trip. There were very beautiful scenic view of the mountains and ocean, but it was a very hot day, about 105F. We had a Starbucks stop in Santa Maria; the GPS got us to the mall, but finding the shop was difficult = it was inside a grocery store. We arrived at the Dolphin Bay Resort in Pismo Beach. It was a large suite, with full kitchen, living room, balcony overlooking the ocean, large bedroom - even a washer and dryer. We walked the beach, which was much cooler here at 75F with nice breeze. The water was cold, however, so we did not go in deeper than our ankles. For dinner, we walked to McClintock's Saloon and Dining House, which was recommended by Aunt Marge. They had enjoyed it 25 years ago. We had steak dinner "the works" split between us: onion rings, big tossed green salad, ranch fried potatoes, baked beans, rice pilaf, garlic bread, 12 oz NY Steak, Blue Moon beer, and chocolate mint ice cream. Even splitting the meal we were stuffed! And it was delicious! Stars above were beautiful as we walked back, and then to the end of the hotel's walk down to the ocean, away from lights.

Tue 28 Sep. We awoke to sound of surf, fog horns and birds – it was a recording, set to turn on in the morning! When we went on our balcony we got the real thing, with a beautiful view in addition. We took a drive around the area and admired the mansions that have been built on choice coastal properties, some are like castles.

We then drove to Pismo Beach downtown and State Beach, but were not favorably impressed. Our area is quite nicer, with upscale newly built homes, resort hotels and restaurants. Then we drove 7 miles to Avila Beach and liked it much better. It is a smaller and nicer community, with interesting eateries and shops. We had coffee and fudge in one of the local coffee shops. Later in the afternoon we went to a wine tasting at our resort, featuring several different local wines, live music and snacks overlooking the ocean and colorful sunset. I had snacks, Kiyomi had wine. Then we had a light but delicious dinner: Thai style mussels, grilled baby artichokes with garlic and olives, crispy green beans. We watched a funny romance on our room's DVD, "The Prince and Me".

Wed 29 Sep. We reluctantly left our luxurious suite and headed up the coast on US 101. The view along the coast was beautiful, with the ocean on our left and varying country on our right. We saw Hearst Castle up on the hill, and continued to our accommodations, the Ventana Inn in Big Sur (http://www.ventanainn.com/). What a beautiful setting, among the redwoods and other old trees, with a view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We enjoyed a welcoming glass of wine as we checked in, refreshed ourselves in our luxurious room for a while, then went to the cheese and wine tasting. There was a great variety of local cheeses and wines for tasting, we could have made it a meal. But we had to control ourselves, since we had reservations at The Restaurant at Ventana. The meal was superb. The dessert was especially good. In our room we watched "The Queen" on DVD. It was an interesting interpretation of the days just following Princess Diana's fatal crash.

Thu 30 Sep. We got home this afternoon after our very enjoyable road trip. It was great seeing our relatives down south; we just wish we could have seen Patricia and Eric, too.

We saw quite a bit of different weather as we traveled up and down the state. Really cooked in temperature over 105F going over the hill from Santa Barbara to US101. Pismo Beach was very pleasant, sunny and warm day, cool evening. Originally we were going to return via US 1 along the coast to Pescadero, then over the hills on La Honda Road; but it was so foggy and cool on US 1 that we went over to US 101 from Carmel to avoid the chill and damp.