California Spring 2011

Last week Nurit and I drove from Buellton to Paso Robles and then on to Belmont and San Francisco.  We had been graciously given a two night stay at the Kimpton Monaco Hotel and wanted to use it before it expired.

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A classic view of San Francisco

It is spring in California and the scenery is spectacular.  Usually the hills are brown but this spring they are an unusually beautiful green and the mustard is in bloom.

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Mustard bloom near Santa Barbara

We had dinner at our friends Brock and Cathy’s house in Belmont. They went above and beyond the call of duty and made a delicious dinner.

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With Brock and Cathy

In San Francisco we visited the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park but we couldn’t wait to get back into the countryside.

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de Young sculpture

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The hills near Paso Robles

More Pictures on Flickr here

Highway One

One of the worlds great drives is US Highway one from Carmel south to Cambria.  Even on a day when the weather isn’t perfect, the drive is magnificent.

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At the second big bridge

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The hard to find waterfall

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My best bridge shot

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Lots of construction but few delays

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Art shot

We set off from Carmel about noon and arrived in Cayucos by 3.30 pm.  On the way we stopped and took pictures of the bridges and the elephant seals. We had an early dinner with our friends who have a super condo there and were home by nine.  California is a great place to live.

Rebecca has an idea to turn the section of Highway One from Cambria to Carmel into a toll road like 17 Mile Drive.  It would tax the tourists and let the locals continue to drive free.  Good Idea!