California in September
I first flew to San Francisco where my friend Mike O’Reilly met me. Mike lives in San Jose and is retired from Hewlett Packard. After retiring, he had the same idea that I did – get on a plane and travel. We met earlier in the year in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He was incredibly kind and took me on a fantastic tour of the best of California. We started by driving down Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast.
We stopped at the home of the artichoke and sampled their speciality – fried artichokes – yummmm… then continued onto Monterrey and 17 mile drive which we biked to Carmel. Monterrey.jpg This is the Carmel Spanish mission.
Hearst Castle
In the afternoon of the 2nd day, we arrived at San Simeon where Randolph Hearst built his castle at the summit of the family ranch. Hearst Castle is simply “OTT” – OVER-THE-TOP! It has the most exquisite wood paneling, antiques from Europe, artifacts etc. but it is all in pristine condition and somehow too perfect.
One of 3 swimming pools
Yosemite National Park
The next day, we went to Yosemite National Park which has some of the most magnificent mountains formed by glaciers.
The famous Dome
I then had a few days in San Francisco with my friend from college, Ben Miller and his wife, Linda who was heavily pregnant. The baby arrived a few weeks later. On that trip, I also went to Santa Monica to visit my cousin Adrienne Rich and her friend, Michelle Cliff.
From San Francisco, I flew to LA and visited another college friend, Jeff Auerbach and his wife Nancy, both college professors and their adorable daughter, Dahlia. We spent a fun 24 hours in Las Vegas. It was a hoot!
Back in LA, I Rodeo Drive with my cousin Elizabeth Loeb. I was so impressed with the downtown kids library, I had to take this photo. Instead of a quiet mausoleum type place, the teenage section is a hiphop place for kids to hang out and listen to loud rock music while study.
Washington State
After LA, I flew upto Seattle, Washington. I visited the most charming town on the Puget Sound called Port Townsend.
It is the town where An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed. This is an exquisite Bed & Breakfast called The Ann Skerrit House.
This is the local barbershop
This is the “Nifty Fifties” dinner on Main St.