a pleasant day...

Today started with a brisk walk down at Jaycee Park with Liz and Candy. After all these years I have hardly ever gone there. It was a somewhat overcast day but there was a nice breeze. We then went over to Bob Evans for breakfast and a mini birthday celebration for them. The month is half over and we haven't done anything for the October birthday girls!!! I then headed over to Lowes for vacuum cleaner bags...such mundane tasks but a necessary one. I then went Publix to grocery shop, now I said "Pleasant day" not an exciting one! :D I did get home and put the groceries away and proceeded to make a roasted chicken, with carrots and green beans and made an apple crisp! I love being at home....I fought again with the computer a bit still can't get my ringtones to work with my iPhone and the Carbonite is giving me quite the fight, and the news has not so nice things in it, bombs in planes, gunshots in buildings in D.C. and our Governors race is getting nasty with the Dems wanting the Dem nominee to step down so the Governor might have a change of winning (he wnet from Republican to Independent. Natalie called also so we had a nice chat......but for me in my little world it was just a pleasant day!!!

I'm Whining!!!!

Wine, wine, where is my wine??? It has been over a week and I don't have my wine!! Liz has her wine....where's mine??? I made a phone call this morning to the winery and lo and behold, it is waiting for me to pick it up! LOL this is rather difficult since I'm here and the wine is in Los Olivos, California!!! Somewhere there was a gaff an I know I paid for shipping, but not to worry it will be sent out on Monday and be here on Wednesday! Yeah!!!

I have many happy memories of the Santa Barbara get away, I don't think Liz and I can stop laughing from the attack of the squirrels, to the house alarm going off, to the issue of Liz's grandma and Leo in the back seat of the car battling the seat belts, to our day trips up the coast and out to the winery.

I have made reservations to go out to North Carolina to see Natalie and we have plans to go to the Biltmore.....it will be decorated for Christmas, so that will be special.

So, no more whining for a little bit.... :D

Home Sweet Home

The weather was wonderful, the weatherman was way off base stating it would be pouring rain; but instead it was quite the opposite with bright sunny skies. We mailed some of our stuff home....I sent my fabric and books, Liz sent shoes!!! I saw a long box being sent to Madonna at the Khabala Center in LA, CA!!! Liz missed it! We took the "pass" route 154, which Liz's grandma didn't want us to take, but it was scenic and only as short bit was rather nerve-wracking as we looked down to the left only to see how high we were up, and how far we could fall down...I prefer to hug the mountain! :D We stopped at one scenic vista to get an overview of the Cachuma Lake which is an artificial lake (made in 1953)located in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California named after the Chumash Indians.

We arrived safely to the Firestone Winery. There are lots of grapes!!! We really didn't eat breakfast so...it was wine and crackers...what a way to start the day. We did the wine tasting and then we went on a small tour of the winery. We saw tons of grapes that were picked for Riesling being processed and in front of us we saw and touched grapes that were going to be harvested in a day or so that would be used for the Chardonnay! We also so the vats and pictures that included Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, Ford, and Burroughs, all had homes in Fort Myers, Florida!

We left the winery and headed for Clairmont Farms Lavender Farm in Los Olivos, CA. We bought a few things and headed off to Slovang which is the little Denmark of the United States. The building all reflect the architecture of that region of the world, some even with thatched roofs. It was quaint, we continued down the road to go back to Andersen's for Pea Soup! I ordered a salad and it was so huge I only had a little bit and boxed the rest!

We headed back to Santa Barbara and headed for the beach! Arroyo Burro Beach, there were lots of dogs, and all well behaved. We did see a large pod of dolphin feeding off in the distance. Dinner was at the Outback with Liz's family to celebrate her birthday, followed by packing to head home.... :( ;)Home sweet home! after a long travel day I am home, unpacked, showered and shopped ready to get so
Get some sleep because I have to work tomorrow!

Traveling adventures....

I flew from Fort Myers to Atlanta to Denver to Santa Barbara. The connections were close! Liz picked me up st the airport and we ate dinner at IHOP and had pumpkin pancakes and the drove to her grandmothers house. It was a long day traveling so a goodnights sleep was welcome. We spent the following day on State street shopping and sightseeing locally been went to the top of City Hall to het a birds eye view of the area, went to the Santa Barbara Missio, and ate lunch
at Joe's Cafe!

The following day we drove north up the coast to go to Hearst Castle. It was unbelievably foggy you could just bearly make out the buildings, it was fascinating anyway! We drove south stopped in Combria and browsed the shop and got an orange smoothie. We continued south on 101 to Morro Bay a place I have been to before and wanted to stop at again. It has changed a bit though I'd nice there is access by driving up to the rock and there are fishing boats all in the bay with playful seals. We got salt water taffy and headed to Main Street to ho to The Cotton Ball Quilt Shop. Of course I could not leave empty handed!!! So I purchased a few things!!! We left Morro Bay with bags full and lighter wallets :D. Onward south we went to Beullton only to be stuck in traffic around Pismo Neach where there wad a bad car accident. Once in Buellton we stopped at Andesen's restaurant Well known for its split pea soup! The food was delicious and we were so Fl and brought desserts back that were absolutely scrumptious!!! Full tummies we headed back to Santa Barbara!

The whe time we've been here the sun has yet to shine!!! It had been overcast and foggy with mist! today we went to Stearn's Wharf and took in the views of the ocean and Santa Barbara. We shopped saw some artisans before heading to State Street to shop and to the mall to get a couple of game. We ordered pizza and salad from Giovanni's and took it along with pastries from Jeannine's Bakery! We found the lighthouse too! Later we went to the beach and briefly saw the sun tring to peak through the clouds! The walk and fresh air were refreshing! During the evening we played scrabble and yatzee followed by planning our day for tomorrow... Wine country
...

I'm off.....

Ahhh to get away...is truly a dream! It is the start of my six glorious days off. Last time it was marred by PNAP, work, and ACLS....but this time....ahhhh, this time I get to jump on a jet plane and head west! Off to Santa Barbara, California! Whooo Hooo!! Liz is already there visiting her grandparents, and I'm going to join up with her and then we have a few sightseeing trips planned. I'm looking forward to this. When the kids were younger I didn't get to do some of the sights because they were small and it really wouldn't have been appropriate to take them to the wine tastings....LOL To bad Manuel hates to travel...oh well, :D I'm off!!!!