San Diego & Los Angeles

It has been several days since our last post but will attempt to catch up here.  This blog is probably the only way Marie and I will remember where we've been.

Our first stop in Southern California is South Carlsbad State Beach just north of San Diego.  

A beautiful beach with great surf.  It's hard to make out, but there are a few surfers in this shot.

South Carlsbad Beach at sunset

I reconnected with Kellogg Boynton, a best friend from high school, after more than 25 years.  Once again, it was as though no time had passed.  We had a great visit with Kellogg and his wife, Annie.  

Kellogg and Annie had us to their beautiful home for dinner one night.  Marie had not met Kellogg or Annie but quickly all were good friends

 Kellogg and a few others have developed a new high end brand of tequila which will be on store shelves soon.  I can vouch (hic!) for it.  Look for Tres Ochos Tequila within the next few months.

On to Los Angeles and Dockweiler State Beach.  The good news is that Dockweiler is a beautiful beach with great surf and bike trails running from Palos Verdes to beyond Santa Monica.  The bad news is that Dockweiler sits directly in the flight path of LAX.  We had a nice visit even if sleep was not part of it.

View from the Park

The first night in LA we had dinner with Myron and Mary Lou Curtis who spend the winters here. Myron and Mary Lou live in Brooksville, Maine the rest of the year and are members of the Island Country Club in Sunset, Maine.  We had a nice dinner and played golf the next day at Los Verdes Golf Club.  I managed to lose a few $$ to Myron but plan to win it back this summer.

On Saturday, Mar 19, we connected with the Curtis' and Marilyn Schroerer and Dave Goddard. We spent the day at the Huntington Library and Gardens, followed by dinner at Marilyn and Dave's home in Pasadena.  Although I didn't know it before, the Huntington is a 'bucket list' item for sure and dinner with good friends was great. P.S. There were manuscripts of: Chaucer, Shakespeare, London, the Preamble, etc.

Walt, Marie, Myron, Mary Lou, Dave and Marilyn

One of the Huntington Gardens

Part of the Japanese Garden at the Huntington

On Sunday Marie and I took a bike ride from Dockweiler Beach to Playa Del Rey, through Marina Del Rey to Venice Beach and on to Santa Monica Pier, a total of 22 miles round trip.  We saw every form of human being along the way, and a couple that we weren't sure of.

Here we are on the Santa Monica Pier

Leaving LA on Monday morning for Paso Robles with stops in Santa Barbara and Morro Bay along the way.