San Xavier Mission

(Becky writes) We may have left California this morning but we did not leave beautiful skies. Just look at the deep blue sky in our pictures of the mission. After getting settled into our hotel here in Tucson, we decided we had a few hours of daylight left so we headed south on I-19 to find the San Xavier Mission which is located on the San Xavier Indian Reservation. We visited several missions in California and they are always quite beautiful with lovely garden areas but this one is quite exquisite. It was established in 1692 but the present building was built between 1777-1797. It is known as the "White Dove of the Desert" and is the oldest Catholic Church in America still serving parishioners.

The inside of the mission has gorgeous artwork that has been compared to that of the Sistene Chapel. Actually the same group of restorers that worked on the Sistene came to San Xavier in 1999 to restore the inside of this mission. I thought it was really interesting that in restoring the art they were searching for the perfect "wash" and discovered there is nothing better than the original which is derived from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. A plea was put out to the people of Tucson to donate their prickly pear fruit to be used in the restoration! As you can see the art work is really beautiful.

The "garden" out front is almost completely made up of different types of cactus. There are saguara, prickly pear, and many others. Tomorrow we plan to visit the Desert Museum and I am hoping to learn the names of some of these beautiful plants.

Here's to California!

(Becky writes) From the towering, majestic redwoods to the sparkling shores of San Diego, California is a continual portrait of the great beauty of God's magnificient creation! We spent the past 17 days in this huge state - appx. 800 miles from north to south - and have seen quite a bit of the western half of the state. Unfortunately time and weather have not permitted us to explore the eastern half. We didn't get to do Yellowstone or see the giant sequoias but that just gives us a reason to come back.

We are both homesick and so ready to head back to the Carolinas to see the family we love so much, but we have had a wonderful time here, met so many interesting people and seen so many lovely places. So here's to people and places we will never forget. The Redwood Forest - the quietest place I have ever walked. Rocky cliffs and charming lighthouses. The friendly sound of sea lions barking. Captain Dave and the thrill of being on a catamarran in the Pacific and seeing a whale. Adele and wonderful food and lots of laughs and really good music. Sunshine, glorious sunshine. Cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge and actually driving down Lombard Street. The Pacific moon that seems linger low in the sky well into the morning. Flowering plants and more cactus than I ever knew existed. Spanish missions with their charming architecture and old world charm. Dinner with Sharon and Shou amidst the background of a magnificient sunset. These are some of the memories I will always cherish from my first visit to California!

Thanksgiving in San Francisco

(Craig writes) Even though it was raining as we traveled up the California Coast toward San Francisco the scenery continued to be beautiful beyond words. The fog and clouds seemed to play hide and seek with the mountain tops, and at times with the road, as we wound our way up and down the steep hills and occasional valleys through Santa Barbara, Monterey, Big Sur and Carmel. At one point we pulled over at a vista ocean view and saw a large "herd" of elephant seals on the beach. Elephant seals are so named because the adult males grow an elephant trunk looking appendage on their snout and can grow to be 2 1/2 tons in size!

Our hotel in Oakland was across the bay from San Francisco so after we had a good nights rest we drove over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco. Driving in San Francisco is a hoot! It seems that the speed limits and red lights are more like suggestions than laws here. After seeing some of the city we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito for lunch.

On Thanksgiving Day we drove back into San Francisco for a closer look at the city. Parking at the Fisherman's Wharf near historic Pier 39 we walked over to Hyde Street and boarded a cable car headed "uptown". The city is very hilly with some very steep streets and we were thankful that the brakes on the 100+ year old cable car were still working okay! Following the fun ride on the cable car we made a sweet stop at Ghirardelli Square for some chocolate then down to "fish alley" for a delicious lunch at one of the restaurants on the pier. After lunch we drove up and down some of the more famous streets including Lombard Street, (the curvy one you've seen in so many TV shows and movies).

This was an unusual Thanksgiving for us in that we had never been 3000 + - miles from our families on the holiday before. We were able to talk to them though and had fun using our niece's recipe to make chicken and dumplings for dinner when we got back to our suite, (thanks again Meredith).

Old and New Friends

(Becky writes) We really enjoyed our time at the San Clemente Inn. The inn is within walking distance to the ocean (always a plus for us) and the town of San Clemente is adorable. San Clemente means "spanish village" and when it was first established there were very strict building codes. All buildings needed to be tan or white adobe with red tile roofing. Over the years that hasn't always been the case but most of the town is adobe with tile. The vibrant accent colors of red, orange, blue, etc. really add a special touch. Really charming!

One of the people who made our stay at the inn particularly enjoyable was Adele. Adele is the owner of Adele's at the San Clemente Inn, a charming restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and manages to make you feel like you are having your meal with family. The food is really good - the homemade soups are over the top - and the prices are very reasonable. Adele is there much of the time and always takes the time to visit with her customers. She hosts different local musicians on some evenings and we felt like we were at a jam session. We heard several different musicians who entertained us with some really good music. Sunday morning (at 7:00am) we were packing our car to leave and out runs Adele to give us a hug and say goodbye. Thanks, Adele!



On Saturday, we visited the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The grounds of this mission are absolutely gorgeous. I never knew there were so many different types of cactus and the bougainvillea are the size of small trees! We spent a very interesting afternoon here.



From the mission, we drove over to Newport Beach to meet our friends, Sharon & Shou for dinner. We ate on the deck of a quaint little restaurant right on the beach with the backdrop of an amazing sunset. I had tuna that was really good and later we went to Starbucks for after dinner coffee. The food and the coffee were quite good but the very best thing about the evening was visiting with two really special friends.









Sunday morning we started out bright and early from San Clemente to Anaheim to go to Disneyland! I have wanted to go to Disneyland since I was a very little girl so this was a really exciting morning for me. Okay, I know some of you are saying "what in the world is the big deal here - she goes to Disney World ALL the time" and that is true. However, and I know this for sure now, Disney World and Disneyland are not the same. Yes, it is true that the two parks share some of the same attractions but WDW is huge compared to Disneyland. Disneyland is quite compact even to the extent that many "footprints" are layered with several attractions. It is really a very interesting use of land. We also visited California Adventure (also a Disney park). Again, this park shares some attractions with WDW. We had a good time and I'm really glad we came but this could never replace WDW for me.

From Extremes to Excesses

(Craig and Becky write) If Wednesday was a day of extremes, Thursday was most certainly a day of excesses! How much is too much?

Is $18 million too much for a new home in Newport Beach, CA?

Is $250,000 too much for a pop star to receive for making a 30 minute appearance at a club opening?

Does Hollywood, (only Hollywood not all of LA), really need 233 Starbucks?

Is $100,000 too much for the average 30 minute shopping spree on Rodeo Drive?

Should sports stars really earn $87 million per year?

Does Rodeo Drive really need multiple million dollar chandeliers for Christmas decorations?

How much really is too much?

As we toured Hollywood and Beverly Hills yesterday with all their glitz and glamour we kept thinking about that question. Actually, if we changed the locations and the dollar amounts how much excess would we find in our own lives? Not trying to depress anyone, just food for thought!

Extremes

(Becky writes) Today was certainly a day of extremes. When we first started planning this trip, we knew we wanted to go into Mexico. We considered several different options for how to accomplish that. One option was to drive in but after a little consideration we decided that wasn't the best plan since we didn't have any clue where to go, the car insurance is an issue and we just weren't sure how smart that option was. The next idea was to take a cruise out of San Diego or LA and cruise down to several locations in Mexico. For several reasons we decided against that option. We finally decided to do a "day tour". This sounded like the most simple and safe solution.

So, today we went to Mexico.

The tour company picked us up here at our resort which is about 75 miles north of the border. We stopped at several other resorts as we traveled south to pick up other travelers and then made a stop in San Diego at the historic Hotel del Coronado. This gorgeous hotel was built in 1888, is all wood construction and is the epitomy of luxury. We had a few minutes to walk around. The grounds are lush and the lobby is plush. It overlooks the Pacific and for me, at least, it is what I envisioned southern California to look like.

We left the hotel and literally in a few miles we crossed the border and we witnessed the other end of the spectrum. As we traveled about 45 miles through the countryside, we saw cardboard and plywood "houses" leaning up against the hillsides. The contrast from southern California to Mexico was really overwhelming to me. It is really hard to believe that just two fences separate these two places.

Our first destination in Mexico was a very small village, Puerta Nuevo, where we were scheduled to eat lunch. Our lunch was very good - a California lobster with tortillas that were incredible. Lunch also included soup or salad, rice, beans, really good coffee and flan. The food was really good but it is also sad that the 21 of us sat there and enjoyed all this food after witnessing such extreme poverty just outside the door. The tour company made the arrangements for lunch and also for a mariache band to come in and serenade us.

After lunch we headed back to Tijuana to do some shopping. Craig and I are not big shoppers but we did purchase some surprises for our grandchildren along with a couple of things for ourselves - a charm for the bracelet I am making of our trip and a lovely miniature paper mache nativity. I was glad Craig was with me to "bargain" on the price because I really don't do well with that at all. My previous experience with this type shopping has been in the Bahamas and I always feel so bad about bargaining with the people. I did feel that the pressure to buy was much more in Mexico today than I have ever experienced in the Bahamas.

It was a very interesting day and we enjoyed meeting the other people on the tour with us. We met a couple from Illinois who just six weeks ago moved to Las Vegas. They are really struggling with being so far away from their children and grandchildren and not at all sure their move will work out for them. It made us very glad we have decided to come back to the southeast.

"Thar She Blows"

(Craig writes) With all of the amazing things we have seen on our trip we had hoped to be able to see an elusive whale before turning Eastward to head home. While in Victoria, British Columbia we heard that the whales had already headed South for their migration, so no whales.

We were sure that when we got to the Oregon Coast 2 weeks later we would see some at the famous Depot Bay, but the last sighting there had been a week before we got there, no whales again.

In Crescent City, California a park ranger told us that whales had been sighted 30 miles further South so we traveled up a long, narrow and winding road to the top of a mountain but once again, no whales.

At this point I'm beginning to think that every whale picture I had ever seen had just been computer generated and that Moby Dick was just fiction based upon fiction. Enter Captain Dave Anderson of Dolphin Safari in Dana Harbor, California. Since the weather was gorgeous and the seas were light we signed up to go on a 3 hour tour. Captain Dave uses powered catamaran sailboats for his tours so this morning Becky and I boarded the 35' vessel and headed out a few miles off the Southern California Coast for a last ditch attempt to see aquatic sealife that was larger than the sea lions we had enjoyed seeing so many of before.

The first hour produced nothing more than some kelp patties and a few birds. The second hour followed with a couple of buoys, some more birds and 2 helicopters flying by. As the third, and final, hour began all 19 people aboard were straining to see something when all of a sudden I spotted a large dorsal fin 100 yards off the stern. All of my life I had wondered how it would feel to yell "thar she blows" on a whaling vessel but decided to wait a little longer and just point excitedly and exclaim "there's one!" Sure enough we had found a young minke whale, (prounced mean-key). With cheering and excitment we followed the whale for several minutes as it surfaced several times and even blew out air and water a few times. With the safari over we headed back to port happy, dry and finally fulfilled in our quest to see the elusive whale.

By visiting http://www.dolphinsafari.com/ you can get info about Capt. Dave and how he helps support World Vision through sales of his award winning video "Wild Dolphins & Whales of Southern California."