Tag Archives: California

Christmas Decorating Ahead of the Storm

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Finished decorating

This is our first Christmas without Dad, who passed away in February of this year, so we wanted to help Mom decorate for Christmas. We knew that a storm was brewing, but we went to her home in Seal Beach anyway. By the time we arrived, she had the tree up and beautifully decorated, and most of the inside of her condo was also bright with the yuletide spirit. She really is amazing! We did have a little rain as we began work, but it stopped just long enough for us to get her outside lights up under the threatening skies.decorated mirror

Storm is coming
As we drove away from Mom’s, the rain started again. Driving toward storm clouds on a darkened freeway, we were sure we were in for a really huge storm, and we suddenly drove through some very heavy rain, but five minutes later the rain was behind us and the sky was clear.

A Walk Under Blue Sky

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100_3535
This photo and the one below were taken at the Sir Speedy corporate headquarters that sits across the road from my doctor’s office. I’ve always admired its clean architectural lines, and after our recent rain the blue sky and green grass accentuated the building more than ever.

Today I  went for my yearly physical, and my doctor encouraged me to get in a 30-minute walk at least five days a week. This has been my goal since last year’s physical, but it rarely fit into my schedule.  I’d often noticed the paths on the Sir Speedy grounds, so today I decided to walk up those paths. I say up, because the building sits on a hill and the paths are rather steep in places. I circled the building and enjoyed the grass and flowers for almost half an hour, and the walk back to my car completed the 30 minutes. I couldn’t help but wonder if employees inside the building could see me and wondered who it was walking on their company grounds. I followed doctor’s orders to do my half-hour walk, and also satisfied my curiosity about the paths surrounding Sir Speedy. I wonder where my walk tomorrow will take me.100_3536

Mom and Daughter Day

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surf shot

Good afternoon! I planned to post this last evening, but was so tired from all of the fresh air and walking, it had to wait until today.

Early last week, my mom and I decided to make Monday a mom and daughter day, so I headed out early yesterday morning for Seal Beach, where Mom lives. It is about a forty minute drive from our house, if the freeway co-operates, and it did. The weather was gorgeous and a perfect day for a trip to the ocean. Above is the amazing view from the Seal Beach pier. You can see we were not the only ones enjoying the view.

Two pigeons

fan shop

Main Street, Seal Beach is delightfully lined with colorful little shops and restaurants. There are just so many interesting places to browse and shop. We were enticed by the constant aroma drifting from a cinnamon roll bakery, but didn’t give in to temptation. Today, I am thinking perhaps we should have.

One of my favorite stores, that is a must see, is the California Sea Shell Co. at 125 Main Street. It has every kind of shell you can imagine and many other wonderful items.

shell shop

Our last stop was to a small nursery, also on Main Street. Walking around the many plants and flowers, I was reminded of a recent trip to Carmel,California. I loved exploring while Mom made her choice and purchased a few flowering plants to take home to her garden.

It really was amazing to see all that was available on that wonderful little street that is the heart of Seal Beach.

nursery 2

It was a perfect day, and we promised each other we would do it again, soon.  Who knows, maybe the next time we will dip our toes in the Pacific.

 

 

 

Revisiting Los Laureles Lodge in Carmel Valley, California

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los lauralesLos Laureles

My husband, Martin and I celebrated our wedding anniversary while away on vacation. It wasn’t planned that way, but it so happened we were in Carmel, California on August 1st. We thought it would be fun to drive to the Carmel Valley and look for Los Laureles Lodge where we’d spent part of our honeymoon 44 years ago. We didn’t know if it still existed. Well, it does and it’s thriving. It has several more buildings now, including a restaurant and wedding chapel. We met a couple who were newly married and holding their reception at the lodge. It was a wonderful day and although Los Laureles Lodge has changed, it brought back many happy memories of a wonderful honeymoon spent in Carmel Valley 44 years ago.