Our WAY Big Adventure

  We spent one night in Morro Bay, California. Arriving in the dark, we could hardly see the outline of the “pebble” that made this town famous. At daybreak we couldn’t believe our eyes. After breakfast Hilary and I headed 25 miles north to tour Hearst Castle, while Scott, Amber and Tyler headed toward the beach on bikes. The “pebble,” standing 480 feet tall, is actually a volcanic plug, and it towers over the buildings, over the sailboat masts, over the town.

As Hilary and I arrived at the castle, I discovered that my camera battery that read full the night before, didn’t have enough juice to even turn the camera on…How can I not take photos?

 Here is a little bit of what we were able to capture with the camera on Hilary’s cell phone:

 Surrounding the main residence (Casa Grande) are the three guest houses; La Casa del Sol, La Casa del Monte, and La Casa del Mar. We toured La Casa del Sol and parts of la Casa Grande. The estate includes 165 rooms and is too large to tour in one day.  The main house has 38 bedrooms, and 42 bathrooms.

Willian Randolph Hearst was the son of a wealthy mining engineer, but independently made his fortune in newspapers,  magazines, radio and film. He was kicked out of Harvard for being a prankster. The last straw might have been his purchase of ornate bed-pans for each of the chancellors and having each personalized with their names  inside. He then hand delivered them…

The Neptune Pool

The columns on the Roman Temple that you see on the opposite side of the pool are 2000 years old. The columns to the right were made to match. He re-used, copied and re-purposed many parts (celings, doors, walls…) of this residence, importing many things from Italy, Greece, Spain and Egypt. Hearst’s guest list included Charlie Chaplin, Carey Grant, Joan Crawford,  Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Franklin Rooseveldt, and Winston Churchill…to name a few. 

In 1957 the Hearst family donated the estate to the State of California. Maintaining the castle and grounds costs about $10,000,000.00 per year.

Hilary and I enjoyed our “girl-time” and the scenic drive along the coast back to Morro Bay to meet up with the rest of our gang, and then head south to our last stop in California.

She’s been working on this for quite some time! As we said goodbye to Mr. Roen at the Steer Roping competition (you’ll see it at the end) she asked if we could please just leave her there and pick her up in a week. Amber especially loved our time at the ranch!

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We were all sad to say goodbye to the Roen family, but are taking with us  many wonderful memories. We  have been blessed by Erik, Kim and their boys. Their generosity and willingness to allow us to be part of their family is something we will never forget! These are a few of my favorites…  

My cowboy

Only at E. Roen Ranch will you find "branded" crepes!

Amber and Jesse at their post

Brian Kim & Eron

Real California Beef!

Sara Dog & Tyler sharing a moment

Brian & Kim

We thank God for each other, our health, this time that we have together, our families and friends that we hold so dear in our hearts and His abundant grace…

Thanks to Hilary, here is a peek into our last few days on the ranch…

After church and a quick bite to eat, Amber and Erik set out on horseback to find a sick calf. With Sara the cattle dog, and a four wheeler for the photographer, we set off to find that particular herd. I honestly don’t know who was more excited to go out and work again, Amber or Sarah.

Amber, Jesse and I hung back as Sara took off to separate the mother and calf from the herd, and then isolate the sick calf, with Erik and Bett

y just behind.  It was very exciting to see each one of them in action! So exciting that I let my camera slip down for a moment (you’ll catch it) but I still got most of the action.

DISCLAIMER: THE CALF IN THIS VIDEO IS SICK, AND WAS ROPED FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADMINISTERING MEDICATION. ALTHOUGH YOU WILL HEAR HER CRIES, SHE WAS NOT HARMED IN ANY WAY AND WAS RETUNED TO HER MOTHER WITHIN MINUTES . RATED PG

http://youtu.be/UexTN8r2bSQ

Erik prepared the calf by tying its feet, and getting the syringe in place… and Amber got to administer the medication!

“Mom, normally I would have been worried about hurting the calf (by giving it a shot) but knowing that it was sick, and that I was helping to make it better made me feel really good.”

I believe this is evidence that Amber is now an official “COW GIRL!”….notice her left hand is still holding her horse.

After checking on one more herd a few hills over, we were ready to head back.  Sara’s work was finished so she jumped on the four-wheeler with me for the ride back…and while you don’t often see pictures of the photographer, I wasn’t given a choice on this one. I’m only including it because many of you who know me well, know that I have a love for learning, and I think there are lessons to be learned each and everyday… The lesson I learned on this day; if you plan to take pictures standing atop a four wheeler on a downhill slope, don’t forget to use your parking brake!

We are spending some time with friends, Erik and Kim Roen and their boys, Eron and Brian on their cattle ranch

in Knights Ferry California.

 
Heading out on four-wheelers and horseback to check on the cattle.

While we did not originally plan to spend time in downtown San Francisco, we decided we were too close to the Golden Gate not to see it.  We all really enjoyed our drive through town, the bay area,  seeing the steep slopes that surround the town, and the cable cars invented to haul people up and down those steep slopes that was safer than the horse drawn trams of 1873. 

“The Rock” or Alcatraz Island, sits like a gem in the San Francisco Bay. Many tourists travel by ferry to tour the once maximum security federal prison that housed many famous criminals including Al Capone.

And…after feeling like we were in a parade while driving down Lombard street a.k.a “the crookedest street in the world,” we got out and joined the picture snapping tourists at the bottom.

 I was waiting for Eric Estrada to turn around and flash me his bright smile…I guess Ponch and Jon were just too busy!

The kids and I loved seeing China town. It was incredibly crowded, with open markets lining both sides of the street for many blocks and people everywhere…but this (above) was my favorite photo.

 I think I know just how these residents feel. Here’s proof: that is 10 pairs of blue jeans in a space that most people use for showering. Ours is used for drying and for kitties to take care of business.

We saw a couple of street performers, but this one was our favorite! The girl on the left, although she sounded like a duck, was incredibly talented!

I think the kids would agree that they had the most fun at Pier 39 downtown. While San Francisco is a major shipping port for the U.S., this pier is more like a nice outdoor mall. The sea lions of the bay area prefer this pier too.  We saw hundreds of them basking on the docks at the end of the pier…that was when I discovered my camera battery was depleted. Sorry no photo.