Pacific Grove

The Seven Gables Inn is within walking distance of downtown Pacific Grove, and we took advantage of morning walks to explore town, and to find coffee and breakfast. The Red House Café was a good find, they however were short staffed one of the mornings we ate there so the service was quite slow. Overlooking this the food is tasty and well prepared. 

Best coffee in town that we found was at the Bookworks coffee shop and bookstore. We also recommend spending some time in the associated bookstore, they have a nice selection of books.

Pacific Grove has a small town feel with friendly residents, and the older houses are fairly well maintained with placards that list the year they were built and the original owners name. We could live here, if we were looking to move to California. 

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Lovers Point & The Beach House Restaurant

A holiday is not complete if there are not any photos of food. Am I right? We enjoyed a fabulous meal at The Beach House Restaurant near Lovers Point. The calamari, corvina sea bass with wild mushrooms, and steak & shrimp with glazed carrots were all tasty and delicious!

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Pacific Grove & Seven Gables Inn

After a nice days drive down the California coast we checked into our lodging at the Seven Gables Inn in Pacific Grove. We stayed in the Seal Rocks room and within 15 minutes of being in the room we had spotted a seal swimming just off shore out the front window. By the end of our stay we had seen whale spouts, backs and tails, a pod of porpoise feeding and playing, sea otters, and tons of birds - pelicans, cormorants, and gulls.  

We sipped local wine from Hahn Estates and ate chocolates from Lula Chocolates, and thoroughly enjoying our first evening in Pacific Grove.

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Golden Gate Bridge & California Hwy 1

When you tell a local how excited you were to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, and to see this manmade marvel from the cliff side, they look at you a little sideways. They get it, that it is special, and that people travel to San Francisco just to see this bridge. But it appears they are not sure what to think of all the excitement that it generates. Perhaps they have become numb to the bridge’s presence in their lives. We can relate as there are days when I take the mountains around us for granted. Never the less it was a grand time and is now checked off our wish-list.

The drive along the California coastal Highway 1 was incredibly beautiful. The Ice Plants shimmering in the sun, showing off their white yellows and purples added just the right balance of color against the blues and teals of the sky and ocean waves.

Road trips with my fella are one of my favorite pastimes.

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Muir Woods & New Friends

Our second day of holiday in California was spent hiking the trails though the Muir Woods National Monument. It was a weekday so the crowds were a bit smaller than I would imagine them being on other days. We walked the trails that are along the forest floor and ventured up the Canopy trail that winds you up and around the hills for a view from almost the top of these amazing trees. The Redwood trees reminded us of the Kauri trees on the North island of New Zealand. Simply AMAZING.

A highlight of the day was meeting a fellow adventurer and hiking together. We met at an intersection of three trails as we all were trying to decipher the maps and the trailhead signs. Pro tip: take a picture of the trail routes on the wooden signs at the beginning of the park as the map the Park Rangers hand out at the Ranger Station is a bit lacking.

Our fellow adventurer is from the bay area of California but now lives in Pennsylvania. She was back in California to visit her mom and sister; to help her mom move, and see her sister before she deployed overseas with the Army. She is a remarkable person and we feel quite fortunate to have made her acquaintance, and of course will host her and her boyfriend when they visit Alaska! You know me always an advocate for travel, and overly willing to share Alaska with anyone who has an inkling to see this great state.

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Eathquake ~ 4.6

 

Aftershocks rolling through, this one woke me up for a brief moment. Thank you to the Alaska Earthquake Center for the work these folks perform to study and report earthquakes, very interesting. And a HUGE thank you to our son for always having some data on hand to share with his Momma. His work in infrasound is fascinating, and he said that the Wilson Alaska Technical Center instruments in Fairbanks also registered these quakes.

To quote James Bond - shaken but not stirred! 

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Earthquake ~ 6.1

Woof - a roller and a slammer!

The Alaska Earthquake Center has an interesting write up about this quake.
Check is out HERE.

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Golden Gate Bridge & Family

 

There is no toll for vehicles crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco north to Sausalito, they let you leave the city for free but you have to pay the toll to cross the bridge to get back into San Francisco. The price for the entertainment value is well worth it, however if you had to cross the bridge every day for work I could see how that would be cumbersome.

Our first night on holiday we met up with my cousins to share a meal and visit together. They are from the bay area and have lived in California most of their lives but our family roots are grown in the Iowa farmland. Our evening spent together was pure joy to my soul! 

Oh, and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge is as cool as they say! It is a manmade marvel that everyone should drive over at least once in their life.

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Let the Traveling Begin - Again

We recently embarked on our first holiday of 2021. We traveled from Anchor-town Alaska to San Francisco California to explore the area and check a few items off the must see and do list. It felt a bit strange to be traveling for leisure again but my wandering spirit needed some stretching.

It was a great feeling to be out exploring a small corner of our fantastic planet, to surround ourselves with some of nature’s wonders, and marine wildlife viewing. Plus, the manmade marvels, and the eye-opening agricultural production along Highway 1 at the eastern edge of Monterey Bay.

Travel broadens your horizons and awakens your soul.

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Communication

We barely know how to communicate with each other, what makes us think we can communicate with our own heart and mind. When we have a tough time acknowledging or thanking others for a compliment, what makes us think we can compliment ourselves for a job well done, a day well lived.

Strong healthy communication is key to our collective and individual success, and yet it is something most of us struggle to achieve. Have we spent too much time placing blame on our busy lives, telling ourselves that we do not have time to invest in our personal growth? Since we have had time to breath in the slowness of life during a pandemic, what is our excuse now?

Call someone you love and trust today. Communicate with an open heart. Acknowledge the gifts you each bring to the relationship, and grow stronger together.

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Existence

There exists among us a time warp of significant proportion. We breath. We eat. We sleep. And yet time ticks its tock, and we wake up unaware of its passing. One moment we are there and the next we are here. Relish each moment.

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Discoveries

 

Discoveries and personal growth can happen frequently when we take even a small amount of time in our daily lives to notice how we are feeling. In these moments if we ask ourselves the tough questions of what, when, and why, epiphanies will arrive at our heart’s door.

We must be willing to ask ourselves the tough questions to seek the answers we have been hiding from. Having an open mindset will lead to continued personal growth.

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Creativity

Our life is not driven by science or dry facts. It is art that propels us forward. It is the creative soul that is our guide. We swim among the beat, we flourish in the colors. We live in full spectrum. Here. Now. And for our future selves.

We are ruled by our creative soul, fueled by emotions, passion, fire. We live to create.

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Earthquake ~ 4.9

 

Woof... this one was a hard slam/jolt that hit the house like a bulldozer and felt like it knocked me forward in my office chair. Mild shaking after that, then it was over. I am thinking this one will get labeled as an aftershock to the November 30, 2018 earthquake which only compounds my earthquake PTSD.

Best get on with my day and shake it off... heeheehee. Shake it off, shake it off. I trust everyone else is having a good day.

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Another Nice Day in Alaska

 

Just another nice day in Alaska! When you are planning your visit please drop us a line and we will offer up the best travel advice we have to date.

Photo of Denali and Ruth Glacier on a clear and a million kind of day!

Hope to see you soon!

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Spring Semester Watercolor ~ Project 3

 

What does a botanist, a mid-1980’s movie enthusiast, and someone who enjoys a play on words all have in common?

They might be the first set of folks to piece together some of the mysterious aspects of my latest watercolor project.

Titled: Under the Bleachers by Seymour

This painting ended up being more of an abstract piece than I originally intended, as if it came to life from another dimension. What do you see? What fascinates you, what is a bit unsettling? Most important did you find the egg?

Happy day to you all, and remember some ideas are beseeching for you to bring them to life.

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365 Days Working from Home

Everyone around the globe is reflecting on the past year that has elapsed. It is like a New Year's celebration, and the forming of a new marker with which we will measure our future years. For me I am reflecting on the fact that it has been 365 days since I started working from home. This time last year I was filled with an overwhelming sense of anxiety and the best coping mechanism I could come up with was stress releasing, somewhat ill humor.

Diaries of a Foisted Home Office thankfully did not have to endure much airtime but my identification number #32520 will remain a day that I now can proudly look back on with my head held high.

Today I am glad to have the privilege to be able to work from home. I am productive, no longer uneasy about the situation, and I have gained a stronger sense of self worth as part of my working-group. Plus, my blood pressure is lower. Working from home suits me.

My desk has under gone a few changes in the last year. The most recent change was we switched rooms between our master room and guest room. The master room is now where our small full bed and my office reside. This room has a larger southeast facing window, and offers more space to move about during the day.

We are expecting guests this summer so this change is a win-win. Our guests will get to sleep in the queen bed in a tidy room, and we will take the smaller full-size bed. It will be like the good-ol’ days before we upgraded to the queen bed.

Onward and upward, as some aspects of our lives move forward with a sense of normalcy, and I continue to work from home.

Day one working from home.

About a week later we converted the small table into a standing workspace, and I retrieved my full computer set up from the work building.

By the end of summer my husband bought me a large standing desk that will be converted into an artist table when I retire.

P.S. this photo was taken after work hours.

New office setup in the larger master room with the nice window and more space.

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Brightness

 

The reflective brightness of the sun on a spring day in Anchor-town give us hope that soon we will be seeing green in place of the white.

Bring on spring and all the glory it can muster.

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Change in Beliefs

 

When I was growing up I was told that because I was an only child that I was selfish. For years I lived in this belief, making others thoughts of me become reality. One day I began to question what others thought they knew about me. I took a long hard look at myself and those around me. What I saw was I am just like everyone else.

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