Pajaro Dunes

Our Tahoe group decided to do something different this year. I think we have been going to Tahoe for over 25 years. But, this year we headed to Pajaro Dunes. It is between Santa Cruz and Monterey. This meant that the ladies could go shopping and have lunch in Carmel. We could bike the 17 mile drive, go to the aquarium, walk on the beach and get to know Elkhorn Slough. We had a beautiful house on the beach. This was a delightful change and I think we all loved it. Every year when we go on vacation, we figure out how long we have been married. We have collectively been married to the same people for 148 years. We also still love to vacation with each other. They are a wonderful group of people and it was such a lovely vacation. Here are some of the pictures to give you a visual.

Elkhorn Slough

We took a guided walk at Elkhorn Slough Reserve. It was fantastic. It was our own private tour and we had 2 guides for 8 of us. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend this tour.

I think I have had too many encounters with snakes this year. This one is just tiny and I didn't step on it, but it's my fourth snake this year. They just like me and I hate them. This was at Elkhorn Slough

Moss Landing

This was a raft of otters at Moss Landing. They are so cute. We saw more in the wild than we did at the aquarium. At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, they cover themselves in black hoods and don't talk when they feed the otters because they love to bond with people.

This otter has a clam in it's hand that it is eating. This guys spent a long time diving, getting a clam and eating. They are hungry little guys...... or girls.

This was a vegetable stand in Moss Landing. It just happend to be near a coffee shop that we seemed to stop at really often.
Quiet Life at Pajaro
Paula and Chet out on the patio.

This was taken from our lower deck.

Monterey Aquarium

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquaium. I hadn't been there since our kids were small. We took a behind the scenes tour and learned lots of interesting behind he scene details.

On the Beach by the house

We took lots of strolls on the beach. As you can see, we never turned our backs to the water. but, the tide was much higher on our walk back to the house than we thought it would be. We had to scramble up on the rocks to stay out of the water. Surprise!

Point Lobos

The next few pictures were taken at Point Lobos. We stopped at the Whaler's Museum and took a short hike.

OK, DB and Paula aren't a couple, but I really liked this picture of them.

We saw lots of blue herons. Also there were plenty of Great Egrets and Snow Egrets. Great place for birding.

Rocky Point Restaurant. Great food, perfect weather and a beautiful view. This isn't very far from Point Lobos.

Biking on the 17 Mile Drive.

When DB Goes Fishing, Carol Visits Family

On our drive down to Southern Califoria, we decided to stop by and surprise my nephew Jeff with a quick visit. He loves to decorate for Halloween and here he is with a few of his scary decorations. It was fun to see him and it was really fun to surprise him.

After dropping DB in San Diego for a 5 day trip, I spent that time with Erica, Andrew and Zachary. Zachary is such a sweet baby. It was so much fun to see Erica being such a super mom. We played, took walks, made cookies, played bridge and even went to a block party. It was such a fun visit. Here are a few pictures from my visit.

We went to Katie and Kevin's for lunch one afternoon. Kevin came home from work for lunch to join us. Steve also drove over for the afternoon. It was a great gathering. Here is a picture of Megan and Steven. Megan is wearing the twirly skirt that I made for her. I love how they are willing to pose for me.

Steven started preschool. Here is some of his handy work.

Grandpa Steve and Megan

I drove down to San Diego to pick DB up from the trip and we stopped by for him to see how much Zachary grew from his last fishing trip. The pictures tell it all. A wonderful family trip.

A Small Gathering to Honor Katie

A few of us went to Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano to celebrate Katie and Kevin's baby Clare. We had a wonderful brunch and a nice time of visiting. I included pictures of food in this group of pictures because the food was really wonderful. I wish you could taste it.

Happy Baby Katie!