Of Rocks, Ollalieberries, and Spicy Rigatoni

Day 2:

We had a late start (us kids, that is), but eventually got down to our “deluxe continental breakfast”. Lovely waffles, orange juice and pastries awaited. After eating breakfast and cleaning up, we all headed across the road to the beach. Dad had gone down earlier and said the view was crystal clear, ocean as far as the eye could see. But by the time the sleepy-heads rolled out of the inn, a lovely haze had descended upon Cambria. We got to sit on a bench overlooking the rolling waves and a couple with two young girls while we did devotions. After that, we headed down to the shore itself. There were some very tempting, large rocks not very far out in the water. Philip and I ran out there, and eventually Ariel joined us. Though we got very wet, we had a very fun time out there.

After drying off at the inn, we drove into Cambria. We walked about the town a bit, found a garden shop, a thrift store, and a gallery of paintings. Then we went to Lynn's, a restaurant our aunt had told us about. The food was excellent, especially the spicy pickles, and the owner gave us a history lesson of the owallieberry. Then it was to the road again. We passed the Hidden Valley Ranch and a lot of hills, cows, and grape vines. A few hours later, we reached Pacifica, where we would spend the night. Funny enough, this is the same hotel we stayed in last time we came to Pacifica! We walked around the Farmer's Market and gift shops before going out with our friend, Uncle Dana. For dinner we went to “Nona's”, a diner-type restaurant. Philip ordered the spicy rigatoni...and it was SPICY! Not unbearable, though. Then we went to Uncle Dana's house, got to see all the neighborhood animals, took a tour of his house, including his impressive airplane collection, and then went back to the hotel. After a little while, when Ariel and I were started to drop off, we said goodbye till next time.

If anyone is interested, at our church's high school group tonight they had third annual No Talent Night. Since we couldn't be there, Philip and I (with Ariel's help) made a video for some friends to dance to. They didn't know what we had put together, but I'm sure they were good sports about it. Here's the link if you want to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU6--gKMyPo .

Well, it's time for bed. Tomorrow: adventures at the aquarium!

~Meri