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

This is not Bulgaria

Well, as you'll probably be able to tell, this blog post is not about our time in Bulgaria because, in fact, we are not there yet (and will not be for another week and a half). This post, and most likely the next few others, will be documenting the Sheegog family's vacation up the Californian coast. And, because we had already made this blog, we thought we might as well share our discoveries and adventures with all of you.

Day 1:

     We left at ten o'clock yesterday morning and drove for three hours north until we reached our first stop, Pea Soup Anderson's. This restaurant is one of the two in the State (and the world, for that matter). The food was quite excellent. The soup, although similar to its canned cousin, was far superior in both texture and flavor. In addition, the soup came with “chocolate milkshakes” which were more akin to Wendy's Frosties (and, as you can see in the pictures, Dairy Queen's Blizzards).

     After our stomach's were quite happily filled to the brim with chocolate and processed peas, we crossed the freeway and took a small road out to the Danish town of Solvang, which happened to be celebrating the one-hundreth year since its founding in 1911. As mom astutely noticed, half of the twon squares, malls, libraries, and whatnot were named after the famous Danes, Hamlet (prince of Denmark, from Shakespeare's play) and Hans Christian Anderson. Seeing as one of those two men is merely fictional, the whole town was sprinkled with tributes to the great writer. We even visited a Hans Christian Anderson museum which contained at least 10 different copies of each of his stories on display, in addition to an entire glass case full of books and articles about “The Little Mermaid”. We ended our visit in Solvang by purchasing some authentic, freshly-baked Danish cookies for several special people back home.

     Second stop down, and several more hours of driving await. Well, actually on one more. On the way to our final destination of the day, Cambria, we made a stop in San Luis Obispo for some food and entertainment. After seeing my first genuine “gaming lounge”, we watched Super 8. Spoiler alert. Super 8 was fairly entertaining, if not slightly predictable and mellowdramatic. Although the alien seemed more like a strange hybrid of a cave troll's face and the body build of General Greivous (not in metal, of course), it provided ample suspense and several of the obligatory “shock” moments. It was good, but no Inception. After the conclusion of the film, we hopped next door to Californian Pizza Kitchen, where we refilled our still-happy stomachs with pizza and a delicious chicken salad.

     Leaving San Luis Obispo, we finally approached our resting spot for the night, Cambria. Although I'm sure the drive was absolutely gorgeous, I cannot accurately describe it as I was asleep for the vast majority of that drive. Despite my absence of mind, we safely reached our hotel, the Sand Pebbles Inn, without incident.

-Philip