Boyce Photography » Vacation

Hotel Del Coronado

Denise — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:23:00 +0000

How stunning! The Del Coronado is everything it is made out to be. Everywhere I turn it is breathtaking. We have been very busy with all the programing and social events. Sunday nights dinner was out on the lawn. The beach is large and very clean. Here are some shots of the grounds. I will post more later. Free time is short here.

Denise

Denise — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:07:00 +0000

Today was a travel day. We drove from Monterey to Hollywood. It was a long drive and almost all of my photos are from the car. The hardest part of taking pictures from the car is keeping bushes, trees, fences and signs out! The valley between the two mountain ranges is very fertile and full of farms, ranches and vineyards. The hillsides are bright green and all the leaves are coming out on the trees. I tried to find an orchard in bloom, but I guess this part of the state rows celery, broccoli, grapes and strawberries (or the best I could tell). The hills are full of the “California Happy Cows”. The actor portrayals on TV have pretty dairy cows being the happy cow, but all I saw was black Angus, a beef cow. I don’t know how happy they are, knowing their fate. Maybe that’s why TV portrays them as dairy.

We stopped in Pismo Beach for lunch (I remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs is tunnelling to Pismo Beach and ends up in the Sahara or someplace like that). So I had to see Pismo Beach! To our surprise, we ran across Alex Bar-B-Que, voted the best restaurant in Pismo Beach. Of course we had to eat there. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich and the famous Alex French fries which were sprinkled with seasoning (kinda like Lawry’s).

As we continued toward LA, we spotted the RV parks here for the retired people. Hey Mom and Dad, look at this, the perfect seaside park. All the RVs are lined up along a road just off the shoreline. Each space guaranteed an ocean view! I think you are missing out on the best view. Dad can go fishing, you can comb for shells and everyone will be happy!!!

Tomorrow we hit Hollywood!

See ya then.

Denise

Big Sur Highway

Denise — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:31:00 +0000

Dave and I explored the coast today, both up close and from the mountain top. The morning was spent walking the shore in Monterey to watch the waves come crashing in. We then drove to the local state park that is suppose to be a wildlife haven. We saw harbour seals, sea otters and we heard the sea lions, but couldn’t find them. There were whales off the shore and all we could see was the spout when they blew out their air. I don’t even know what kind of whales they were. The birds here are different too. There is a type of blue jay that is sapphire blue on top and white on the bottom. One bird looks like a small Robin with a red breast, but the top of the bird is black instead of brown and it has white spots on it’s wings. We stopped at the Monarch butterfly sanctuary where the butterflies spend the winter. They had started to migrate north again, so there were not many left, but they were flying in the top of the very tall trees. I tried to take some photos of them, but they were too far away.

The afternoon was spent driving back down the Big Sur Highway looking for the “best shot”. Sunset’s are gorgeous and short. We flew from spot to spot trying to find the “light”. What fun!! As soon as the sun set, that was it. Time to head back to the room.

Big Sur

Denise — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Wow, what a day! Dave and I drove up to the Big Sur highway yesterday and drove through some of the most beautiful farm land I have ever seen!! Everything is geen and blooming. It is definately spring here, which gives me hope for Michigan.

We stopped at Morro Bay for lunch and enjoyed this little fishing town that had huge hints of being California’s Saugatuck. There were shops all over the place!
The best part of the day was spent driving the Big Sur Highway up the coast. We were there untill there was no more light. How stunning!!! We will spend today exploring the coast again.

Later,

Denise

California here we come!

Denise — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Dave and I flew into San Diego today, rented a car and headed north. We drove as far as Oxnard which is just north of Malibu. The traffic through LA was standing still, but Dave and I buzzed right through it. Because their were two of us, we were able to drive in the car pool lane. I have posted a photo from the highway, the beautiful flowers that are growing along the side of the highway, some of the houses on the hillside in Malibu (the parking lot was full along the beach and we could not get anywhere close) and the beautiful sunset on the Malibu beach.

Oh – did I mention it was 71 degrees today and the flowers are blooming and the air is fragrant with their sweet smell.

Later,

Denise