UC DAVIS ARBORETUM

Who would have thought that just 28 miles from our house & a mere 15 miles from downtown Sacramento, the University of California at Davis would have a huge arboretum winding through the campus?

Lou did his online homework researching the 3-1/2 miles of trails along a creek, through groves of redwood, oak & acacia trees & various flower gardens. Even though it is still February, we decided to check it out yesterday to see some of the early spring blossoms. It didn't disappoint.

If I didn't know better I'd swear this trail through the redwoods was way up along the northern California coast not a few miles from the city of Sacramento.

The bark on these redwoods has an interesting texture.

The California Redbud was just beginning to sprout. It should be amazing in another few weeks.

We decided to come back again in March or April since many of the plants aren't yet in full bloom. There were quite a few plants beginning to blossom but my guess is that it will be spectactular in late spring or early summer!

Not sure if these were cherry, plum or apricot blossoms forming - all three are in the park.

The acacia was gorgeous with its bright yellow puffy blooms!

One of the paths along the creek that will be shady once the trees leaf out.

I have such fun looking for interesting photos & there were plenty of opportunities/

We saw several birds but this egret was the only one who stayed still for a picture.

This is one of my favorite pix with the different varieties of grasses.

Several types of flowers were already blooming in the White Garden among others. It surrounds a wooden gazebo & looked like it had a hundred different types of only white flowering plants. I'll bet it is beautiful in late spring! White flowers always amaze me with their intricate simplicity.

These little clusters of white flowers were already popping out in February.

This looked like some sort of daisy but didn't have a yellow center.

We talked about being in awe of all the varieties of flowers there are in the world.

GOLD COUNTRY GETAWAY

A couple weeks ago we decided to join a Christmas gift with an early Valentine’s Day celebration. Lou’s sister had given us a gift certificate for a cave tour & zipline ride at Moaning Cavern up near Columbia which we combined with an overnight stay in the gold country .

We had ridden a zipline in Costa Rica about a decade ago that consisted of 10 separate lines through the jungle! This was much tamer but it was still a wild ride since I’m a decade older as well. J Thanks, Judy!

After suiting up in our lovely ziplining attire we crossed a suspension bridge to the launch tower.

Lou being attached to the zipline & briefed for our adventure.

I'd say these next two pictures are pretty damn good considering we took them of each other from side by side ziplines as we were careening down the hill at speeds up to 45 miles per hour!

Not only did I manage to get Lou in the photo but I also caught the landing point on the far left. That's the line I was zipping down in the upper left.

Lou captured this shot of me about to be caught at the end of the 1500 foot ride. I was coming in really fast & just shut my eyes.

I found a great bed & breakfast just two blocks from downtown Columbia. This is the off season so we checked the weather for a couple weeks & made a last minute reservation when it turned sunny. Since it was our Valentine’s Day present to each other, we splurged & stayed in the Wine Cellar Suite – with rock walls, a living room, two bedrooms & a huge bathroom complete with Jacuzzi hot tub!



The large parlor of our Wine Cellar Suite at the Harlan House Bed & Breakfast.

The entire downtown of Columbia is a restored California State Historic Park. We had the town almost to ourselves since it was midweek in the winter – much more fun than being packed with people.
  

The Columbia Hotel is a highlight of Main Street.



The interior of a restored historic building in Columbia.

The two story school house on a hill across from our bed & breakfast.



A street corner in the gold rush town of Columbia.

On the way home we stopped at all the little gold country towns along Highway 49. It’s a detour we had been planning to take for years & finally did it.

Angel's Camp of Mark Twain's frog jumping fame.

Some old buildings in Mokelumne Hill.

The recently restored National Hotel in Jackson was beautiful inside, too.

PLAYING CATCH UP

Geez, not a single blog post in the month of January & half of February. I must apologize. There is no excuse but there are explanations. We returned from our cruise, jumped right into the holidays & I've been playing catch up ever since. Hopefully, things will settle down now.

Perhaps, the best & biggest recent news is that our adorable little sweetheart is now walking! She stood on her own one day, took her first tentative steps the next, then a couple days later took a few more. One week ago today she walked across the room & hasn’t slowed down since! She walks everywhere now, no more crawling for Charley Ellen. It is so cute & she is so pleased with herself. Amazing!

Our Charley is on the move!

Even though our 49ers lost the Super Bowl, it was a helluva run in the playoffs. They did a great job & we’ll get ‘em next year. Congrats to the Ravens – they were a better team on Feb 3^rd.  Personally, I still think Jim Harbaugh was wrong to replace Alex Smith when he came back from an injury, but that is my opinion & I’m sticking to it!

We had some minor camera issues so the Super Bowl pix aren't up to our usual standards, but you get the idea - there was lots of red.

At this point she would hold one finger & walk all over. About a week later she took off by herself.

We had our token Ravens fan - Allison likes them since Michael Oehr from the movie, The Blindside, plays for Baltimore.

Most of my stress this past month was due to the fact that I have been immersed in yet another caregiver search for my father. It seems no one stays beyond 6 – 8 months lately. BUT I am optimistic & hopeful that we have found a wonderful, young woman who may turn out to be the best one yet. Her name is Jolene (yes, her mother was a Dolly Parton fan) & she seems genuinely happy to be taking over next week.

I cannot tell you what a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders with the promise of a fresh start with a new caregiver. As I shut the door when she left after hiring her, my father exclaimed, "I think we hit the jackpot with that one!" I sure hope he's right. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!

With many different factions to accommodate, our family Christmas stretches out over several days. My little corner of the Bray/Silver/Otto family (with a Padgug thrown in) celebrated our Christmas yesterday in Rocklin!

Darrin, Allison & Charley leave today for Albuquerque to visit Allison's family. Here are just a few photos of the star of the show - my adorable granddaughter, Charley Ellen.

My sister gave Charley this cute hat & she loved wearing it!

Crawling around the playroom after our "Brunch Feast" from Mimi's Cafe.

Charley texting Santa Claus.
I swear kids nowdays are born knowing how to flick smart phones with their thumbs & text!



Charley & Daddy reading a story.



Our little girl goes up & down the stairs in record time - under Mommy's watchful eye.

DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY

Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is a staple of every calypso band playing on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. My guess is that we heard snippets of that eternally optimistic song at least twenty times these past two weeks. That is definitely the motto for most tropical vacations.

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale on December 2 & set sail the following day for an eleven night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas. We chose this cruise for three reasons. 1) It had two sea days at the beginning & two at the end of the cruise for relaxing. 2) The itinerary included five new islands for us with only one repeat. 3) It was past hurricane season so we shouldn’t have any diversions like our last Caribbean cruise in Nov 2010.

What better way to start our cruise then with the drink of the day - a Bahama Mama!

The Solarium adults only pool was a quiet retreat that became one of our favorite spots.

Some Enchanted Evening Lounge on the Vision of the Seas.

We had a female captain of our ship who was Japanese & Danish. "Captain Lis" was a tiny, little woman who regularly interacted with the guests. Her weather & location talks started with "Good morning, good morning OR good afternoon, good afternoon" - always said twice.

After our first two days at sea, the next six days were spent at a different island port. I’ll give you a few impressions of each island then let my photos do the talking. As you might expect the tropical scenery is a photographer’s paradise.

St. Johns, Antigua

The island is pronounced “An-tee-gah”. We did an island tour which included a view of Eric Clapton’s house on a thin bluff overlooking the turquoise waters – what a setting for your home. Our tour around the island included ruins of a fort & Nelson’s Dockyard National Park.

A view of St. Johns from our ship. The bow on the right is another cruise ship.

Some of the gorgeous shoreline of Antigua. Check out the close up below of the thin peninsula in the middle right of this photo.

This is a zoomed in shot of Eric Clapton's house on the tip of the peninsula. It is designed to blend in with the landscape.

More amazing scenery. There are 367 beaches on Antigua. As the locals like to say, "One for every day of the year."

Castries, St. Lucia

St. Lucia was one of the islands we missed last time due to Hurricane Tomas that directly hit this mountainous island. The Pitons (two pointed peaks) are its defining landmark. They are on the other side of the island from where the ship docks. We took a private tour that went up a mountain, down to the ocean, up another mountain, & down to the ocean where the Pitons & La Soufriere (an active volcano) are the major attractions. The roads were really steep & winding – plus they drive on the “wrong side of the road” in St. Lucia.

About the only flat land in St. Lucia - the airport taken from our ship.

St. Lucia's most famous landmark - The Pitons.

From this angle only Petit Piton is visible, the other one is behind it.

The Diamond Falls Botanical Garden in Soufriere, St. Lucia.

A colorful villiage at the base of two mountains.

A natural arch bridge that our tour guide pointed out.

Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados was the most populous island we visited. It has a large upscale area called Holetown that caters to the rich & famous. We were told that Oprah Winfrey, Simon Cowell & Mick Jagger among others either own property or are frequent visitors. Tiger Woods married his ex-wife, Elin, on the island. Pop singer Rihanna is a native of Barbados & returns often.



Downtown Bridgetown.



I loved the way the clouds, palm tree & flowering bush blended together.

The beach at Bathsheba, Barbados.

Looking the opposite direction in Bathsheba - that was one huge rock.

Bridgetown taken from our ship.

Kingstown, St. Vincent

This was our ship’s first time stopping at St. Vincent.  While the scenery on the island was gorgeous, the city of Kingstown was aptly described by a fellow cruiser as “a toilet.” Our bus drove along two of the three downtown streets without stopping. They have a long way to go to improve their city as a tourist destination – the town is really rundown & shopping is minimal at the “cruise port”. Our tour guide said that the unemployment rate is 60% plus people who work are not taxed until they make more than $10,000 per year which few do. They need the tourism but it was my least favorite port on this trip.

One of the three big churches in downtown Kingstown.

This is what most of the town looked like - definitely needs a facelift.

A man preparing our coconut water refreshment which was part of the tour.

Lou enjoying the coconut water. I tasted it & opted for the rum punch.

Another beautiful St. Vincent beach.

Kralendijk, Bonaire

Bonaire is billed as one of the three best dive sights in the world which is why I chose it to make my snorkeling debut. The story of my maiden snorkel adventure is a separate post prior this one. I would have liked to spend more time exploring Bonaire with its colorful buildings & inviting downtown streets but our schedule didn’t allow for it. The island had a nice “feel” to it & I wouldn’t mind visiting again. Both Bonaire & Aruba are flatter & more arid than the other islands on this trip. 

The town of Kralendijk from our ship.

Bonaire's colorful main shopping district.

A church in downtown Kralendijk.

Oranjestad, Aruba

We had visited Aruba on our Panama Canal cruise a few years ago. Last time we did an island tour so we just walked ourselves ragged all over the town this time around. Oranjestad is a big shopping destination with an upscale mall. After finishing up our souvenir shopping, we headed back to the ship & rested by the pool. Island hopping is hard work & we were ready for two more days at sea.

Some of Aruba's ornate buildings.

It seems that Caribbean islanders love pastel colors & Aruba is no exception.

More of Aruba's colorful shopping area.

Of course, we had to take some formal portraits of us all dolled up! Few people seem to enjoy the formal nights but Lou & I like to dress up once in awhile.

I’ve been on enough cruises now that few things seem to be that different on any of the major cruise lines. Royal Caribbean had two things that stood out – they had a rock climbing wall & they had far more varied entertainment. 

Lou & I tried the rock climbing one morning. He made it to the top easily but I only made it about halfway. My son did some rock climbing years ago so I knew the basics – use your legs, stay close to the wall, etc. But I got to a point where I couldn’t straighten my leg & couldn’t reach any higher. I knew I was doomed to fall with my next step. The rope caught me & eased me back to the deck. At least I tried.



Lou doing his best Spiderman immitation.



Success!





Me at my highest point - I know kinda pathetic.



The obligatory singers & dancers only did two shows. They were better than some we’ve seen but nothing special. There were several comedians, a juggler, a singing impressionist & a hypnotist. All were good except the hypnotist – it was a boring show but maybe old people don’t hypnotize well.

My two favorite shows were a singer/comedian/philosopher named Judy Kolba. She is billed as a combination of Joan Rivers, Liza Minelli & Charo. Her humor was unique & she made you think about life without being too serious.

A pleasant surprise was the tribute show “Ricky Nelson Remembered” by his twin sons, Matthew & Gunnar Nelson. You may remember them from about 20 years ago when they looked like “hot Swedish chicks” (their description) with long, blond hair. I loved Ricky Nelson as a kid so it was quite a treat to sit in the front row & sing along with his sons!

Matthew & Gunnar Nelson with a photo of their father on the video screen.

And as if all that wasn’t enough we had about six hours to kill before our flight so we rented a car & drove to South Miami Beach for a whirlwind Art Deco tour.



One of the hundreds of Art Deco buildings in South Beach.

 

A restored Packard looks right at home along Ocean Drive.

Even the lifeguard shacks have an Art Deco theme. We decided we need to spend a few days in Miami before our next cruise!