Back from California. It was some trip. We flew to Chicago, Denver, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Chicago again, and home to Knoxville's McGee Tyson airport. Then drove home.
While in Santa Barbara we rented a car (Suzuki Swift, but that's another story.) and drove to my sister's house in Camarillo. She's recovering from surgery, but looked pretty good for an old gal.
We drove up to Morro Bay, went to a state park on the beach, visited relatives and friends and ate Mexican food. I also had a great Ruben sandwich, down on the embarcadero at MB. I can't spell the name of the restaurant, but it sounds like "Hoff brow." I'll bet it's Hauf Brau or something Germanish like that.
Weather was great. That is, it was cool and sunny with gentle breezes. It rains so little there, you see cars with no windshield wipers.
As usual, Morro Bay was foggy.
We spent a lot of time on hwy 101 and the best time is before daylight on Sunday. Almost no traffic.
We went to the waterfront in Ventura. It's one of my favorite places in California. They are wall to wall with sailboats. There is a nice museum and places to eat and shop. It's also a good place to sit and just sit.
On the way back, San Fran to Chi, it was clear all the way. I looked out the window until my neck hurt. I saw last winter's snow in the Sierras and the Rockies. Cirques were evident on many mountains and the Great Basin was dotted with salty-white dry lake beds. In the mountains you see miles and miles of roads that seem to go nowhere. Fire roads, I guess. I think I spotted Lake Provo in Utah, but missed the Great Salt Lake, because I was on the wrong side of the plane.
I also got a look at Denver and the new airport from the air. The transition from the mountains to the plains is really dramatic.
Got home at 3:00 am this morning. (Yawn.)
I wouldn't be surprised if we went west again sometime soon.
Howard