Central Coastal California - Ravishingly Beautiful & Vividly Brilliant

The Central Coast of California is full of swaying palms, sea breezes, and an orchestra of waves. But, if you travel inland a little on the 101, you're going to see some pretty amazing 'fields of gold".

On our way up to San Francisco from Los Angeles, we stopped at many a community park to....




.............have a "Zekie go high in de guy" ride......

........have a "Zekie guyming lada" opportunity.......

........have a "Zekie see woodsips" exploration.........

(and were we ever inrigued by those wood chips.......)

.......who thought they'd be so interesting? Especially when they're mixed with runny noses.

..................have a "Zekie side fast" occurence........

As we ventured up the ever popular 101 we realized that Central California IS ravishingly beautiful and vividly brilliant. There are few landforms as dramatic, as varied, or as replete with attractions and visitor opportunities as the central coast of California which stretches from Oxnard (just outside of LA) to Santa Cruz (about 2 hours South of San Francisco).


Wine, Wine Eveywhere is what you'll see when you travel through Santa Barbara County & San Luis Obispo County - Central California's Wine Country. Otherwise known as the Santa Ynez Valley. There were oodles and oodles of pictures like the one below. Vineyards as far as the eye could see........just imagine the grapes! Food & Wine Magazine once published that the "Central Coast will rule America."

There was not enough time or patience when you travel with a two year old who is awake 10 hours and in that 10 hours wants to see animals and trucks. One day, I will travel back solo or with a few friends to do a little more wine tasting.......trick or treat anyone?

Salinas evokes a small town air that remains the heart of one of the leading agricultural regions in the entire nation. In fact it is known as the Salad Bowl of the World. If you eat:

romaine lettuce......

white or yellow onions...........

or spinach............

and you live in North America, chances are they came from Central California. Andy Boy romaine lettuce ring a bell?

Pismo Beach is truly classic California. It's pretty much locatedhalfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It's a cozy beachside community and the only beach in the state that visitors can drive on.

Zeke crusin' down the boardwalk pier. Wide open spaces to run, run, run!

Relaxing on a bench watching the faced paced action to total relaxation.

Pismo is ideal doe tidepooling, shell collecting, kite flying, and sandcastle building.....

Did I mention cozy beachside community?

For the adventurous there's surfing, body-boarding, kite-boarding, and beach biking. Here we were watching the surfers. Zeke REALLY took a liking to them.....hmmmm?

We walked to the end of the pier (which was quite a long way for little legs - 1/2 km) while the sun was setting..........

And there we saw................

More surfing and body-boarding.........

I made the mistake of asking this guy as he was walking down toward the end of the pier how he got down to the water from here. He responded, "There's a trap door with a ladder.

And then we saw this.............

And the boys were hooked................

And then we saw this...........

and it wasn't a pleasant landing either!

I came across a quote by Erma Bombeck that really makes one think.....

"On vacations we hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings."

A Most Photographed Structure - An Engineering Marvel

The host that greeted us at Pier 39 - How fitting and because Zekie loves crabbies well, he couldn't take his eyes off of it.......that was the biggest crabbie any of us had every seen. Talk about artistic expression....




Today we took a jaunt down on the cable car (this was supposed to be Zeke's 'bus' ride but we couldn't fool him.......he knew it was a train) to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Our intentions were to climb aboard a San Francisco Harbour Cruise.........

While waiting for our cruise to board we walked along Pier 39 to see what we could see. "Brown Bear, Brown bear what do you see?" "I see stinky loud seals looking at me." Well, at least Zeke saw and heard them for himself......I don't think he'll ever forget what a seal bark sounds like.

We came across another brown shop.............one that tastes real sweet and delicious. There was SOOOOOOOOOO much chocolate in this shop..........every kind you could possibly imagine. I thought the displays were art in themselves. We didn't dare linger too long. Ok, we'll maybe we sampled a little.

Here's Captain Zeke aboard the Blue and Gold Fleet

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/

Golden Gate Bridge......one simply cannot appreciate this artwork until you actually pass under it and look up from below. California's most famous icon spans the entrance of the bay. To think that opening day was in 1937 and that nearly 18,000 pedestrians walked across the bridge before it was opened to automobile traffic. In 1987, the Golden Gate celebrated it's 50th by closing the entire span to automobile traffic so pedestrians could walk across it as they did on opening day.

800,000 people showed up before sunrise in 1987 to take advantage of this unique opportunity. 200,000 crowed onto the roadway before their combined weight caused the arched center span to flatten out completely.

From the bridge there are breathtaking views of the City skyline, sailboats on the bay, and the vast Pacific Ocean. And it's this view that shows ample proof of San Francisco's designation as one of the world' most beautiful cities.

Length of suspended portion: 1.2 miles

Mid-span height: 260 feet above sea water

Height of towers: 746 feet

Paint Used: More than 5,000 gallons of "Internatinal Orange"

Vehicular Traffic: 100,000 vehicle a day

They say that this bridge is the most photographed bridge in the world andis also the most popular suicide destination in the world. I suppose one might think there is something romantic about suicide from the GG Bridge...... but the bridge ironically is a symbol of man being albe to conquer the elements and build spectacular structures.

The Controversial Documentary - THE BRIDGE documents 24 unfortunate souls drawn by it's siren call who chose to end their lives at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004

Here's the website to check it out: http://thebridge-themovie.com/new/index.html

Zeke (with his bus in hand) plays peek-a-boo with the guy sitting behind us to help the time go by.

Alcatraz is a small rocky island right in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It has a checkered history that began long before it became a federal prison housing some of the nation's most notorious criminals.

The 22 acre island was originally named Isla de los Alcatraces (Island of the Pelicans).

Because of it's strategic positioning in the Bay in 1934 it was converted from an army fortress (dating back to 1854) for harbour defense into a maximum security prison.

During the 29 years Alcatraz was a federal prison, there were no successful escapes. It's the only prison where the inmates had hot showers (so their bodies wouldn't have the ability to adjust to the cold, cold water if they did try to escape).

We stopped at San Francisco's famous Boudin French Sourdough bakery. Here's some of what we saw................marine life in sourdough form (lobster, turtle, crab).

Can you guess what Zeke's favorite was?

Inside the infamous "bus" (cable car) down to San Francisco's Pier 39 Festival Marketplace.

Scroll down into October to see more of San Francisco.

"The grand sweeping views to neighborhood color and character, from glimpses of history to world class dinig and shopping - San Francisco is home to a little bit of everything. San Francisco is a unique and breathtaking metropolis. We would definately recommend you discover San Francisco for yourself if you haven't already. We know the Bacac's will definately be back!"

Hallowe'en Howdy Folks!

Howwwwdeeeee Folks, It's Me Bull Ridin' Easy E!

It's important that you begin every October 31st with a balanced meal in the morning and some playtime in the Seattle foliage (or wherever you may be).


And here's the back end from last October!

May even wish to wooo the ladees with a pretty one!

Important to carve that pimpkin and get it looking real swell!

And when the hat gets a little annoying just do the "Cowboy, oops it fell jig!"

When the sheriff comes to town you'd better be sure.....

That you're using the white rectangles to cross the road.....







When the trusty companion you rode into town on decides that he's not interested in having you ride on into the sunset.............




Go to plan B and smile for the ladies in the bumble bee, lady bug and princess costumes passing by. Sometimes ya get and sometimes ya get got!



My how we change in a year! Here I was a handsome little devil!



And when you feel the need to kick your spurs up (or crocs in this case) on an old wooden table, remove your hat, have a drink from your sippy cup and sit back and enjoy the festivities, please by all means, the night is young! Whatever you do, just don't squat with your spurs on!

Excuse me, have you seen my horse?

According to a cowboy, what this country needs are dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.