Attractions and other places we visit.
Jenn is a fan of the old Peanuts comics, so while staying in Petaluma we headed a little north to Santa Rosa, California to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center.
A recreation of his office:
Gift store:
Snoopy’s Gallery and Gift Shop:
An artistic installation in Paso Robles, California is Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio.
It features a field of thousands of lights, and some light towers.
We arrived just before sunset:
Path to the light towers:
Light towers, made of wine bottles (of course):
An interesting shed:
We got a couple of beverages from the bar:
Sunset:
Light towers:
A shot from my 360 camera:
A 360 camera effect:
Back to the Field of Lights as it gets darker:
Back to the Light towers, now that it’s dark:
Grass lights:
The Field of Lights again:
360 camera effects:
Hearst Castle is an iconic mansion about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
They offer a number of tours, from the basic Grand Rooms Tour, which we did 22 years ago when we first moved to the US, to a more exclusive Julia Morgan Tour, about twice as long, limited to just eight visitors, and gets to go places not seen by other tours. We opted for the latter this time; a very worthwhile experience.
The experiences starts and ends at the visitor center:
The visitor center includes food, a gift store, and exhibits:
Everyone takes a bus up the hill to the castle:
The tour started with the outdoor pool; we were on a side of the pool where the other tours can’t go:
Castle:
Exploring one of the guest cottages:
View:
Another cottage:
The castle:
Dining room:
Another room:
Game room:
Theater:
Another room:
Julia Morgan’s room:
Kitchen:
Stairs:
Bedroom:
Stairs:
Ceiling:
Library:
Back of cottage:
Underneath a large patio are some old hidden steps, that were built then covered up as Hearst changed his mind:
Indoor pool:
I recorded a timelapse video of the tour with my new 360 camera as an experiment. Unfortunately, the timelapse is designed for static subjects, morphing any movement, which isn’t great with motion. I really should have done a hyperlapse instead, but this is still interesting:
The view looking down the hill, including the winding road to castle:
Hearst Castle sign:
Photo:
While staying in Paso Robles, we visited a few wineries. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, we figured we’d just head out on a Saturday for a bit of wine tasting, stopping by wineries that looked good. Imagine our surprise when we learned that that is not how things are done in California — apparently one needs reservations pretty much everywhere.
We did manage to get an inside table at one place without a reservation, but that surprise really put a damper on the experience that day.
The place that took pity on our backward ways was McPrice Myers Vineyards:
We purchased a couple of bottles:
After that, we didn’t try any other wineries that day; instead we went to Rustic Fire for a tasty lunch:
Learning from our experience, we made reservations for some vineyards on subsequent days. The first was Calcareous Vineyard:
Inside the tasting room:
Outdoor table:
Tasting menu:
Food menu:
Order form:
View:
Outdoor seating:
Jenn:
Tasty food:
We bought three bottles (provided with a nice box):
Another vineyard, DAOU Vineyards and Winery:
Vines:
The security station on the driveway; we were turned away here the previous weekend, but this time we had a reservation (and nobody was staffing it this time, of course):
Fancy gate:
View:
Tasting room:
Patio:
Gardens:
Bottle list:
Flight and food menu:
Charcuterie platter:
Bottle:
Views:
We bought three bottles:
Another winery we visited (on another day) was Parrish Family Vineyard:
Patio area:
Tasting menu:
Food menu:
Price list:
Super tasty (and messy!) BLTA:
Our last winery in Paso Robles was Le Cuvier Winery:
They are situated on top of a hill, so have a nice view:
Though the covered patio is tucked away, not taking advantage of that view:
The experience there was a bit different, with wine and food parings to bring out the flavors:
We visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo. It was definitely the nicest and largest zoo we’ve ever been to.
Enjoy the animal pics! Just 15% of the pictures I took; there was a lot to see.
Some scenes around San Diego, Balboa Park, and the coast.
Organ pavilion:
Statue:
Museum of Us:
Globe Theater:
Alcazar Garden:
UN houses:
Coronado Bridge:
Hotel Del Coronado:
We visited the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, California.
Jenn and a friendly feral feline:
Bonsai:
Model:
Tea and Eats:
We visited Cabrillo National Monument at the coast in California.
The visitor center:
“What am I looking at?” Fog:
Exhibits:
Was Cabrillo Spanish or Portuguese?
Fog lifting:
Lighthouse:
Whale viewpoint:
Other lighthouse:
View:
The big gun:
Gun placements:
Coast:
Pelicans:
GIF:
Video:
Lighthouse:
After taking a day off (to work), we went to Disney California Adventure Park.
We enjoyed the tram again:
Entrance:
Trolly:
Spiderman:
Roving music:
Trolly:
100 year anniversary:
We had lunch at Wine Country Trattoria:
We got soaked on Grizzly River Run:
Video:
Music:
The Soarin’ ride was having a special show over California:
Model:
Cozy Cone Motel:
Popcone snack:
Mater:
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride:
The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure ride:
We went to Pym Test Kitchen for dinner:
Back to Cars Land in the evening to enjoy the neon:
Captain America:
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!:
Radiator Springs Racers ride in Cars Land:
Mickey and Disney:
Magic Band light effects:
Locker:
Fountain:
