Moonstone Beach

Our family vacation week continued Monday bright and early. We left the house around 9:30 to head to a formerly favorite vacation spot: Cambria, CA. About 12 years ago, we went for 4 years in a row and stayed at Captain's Cove Inn on Moonstone Beach. We enjoyed tidepooling, exploring the little shops, visitng nearby farms, and touring Hearst Castle. When thinking of a family vacation destination for this year, we decided it was high time to go back.

The ride was long, but fairly tolerable with very little heavy raffic. We got lunch from McDonald's in LA and had hoped to stop at a family favorite restaurant called Hobee's in San Louis Obispo. Sadly, Hobee's was no longer there. Instead we got cookies from the Madonna Inn. The most amusing part of the drive was Tilly growling at a hobo on the side of the road. We arrived on Moonstone Beach just before dinnertime. My mom had wanted to bring Tilly with us, so instead of Captain's Cove we stayed at the Cambria Shores Inn. I think everyone staying there had at least one dog with them.

The owners were great. They gave us a goody basket for the dogs which included some treats, towels for them to sleep on, and an issue of "Fido" magazine. Each eveningthere were appetizers set out in the lobby (next to the bowl of dog treats), every afternoon there were fresh baked cookies, and every morning there was a breakfast basket with muffins, croissants, and fresh fruit.

We settled into our room, freshened up, and then went straight into town for dinner. Night #1 we decided on our favorite place in town, Linn's. Linn's is a family owned restaurant, but not just that. They have a farm just outside of town with a large shop of fresh made jams, syrups, etc. They also have several boutiques in town and a small cafe. For dinner I had the berry stuffed chicken which was incredible. For dessert we took home one of their famous Olallieberry pie. Olallieberry is a cross between loganberry and youngberry which are crosses of blackberries and raspberries. The pie is absolutely wonderful!

Tuesday morning we drove to Linn's farm to do a bit of shopping and watch the peacocks that roam around the farm. My mom and I had fun taking numerous different farm themed pictures, many including Valencia. Lunch was in town at "Easy as Pie", the cafe associated with Linn's. Mom and I shared an amazing chicken and berry salad.

We all crashed for naps back in our room and then set out for our first try at tidepooling of the trip. We found a number of hermit crabs and one starfish clung onto a dry rock. For dinner we decided on the Mexican place in town called Las Cambritas. It was very festive, and the food was pretty good. Back in our room we had another slice of Olallieberry pie and watched "The Bucket List".

Wednesday morning was our tour of Hearst Castle. Back when we were coming every year, we had done all of the main tours, leaving only the gardens and special night tours. None of the evening tours were available during this trip, so we did the first tour again. It was just as incredible the second time to see everything. That man did not think in small scale on ANYTHING! lol

My parents had leftovers from Las Cambritas for lunch, but Steve and I did not. While my mom purused the shops, Steve and I got lunch from Round Up Pizza and Grub. The food was good, and I love hanging with my brother, but I felt like the staff assumed we were on a date, which was quite awkward. Once we'd eaten, we joined my parents for shopping, and got icecream before heading back to the room. My dad and I took another stab at tidepooling and found more hermit crabs, anemones, and a submerged starfish.

Everybody was still rather full from eating a late lunch, so we ate a light dinner back at Easy as Pie. We took another olallieberry pie back with us and watched "The Blindside". What a great movie that is. I love things that are true stories and don't overdramaticize conflict.

Thursday morning we enjoyed our last breakfast basket and headed for home. We stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara and stopped again at a Wendy's not too far from Biola.

It definitely wasn't a high action trip or an exotic one, but it sure did the trick of relaxation!

Valencia Moments

Two of my favorite Valencia moments from this week.

Story #1
Yesterday on break from class I was peeling an orange in the bathroom with Valencia sitting next to me. The trashcan (over which I was peeling my snack) was right next a full length mirror. As I'm about halfway through, I look down at Valencia in time to see her thoroughly sniff herself in the mirror, trying to figure out who this other "dog" is. Having failed to discover anything through sniffing, she licks the reflection of her face, and then looks at me as if to say "I don't think that's a real dog." I love how she communicates with me, it's priceless.

Story #2
Upon returning from class this afternoon, I put my stuff down in the room and went down the hall to the bathroom. A few minutes later as I am walking back to my room, I hear noises that kind of sound like eating. "What's that?" I wonder to myself, and walk into my room again. I look around to see what Valencia's doing, and discover that she has her head in the trash can and is very contentedly licking or chewing something.

"Valencia!" I exclaim in shock "no, bad!" At the sound of her name, Valencia whirls around to face me with "guilty" written all of her adorable little face and hangs her head. "What on earth was she after in the trash?" I wonder, considering she's never paid any attention to our trash can before. I bend down to check if she has anything left in her mouth. When I finally get it open, there's nothing left in it, except a very strong scent of peanut butter.

This morning after putting peanut butter on my toast, I threw out the plastic knife. Apparently my dog has a true weakness for peanut butter. "That was naughty," I say to her. She looks at me, and then slowly walks over to her bed and lies down with an "I'm a bad girl" look on her face. I then remembered I needed to wash her bed today, so I make her get off of it, pick it up, and on my way out the door say "stay here and be a good girl." At this she lies down where her bed had been, appearing to be thinking "I'm a bad girl, I don't get my bed anymore." The poor thing.

When I came back from the laundry room, but became very excited when I told her that this time she had been a good girl. I put down my pool towel in place of her bed for the time being and we played fetch with her bone. All seems to have been forgotten now, and to just to be safe, I moved the peanut butter knife to the bathroom trashcan.

I love my puppy :)