sibling vacation

Two weeks ago today, Rick & I met my siblings in Pismo beach for a much anticipated week together. We were blessed to stay in a beautiful vacation home that belongs to a family friend. We had never been on the California coast in summer before - it was not nearly as hot as I thought it would be, actually it tended toward cool at times (as you can see from the way we're dressed in some of the pictures.) But whether or not the sun was out - there was just nothing like being on the beach ; watching the waves roll in from the Pacific Ocean. I would never get tired of hearing that! "I love to stand at oceans' shore & hear the thundering breakers roar..."
This first group of pictures are from the pier & beach at Pismo (click on pic to enlarge)

On one of the sunnier days, we went to Avilla beach and the top right picture shows how I felt about being there. My brothers, sister, husband & I all tried our abilities on a boogie board. I have to say, I was definitely not a natural, but when I actually caught a couple of waves - man, was it fun!!! Thanks for being so patient with me, Merv. And guess what, I only swallowed ocean water once - not bad, eh? Oh, there was a sea lion (or one of it's relatives) playing about 25 feet away from us - pretty cool, but it didn't make it onto any of the pictures.

It was so great for us all to be together for an extended time - it's usually not more than a day or two per year. We did some really fun day trips, golfing, wine tasting, live theatre, Hearst Castle, shopping (probably too much for some), and of course beaching.
We also did a fair amount of eating, mostly at the house, but we did go out a few times.
Below are a couple of pictures taken at a restaraunt called F. McClintocks. One of their specialties is that the servers fill your water glasses from about three feet away. On request, they will do a "blind pour" - the picture with Viv is self explanatory :)
Another of their specialties is turkey nuts - yup, the real thing. Couldn't bring myself to try them, although I was the only one who didn't.


The day after we got to the vacation house, Rick filled a hummingbird feeder that was hanging empty. For the rest of the week we were entertained almost constantly with the coming & going (and sometimes fighting) of the little creatures. I have never "heard" hummingbirds before - they can actually be very noisy!

I have lots more pictures - of Hearst Castle; San Fransisco; Oregon coast; the Redwoods.
Is anyone interested in seeing them?