Adventures in California

And whatever was I doing in California, aside from cheating winter by soaking up a rainbow of color?

I tagged along with my parents to celebrate my dad's retirement and visit my aunt and uncle and two cousins, who now all live in that sunny state. Every summer since before I can remember, we have gathered in Michigan, but this was an opportunity to see the whole family on their home turf. And if the trip happened to be planned for March, when Michigan is chilly, slushy, muddy, and puddly, who was I to complain? Here's some of what we got up to in the course of a week:

Colby whisked us off for two days of seeing sights (and eating delicious food) along the southern California coast.

• We sampled from all three of the restaurants he's been busy helping to start in the past few years in Santa Monica:  Huckleberry (breakfast), Rustic Canyon (dinner), and Sweet Rose Creamery (homemade ice cream). Oh, my. Amazing.

• We spent a morning wandering around the Getty Villa in Malibu admiring the museum's antiquities.  I was equally fascinated by observing the museum's guides making the sights relevant for a group of visually impaired schoolkids and by the mesmerizing patterns in the marble mosaics underfoot.

And I particularly liked the way the sun slanted in through these window frames:

• We walked along the Santa Monica pier on Thursday, wandered the strip in Venice Beach on Friday, and strolled the farmer's market on Saturday morning, collecting strawberries, mandarins, raspberries, apples, and fresh-squeezed orange juice to pulverize in Colby's Vitamix for breakfast smoothies.

Then we headed up the coast to Carmel Valley to meet up with the rest of the crew on Saturday evening.

• There was cornhole, of course. With guacamole and beer. Tom and Deanne and big-dog Duke were down from Mountain View for the weekend. Dinner featured a gurgling fish pitcher and was followed by more games. 

• The next morning, I went for a great run in the cool sea air along the Asilomar beach with Deanne. 

• Then a visit to Deanne's aunt and uncle's house, where we admired their view of the hills and picked oranges from a laden tree, and I took a heap of flower photos in the colorful garden.

• Sunday afternoon found everyone out on the patio, puttering on a pizza oven project.

Then there were still three more days on my itinerary with just the elders.

• Mom and Uncle Steve and I got our hearts pumping on a hike up the steep slopes of the Garzas Canyon trail. 

• We also walked the trails at Point Lobos State Reserve, where we saw seals, a sea otter, piles of kelp, nodding poppies, and some gorgeous coastal views.

• We visited the butterfly sanctuary in Pacific Grove, where crowds of migrating monarchs spend the winter gathered in the branches of the pines and eucalyptus.

• And we perused the farmer's market in Monterey, where I collected a bag full of treasure and took it home to make dinner for the crew. 

• Finally, the last day we took a drive down the Big Sur coast, basking in sunshine and more stunning views.

Of course it was a shame to miss the lovely March weather in Michigan. But there was another melting pile of snow to welcome me home when Nick, Bella, and a delighted Maisie picked me up at the airport. And just in case you, too, can't resist lush green hills, turquoise water, and blooming flowers at this time of year, there's more from the California photo album here.