the 7 wonders of Cambria, CA

In no particular order

#1- Moonstone beach






















Incredible.
Incredible moonstones (which Stacey later told me were fake).
Incredibly cold water.
Incredibly not made of sand, but of tiny, smooth, colorful stones.

#2 - The ranchland

I don't know if I've ever seen rolling hills of just grass like this. They end in cliffs at the ocean.




#3- no cell reception (except at the intersection of Burton and arDATH)
Here is a handy map for you. The black arrow is where our beach house was. The ranchland is at the top left and the area of cell phone service we found is the red circle. As we drove into town, we'd get to this intersection and suddenly we'd hear beeps of phones suddenly deciding they had a pile of messages.

#4 - Leashless dogs

I've talked a bit about the dogs already. There was a sign at the gate to the ranchland that said "All dogs must be on a leash". Yet, every person I saw with a dog would unleash their dog right at that sign so that the dog could then bound through the grass right to me and my inseam. truly baffling.

#5 - Olallieberry pie
Heaven on earth. Perfect for during a movie, right before bed. Makes for a happy, sleepy stomach.

#6 - That one guy that's worked at that one restaurant forever

We should have gotten a picture of him. He's worked at the restaurant for a long time, apparently, because Stacey said he's there every year that she comes. He looks like he's about our age, maybe slightly balding on top...the perfect height...the perfect roundness (which means he's not round) and his friendliness seems to rival Stacey's. He takes our order and asks Stacey how's she doing, "what, was it about a year ago that you were here last?". He seems to have a suspiciously good memory of Stacey and I'm pretty sure she should marry him.

#7 - Hearst Castle and finally understanding that song from Newsies

Technically not in Cambria, but the wonders of it practically overflow into Cambria's borders. William Randolf Hearst's 90,000 square foot estate. There are 4 different tours you can take because if they combined them all into one, it would last all day and cost you $80 for the ticket (just me doing the math). While Jenni and I were exploring the castle's wonders, Stacey and Carla were hanging out at a Nude beach with a very tan man.

things to do: II

12 Things to do alone in a hot tub (it's harder than you think):

Main problem: I couldn't read because I just know I would have gotten the book wet. Not allowed.

1- Learn exactly, through trial and error, how all the jet and heat controls work.
2- Try to figure out why it refuses to heat up past luke warm
3- Try each corner of the tub for optimal sunlight exposure and jet propulsion.
4- Sit and stare at the ocean and sing the same song over and over again to yourself
5- Pull the chlorinating floater apart and figure out how it works.
6- Put it back together
7- Figure out the floater's exact path while the jets are on full blast
8- Watch it's path for 5 minutes
9- Turn off the jets completely and see if the path still exists
10- Pull the floater apart again just for kicks
11- Experiment with different leg positions to see if there's any way to keep yourself from floating off the seat
12- Entertain those watching through the window

Make sure you're really bored or these things aren't really going to do it for you.

highlights from a low-key place

Yup. That picture pretty much sums it up. I just spent the last week in a place without any cell phone reception or internet. I loved it. I wonder how the locals survive without those things. The highest moments of stress came while trying to find the perfect beach to take a sunset picture on. I'm not sure we were successful with that one. Oh, there was also deciding what movie to watch each night. Some decisions just take so much out of you that you have to spend the whole next day recovering via naps, gh3 and eating good food. Then, you decide again what beach to go to at what perfect sunset time and come home to the movie decision and the whole cycle is forced to start all over again the next day.

Oh, but I forget that there was a land line that liked to ring at 8am with recorded marketing calls. So, we weren't completely cut off from the world.

And there were plenty of 60 and older couples that would go on their walk through the 'ranchland' at the same time as I did every morning. Their dogs would always bound up and sniff my crotch just to let me know that I really did exist, physically. I don't know what it is about me. On our last night's search for beach sunset pictures, a lady walked her dog by us and it walked carelessly past the two in our group ahead of me, totally ignoring them. Then, sure enough, it saw the inseam of my pants and excitedly ran up to it to sniff, jump on it and basically just say hi. Then it continued on, where I assume it just ignored the last member of our group who apparently didn't have as exciting a crotch as I did. I guess I should be flattered.

Ok, so those aren't very good highlights. Hopefully I can write more later this week when I have more pictures to post.

priorities: perceived and prevailing

Priorities for this week:

1-Get in 40 hours at work (in preparation for my trip to cali)
2-Get a tune-up for my car (also prep for cali)
3-Get the timing belt on my car replaced (cali)
4-Clean my car
5-Write my talk for church on Sunday
6-Finish that dang painting that I've been working on for months
7-Get my shots for our Guatemala trip in 3 weeks
8-Shave my legs (cali)
9-Finish the book I'm reading (Cry the beloved country)
10-Start the next book on my book priority list.
11-Clean my bathroom
12-Get a pedicure with my friends (cali)
13-Get a sub for the temple (guatemala)

Actual (so far):

1-Got a sub for the temple
2-Shaved 1/3 of my legs (cali)
3-Finished Cry the Beloved Country
4-Alienated my mom
5-Halfway through my next book
6-Alienated my sister
7-Cleaned my tub
8-Alienated my friends
9-Got tetanus shot and typhoid pills and the diarrhea to go with them (guatemala)

No worries...I still have tomorrow to do everything else!