Seperate Vacations--Kathy's Trip to California.

The last four months were a whirlwind of activity as J and K moved from our spacious house and land to the little historic house in Springfield.  Slowly but surely everything got organized and put away.  The curtains and pictures got hung.  The pots I moved from the old patio bloomed happily and climbed on the new porch.  And the school year was over.  Using an almost free ticket, I decided to go visit my friend Leanne who lives and works in the south bay area of California.  I booked my flight, rental car and air BnB and headed south.  Here are some of the pictures of my adventures.

The first day we went to two rose gardens and a hike in the redwoods.

The  San Jose City Rose garden was full of blooms

My Friend Leanne.  We've been friends for over 50 years.

The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden was pretty much done blooming and very dry.  

 

 

And under the flight path

Hiking in the redwoods

Leanne says it's wonderful to have water in the creeks this year.

 

There was a fire in the 80's. A lot of the trunks were burned.

 

The next day Leanne had to work.  I went to Villa Montalvo near the town of Saratoga

It is a summer mansion of the former San Francisco Mayor.  He donated it for an art center.

One of the art pieces

The back of the Villa

More art

Downtown Saratoga.  I treated myself to a hot stone massage.....ahhhh....

After the massage, I drove to the Gamble Garden in Palo Alto

The back porch of the Gamble house (of Proctor and Gamble)

Espallied apple trees.

My rental car.  I was proud of my parallel parking.

The next day I went to Golden State Park in San Francisco and walked around the Botanical Garden.  This is the bamboo cave.

An amazing palm

Then I went to Land's End.  The ocean was so beautiful.

 A view of the Golden Gate Bridge

On Friday, Leanne had the day off so we went west over the mountains to the cute town of Capitola, then went North on the coast, past Santa Cruz to Half-Moon Bay.

Motel and condos in Capitola.  The fog was just clearing.

The beach was full of sun worshipers, young and old.

We represented the old

The sea was filled with surfers

The march of the beach chairs

We stopped for an hour to eat lunch and watch the kite surfers.  A truly amazing sight.

We also stopped at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse and a secluded beach before completing the day with dinner in Half-Moon Bay. 

The Fresnel Lens that was taken out of the lighthouse.  It magnified the light of lanterns.

Our own private beach

I had a wonderful time exploring the bay area and hanging out with my oldest friend.  We shared lots of laughs and hugs and smiles and memories.  I love you, Leanne!