Food & Fun

A late-ish start this morning. Jason, who is staying with us at the cottage, left a text message to let us know that he was already out for coffee with Elizabeth, so we took advantage of some quiet time to get ourselves ready for the day, and took a walk with George around the hills, ending up at Heidelberg Cafe to meet the family for a light breakfast.

Thence on down the Pacific Coast Highway to the great plant and interior design emporium, where we enjoyed a tour of the jungle of flora, knick-knacks, and decorative items, like this giant silver ball, where Joe and I displayed our midriffs...

... not that mine could benefit from the magnification! Here's Ellie and Alice...

... and Ellie and Joe, who found a weird piece of furry furniture to curl up in.

And George, acting patient, when he was really anxious to get out of there and do some real walking!

And Ellie solo. (She has been complaining of her absence in the pictures I have been taking! I'm trying to make up...)

And Joe, taking charge...

And Georgia, admiring an extremely expensive fountain...

Next stop, we all returned to the hotel, where Elizabeth had arranged to meet up with an old friend, Jay, a teaching colleague from the 1970s. Since he had not yet arrived, we split up, agreeing to re-assemble back in the village for lunch at Pomodoro. Here are my two sons, deciding on a bottle of wine for lunch...

... and the rest of us, including Jay...

... who recalled the occasion of meeting with my parents at a caravan site in England, and their antics as they recommended a route up north to Scotland for him--with the usual disagreements. A fine story. After lunch, we headed up the canyon for a visit with the seal lions and other marine animals at the Friends of the Seal Lion rehab center, where they care for the wounded and the orphaned animals washed up on the Southern California shores.

Not a great picture, I fear, but the best I could do through the chain link that protects the animals from their human admirers, who might otherwise get too friendly.

The rain that was supposed to have arrived by this time never showed up, so we dropped our plan to use the wet afternoon to see the 3-D "Alice in Wonderland" in favor of a much more delightful family hike up one of the canyon trails.

Joe found a great cave to hide in...

And, as we walked back down, the sky provided us with a special delight...

And finally, after a brief rest for everyone, we gathered back at the cottage for take-out pizza, home-made salad, a drop of whiskey to start us out (Matthew had brought a bottle of cask strength--56%!--Bowmore Islay single malt Scotch as a gift for his brother), a good few glasses of wine, and much merriment around our dining table. No pictures, damn!