The Year 2024
Inspired by a Christmas card. I decided to create a web page showing some of our adventures and events for the last year, even though it is way past christmas now.
Bringing in the New Year
Our dog Bella becomes extremely anxious because of fireworks welcoming the New Year. Her fear becomes so great she often hyperventilating, and practically climbing on top of us for comfort. We decided to visit Lake Casitas, for peace and quiet on New Year's Eve, and make it a weeks vacation since we are already Holiday pay for the week.
It seems everyone wants to go camping for New Years, hence, it was nearly impossible to reserve a campsite at the lake. We ended up with three reservations; the first booking was for a dry camp. Only a few tent sites that were large enough for an RV were available. The second booking had water and electricity, no sewage (called partial hookup), and the last few days, we enjoyed another site with full hookups, and by then almost everyone had left the campgrounds, leaving us with no neighbors. Nice!
It wasn't ideal to pick up camp and move to other sites during the week. The night before arriving at the first site (a tent site with dirt pad), it rained hard, and we dealt with a lot of mud. So first morning kinda stunk because it was hard to walk in and out of camp without stepping deep into the mud. However, It was totally worth it! The nights were quiet, we enjoyed campfire almost every night, plenty of hiking, and good weather the entire trip, it turned out great!
Descanso Gardens, Pasadena
We like to visit botanical gardens and arboretums; it's in our nature to explore nature. Descanso Gardens is gorgeous in early April. The Cherry blossoms surrounding the Japanese gardens provide tranquility for the soul and bountiful beauty to the eyes. If I were closer to Pasadena, I could spend my lunch hours taking in the scenery in the gardens. Alas, it's an hour's drive from here. Ugh!
Some random pics from 2024
Old Stage Coach trail
Pismo Beach
My mother joined us on a short vacatioin at Pismo Beach. We neglected to see much of Pismo because we traveled the area and visited Moro Bay, Avilla Beach, Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort, and San Luis Obispo.
We were pleasantly surprised about San Luis Obispo. It is a charming town.
Avilla Beach has an RV resort we plan on visiting soon. It's a great beach and San Luis Obispo is a short drive from Avilla Beach.
A good dog friendly hotel
The patio's view of the creek that runs through San Luis Obisbo is a perfect setting for a great lunch. We were delighted with their food and service.
We only have two more missions to visit and then we've visited all the missions of the El Camino Real.
Two weeks in Hawaii
It was far to long since Jennifer visited family in Hawaii. So we planned a nice long visit, with plenty of time for her to enjoy family time. We had plans that were hampered by both of us catching a cold. So some plans were canceled or simply we weren't up to it. Still though it is a beautiful vacation. Gotta Love Hawaii.
Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden
@ Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden, Oʻahu, Honolulu, Nuʻuanu Stream
Near the waterfall of Nu'uanu stream
Foster Botanical Garden, Oʻahu, Honolulu
It's called a cannonball tree because of the fruit. They look like canonballs, I'd say on avg. about 3-4 lbs. You don't want to be standing under this tree if one of these fall from a decent height. Which is quite possible as it is a tall tree.
The seeds on a cannonball tree. Love the beauty of the flower that grows with the seeds.
Manoa Falls trail, Oʻahu, Kailua
Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden, Oʻahu, Kaneohe
Hoʻomaluhia spans 400 acres and just driving through will take an hour or two. Hikers have the option to tackle various nature trails and there is a campground too.
Moana Surfrider
My favorite hotel in Waikiki is the Moana Surfrider. It is located right on the beach and has beautiful rooms and suites, open-air indoor dining lounge, and an outside dining patio with a great view of Waikiki Beach. It is also a classy, historically significant Hotel. The hotel is magnificently beautiful, built in the late 1800s and expanded over time while keeping its original beauty. Its majestic entryway entertained royalty from both domestic and foreign countries. So, of course, we spent some of our vacation at this hotel.
